Make a Dancing Chinese Dragon

What You Do:

1. Have your child draw a profile of a dragon’s head on a piece of construction paper. Encourage him to draw a head at least twice the size of his hand and include a little bit of neck, which will be needed to attach it to the body.
2. Then, have him cut out the head and set it aside.
3. Cut a sheet of red construction paper in half lengthwise, so it creates two long strips. Tape the strips together so they become one strip of red paper.
4. Help your child begin folding the strip of paper accordion-style. Start by folding the paper at least one-inch wide and make a strong crease. Fold it on top of itself the other way and make another strong crease. Repeat this until the entire strip of paper is folded.
5. Hold the paper that is folded into an accordion in one hand and cut a design into the edge using scissors. See the example in the picture above.
6. Release the accordion fold and lay it out on a table. Glue the wooden sticks using white glue onto one side of the accordion. Make sure they’re spaced out so one is toward the front and one is toward the back. This will be what he holds so the dragon can dance! Set this aside to dry. You can reinforce the glued sticks with a strip of paper tape.
7. Now, advise your child to decorate the dragon’s head. Glue on the googly eyes and paint designs, such as scales, onto the face.
8. Have him draw out a dragon tail on separate sheet of red paper and cut it out with scissors. Paint the tail and set it aside.
9. Once the face is dry, help your child staple it from the neck to the front of the red accordion paper. Use one staple at the top of the neck and one at the bottom to hold it securely. Then, staple the tail at the opposite end of the accordion body. The staples can be reinforced with tape.
10. Now your child is ready to dance the night away with his very own Chinese Dancing Dragon!

Fun Facts: One popular myth behind the Chinese New Year celebration is how a beast called Nien, which was similar to a dragon, would come and steal from the Chinese people each year on New Year’s Day. One day a child wearing a red outfit scared the beast away. This is why the color red is often associated with good luck in China!