Chinese New Year Art Projects

SUMI BRUSHWORK/CHINESE ZODIAC ANIMALS AND SYMBOLS


   On Monday we introduced and reviewed  the basic concepts of the Chinese New Year celebration. The year 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon, which only occurs once every 60 years. It is believed to be an especially lucky year. The New Year began on the first day of the New Moon in January, and ends on the first day of the Full Moon. There are 12 years represented by different animals, and the children had the opportunity to learn about what animal year they belonged to and the basic characteristics for that animal.

     When the students entered the art room they were given a practice sheet of paper, a sumi brush and ink in a container. After a basic lesson on the use of the sumi brush (keep the tip pointed and at an angle to the paper, while holding loosely and making broad strokes, rather than stiff and sketching) and practicing on their sketch paper, they painted their animals on thicker white paper. I tried to encourage them to fill the whole page by putting their animal in an environment, or use design elements around the animal. They were then given a handout of Chinese symbols representing the name of their animal, and by eyeing the symbol they transferred it onto a part of the ink drawing. The kindergarten and 1st graders were given the option to try this part of the lesson, and a few actually liked doing it!


Recommended resource: kimloong.org. This site offers helpful information about  Chinese astrology.


CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY/GOOD FORTUNE BANNERS

     To decorate your home with symbol of good fortune, here are two fun projects to do with children. But before they start their final piece have them practice their brushwork and writing skills. I use a handout that another teacher introduced me to, which has the symbol of good luck with numbers and arrows to follow. This can be downloaded and printed from teacherlink.ed.usu.edu  . Chinese writing characters go back more than 3000 years. The symbols began as pictures, which were drawn to resemble the items they represented. Have the children see if they can recognize pictures in the characters. For the younger ages, don't worry about accuracy, it's the practice that counts, and this is an excellent project for promoting small motor and handwriting skills.


     Red and White Calligraphy Sign

          Materials Needed: Small white drawing or rice paper (approx. 4 x 6"), larger red or orange construction paper (to have at least 2" border around white paper), glue sticks, black ink, sumi or paint brush, wide and short cup for ink best to prevent tipping), hole puncher, pretty string (I use gold threaded).

     Before they begin to write their characters center the white paper onto the red or orange construction paper and glue together at the corners. I use the colors red or orange because in the Chinese culture red is believed to represent happiness while orange or gold represents wealth and happiness. Offer the children handouts of good fortune symbols and have them choose their favorite ones to copy onto the paper with the sumi brush and ink. Some examples would be: longevity, good luck, prosperity, and double happiness. I found a lot of good fortune symbols to download and print on www.zein.se/PATRICK/chinen11p.html. After they write their symbols they or you can write the English version beneath it in pen or small paintbrush and ink. Hole punch two holes at the top and loop a 10" string through, tied at the top to be hung banner-style.


     Paper Wall Scrolls

     This is a fun one that I came up with after a frantic moment looking for rice paper that I thought was still stashed in one of the paper drawers. Instead I found piles of donated bamboo and paper window shades and an "aha!" moment flashed before me. I used a paper cutter to cut the shades into smaller sizes (approx. 4" x 8"). They actually work really well as tracing paper, so after the children have practiced their brushwork and transferred by eye, this is a good chance to copy the symbols by tracing. It then has a greater chance of accuracy and it's satisfying to make something that really looks nice. I also hole punch 2 holes at the top and loop with the gold string. See how translucent it looks in the window.

     Recommended resources:  www.familyculture.com, www.china-family-adventure.com, and the book "Chinese Brushwork in Calligraphy and Painting. Its History, Aesthetics and Techniques" by Kwo Da-Wei, Dover Publications, Inc., New York. 1981.


EGG CARTON DRAGONS

     Now here's a good open-ended art project for all ages! The credit for this idea goes to another teacher, but I really enjoyed doing this in the art room.

     Materials Needed:  Egg cartons, glue, glue gun and sticks (optional), scissors, tape, craft supplies such as crepe paper, ribbon, googly eyes, paper scraps, glitter, sequins, pom poms, tempera paint, feathers, recycled material.

     You will need a large table for this project, and prepare to get messy! Cover the table with cloth or newspaper and have the art supplies readily accessible to the children, especially the glue, tape and scissors. We worked in teams of 2-3 students per dragon, but it can also be done alone.
     After handing the egg cartons out 1 per team I showed them the supplies and encouraging them to make up their own designs. I would refill supplies, monitor the glitter, use the glue gun or help when they were having difficulty problem-solving, but otherwise I stepped away from the table and let them work on their own.  Because we had just watched a traditional Chinese New Year Lion dance the children were easily inspired to come up with their own ideas. It woud also be good to read a book before the project to find out more about the history of the dragon in the New Year's celebrations.
     This was a good project to help encourage group and creative problem-solving skills.

Recommended Books: "Dragon Dance A Chinese New Year Lift-the-Flap Book" by Toan Holub; "The Pet Dragon A Story About Adventure, Friendship and Chinese Characters" by Christoph Niemann.