Celebrating Chinese New Year – The Year of Water Rabbit
Celebrations for the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Water Rabbit have begun. This week at Learning Links our tamariki celebrating the Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival.
We made our own dragons and rabbits by folding paper and drew their faces. It was great to see them showing their excellent creative skills at our collage table, putting their own ideas into practice.
It was amazing to see our tamariki and their whānau making dumplings together and learning about the history behind this symbolic dish. Apart from making dumplings with whānau, we have introduced more cultural components this year. Kaiako and ngā tamariki worked together to enrich our learning environment with couplets, window blossoms, lantern riddles and red envelopes, as well as unpacked the meanings and importance behind them.
Ngā tamariki from Borman Road center visited Hector Drive center with a very special guest. As soon as it entered our classroom, it immediately took off, spinning and swirling in the mid-air, showing up its vitality. When it noticed its audience on the ground, it nosedived to greet them. Accompanied by the sound of drums, it gave our tamariki a ride, bringing good luck and prosperity to everyone. We appreciate the performance of ngā tamariki from Borman Road; it was so amazing.
We enjoyed dancing through our infant, toddler, young children and preschool room. They all look so happy and confident at our dragon parade. By performing this dance at the start of the year, it’s believed that good fortune will be enjoyed by the community for months to come.
Thank you so much to all those Ngā tamariki and whānau who joined us in this celebration. We wish every one of us a rewarding year to come and lots of happiness to our whānau. May prosperity and wonderful blessings spread throughout the Year 2023. Happy Chinese New Year!