Games

Bells on Shoes:

Younger children will enjoy this activity.  You can thread craft bell onto the shoelaces of your children.  Then have your children walk around, dance, or stomp.

Bell Ring Game:

Instructions on how to make bell rings in art section.  Played like Doggie Doggie Where's your Bone?  With a twist.  Older children will have a hard time keeping the bells quiet, and it will give younger children the advantage of hearing the bells.  This is how the game is played.  The teacher picks one child to sit in the middle and be the Doggie.  Then the other children sit in a circle around the Doggie.  The teacher picks one child to hold the bells (bone) behind their back, and all the children sit with their hands behind their back.  Say the Chant:

Doggie, Doggie,
Where's your bone?
Somebody took it from it's home,
Upstairs, downstairs, by the telephone,
Wake up doggie, Find your bone.

The Doggie picks up to three people that he/she believes has the bells.  One at a time, as picked, the children show their hands.  If they pick the right child they "win".  Regardless the child with the "bone" become the next Doggie, and the old Doggie pick who will get the bells next.

Another Bell Game:

Bell relay race.  Have a relay race where the first player had a bell ring on each wrist and ankle (four total).  They run to the next person, and they have to take off all the bells and put them on the next person.  (variation:  only one person of the two may touch the bells).

Dramatic Play:

Countdown to the New Year:
Supply the children with party hats and noise makers.  Pretend to countdown to the new year.  Did you know a lot of noise is made to scare the old year away and welcome the new year?

Chinese Nian Fun:

Read this story:
Long ago, in Han times, there was a monster whose name was "Nian". This monster came once each year to a little village and scared everyone! One day, just by luck, the villagers discovered that "Nian" had a couple fears of his own. He was afraid of the color red and even more afraid of scary loud noises!
The villagers prepared. When "Nian" appeared, everyone in the village ran for the red banners and noise makers they had made. They waved their banners and rattled their noise makers, which scared "Nian" so much that "Nian" ran away and was never heard from again!  Which explains why people in China believe the color red signifies joy and luck, and why noise makers are rattled on Chinese New Year. At midnight, firecrackers, paper dragons, noise makers, the
waving of red ribbons and banners all help to drive away any lingering evil spirits from the old year. (In case "Nian" is still lurking about somewhere!)

Let one child be Nian, and the others be the villagers.  Ask the children to find something red to scare Nian.  Read the story again and let the children act it out.