According to the Chinese Calendar, 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, which began on February 14, 2010, and ends on February 2, 2011. To commemorate this year, help your child make a festive tiger-inspired wall calendar for keeping track of special dates like birthdays and holidays.
This activity requires printing letters and numbers, measuring with a straight edge, and cutting, so your child’s fine motor skills will get ample exercise. Plus, this cultural activity will teach your child a little bit about the Chinese Zodiac!
What You Need:
- Tiger print felt (available in craft stores)
- Paper
- 2010 monthly calendar template
- Black, orange, pink and yellow markers
- Chinese character for “good fortune” or “fu”
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Craft glue
- Wooden dowel, approximately 18” long and 5/16” in diameter
- Gold string
- Low temperature glue gun
What You Do:
- Help your child find and print a 2010 monthly calendar. Use it as is, or help your child trace it onto a piece of white paper for extra writing practice. Have her use a ruler to ensure straight lines.
- Make the calendar more personal by helping your child add special dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, parties, and play dates.
- Invite your child to draw a picture of a tiger and color it in with markers: orange for the fur, black for the stripes and outline of the tiger, pink for the tongue and nose, and yellow for the outer part of the eyes.
- Go online and help your child find the Chinese character for “good fortune,” or “fu," a symbol that is frequently seen posted on houses during Chinese New Year.
- Help your child copy and paste the character into a Word document and adjust it to the desired size.
- Show your child how to copy and paste the character repeatedly so that it runs all the way down the page, creating a decorative border.
- Repeat step 5 so that she has two page-long borders. Using a ruler, help your child draw left and right edges for each border.
- Have your child cut along the edges and set aside the remaining paper for another project.
- On the computer, have your child type a heading that says, “Year of the Tiger” and cut it out, leaving room to glue the tiger picture onto it.
- Help your child glue the tiger picture beneath the heading, then glue the whole piece onto the tiger print felt.
- Ask your child to glue the “fu” borders onto the felt.
- Tie gold string onto the dowel to a desired length, tying knots to secure the string.
- Using a low temperature glue gun, help your child attach the felt to the dowel.
Allow the glue to dry completely before hanging the calendar on the wall. Your child is now ready to make use of her homemade "Year of the Tiger" calendar to keep track of important events, birthdays, and dates!
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