January might be a bit of a lull as far as the Gregorian (aka American) calendar goes, but let’s not forget the Lunar New Year. It’s celebrated in China and by Chinese and other Asian communities across the world to mark the beginning of the Lunar calendar (technically called the lunisolar calendar, which determines dates based on the cycles of the moon and the sun). This year, the Lunar New Year falls between Jan. 29 and Feb. 8, 2025, and every year, festivities involve food, family, parades, and a whole lot of the color red, which is a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture.

Your kiddo may learn about the Lunar New Year and its history at school, and maybe he or she will celebrate in their classroom too. Either way, bring the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year, celebrations to your home with these engaging activities that pay homage.

If you don’t normally celebrate Lunar New Year, consider this a great way to introduce your child to other people’s customs; if you do celebrate, then add these to-dos to your list of festivities. Who knows, you may even start new traditions to take you into Lunar New Year 2026 and beyond!

• Learn the Chinese zodiac. There’s no such thing as a Pisces or a Leo in the Lunar New Year. Instead, the Chinese Zodiac assigns an animal and its attributes to each year in a twelve-year cycle. Each individual's personality is based on the zodiac animal of their birth year. Read up on the Chinese zodiac, find out yours and your kids’ zodiac animals, and see who in the family is most like their sign!

• Try a fun snake craft as an ode to the year of the snake; this snake craft using construction paper and googly eyes helps little kids perfect their fine motor skills, while this snake craft, for hands with a bit more dexterity. makes clever use of pipe cleaners and beads.

• Have a family “cleaning party.” It’s customary to clean one’s home before the Lunar New Year to start off with a fresh slate and brush away the bad luck. Older kids can get to work on actually dusting, tidying, and vacuuming, while little kids can help by putting away their toys and brushing away their snack crumbs with a cleaning play set. I swear it’ll be more fun than it sounds.

• Go all out with all-red-everything. A few ways to honor Chinese culture’s most important color? Hang red clings on your windows, decorate your home with red bouquets of flowers, cut out red paper shapes, or simply wear red. Just sayin’, this may also be a good time as any to let your tween get that red hair streak she’s been begging for. Temporary, of course!

• Make your own red envelopes. It’s Chinese New Year tradition to tuck money inside red envelopes, called hóngbāo in Chinese, and give them out to family and friends to wish them good fortune in the year ahead. You can buy red envelopes in bulk online, or make your own red envelopes with your child to ensure the cards are even more personal.

• Host a Chinese-themed game night. From Badminton to Mahjongg to dominoes (yes, really!), so many games we still play today originated in China. Who knew?

• Eat traditional Chinese foods. Sure, you could order sesame chicken from your favorite takeout spot, but take it a step further by indulging in Chinese delicacies that are traditionally consumed during the Lunar New Year. ”Lucky’ foods for the Chinese New Year include noodles, spring rolls, dumplings, whole fish, and citrus fruit such as mandarins. 

• DIY Lunar New Year lanterns. On the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar calendar, it’s tradition to attend a lantern festival. If there are none in your community, bring the festival to your home by having your kids make Chinese paper lanterns using red and yellow construction paper.

How will you be ringing in the Lunar New Year 2025 with your family?

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