China is a popular choice when doing a Holidays Around the World Unit. This post is part of a series that showcases how you can focus on China alone or as part of a bigger unit. It includes everything you'll need to start teaching your students about the winter holiday(s).
Below you will find:
- information about China to help you get started
- ideas for educational activities and complementary crafts
- a collection of easy-to-use, no-prep resources
- a list of book suggestions specific to a mini-unit on China
- FREE printables
- links to FREE videos to share with your students
- food ideas to use as part of your study of culture and traditions
This is an excerpt from the reading passage and student mini-booklet that can be found in the unit:
Chinese New Year is an important Chinese holiday. It is a time of feasting with the family, celebration, fireworks, and gift-giving. It is a 15-day holiday. It begins on the first day of a new moon. It ends with the full moon. New Year's Day is the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar. Chinese New Year is at the end of January or in February. The Chinese New Year is symbolic of letting go of the past and welcoming new beginnings. It's a popular time for spring cleaning.
In honor of the New Year, children receive red envelopes with money inside...
...(The rest of the passage can be found here)
Like all lessons, you will want to begin by activating student schema and engaging them in their learning.
Start with locating China on a map.
Discuss China's climate.
I highly recommend first completing some mapping activities to show where your students are in relation to China and the rest of the world.
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| This Me on the Map project has long been the most effective way I know to teach students where they are located from a global perspective. Many teachers use it as part of a map skills unit at the start of each school year, but it also works so perfectly as an introduction to your Christmas Around the World or Holidays Around the World lessons. You can learn more about it here. |
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There are so many fun ways to make your lessons memorable.
I always suggest giving each student a boarding pass, a passport, and a scrapbook for documenting their world-wide adventures.
Please note that you can either choose to get these resources specific to China on their own or as part of the popular cost-savings Holidays Around the World Bundle which includes 14 countries/holidays as well the following bonus materials:
- scrapbook
- passport with stamps
- suitcase
- world map
- Venn Diagram to compare countries, cultures, and holiday traditions
- postcards
In addition to the Holidays Around the World resources spotlighted above, a study about China lends itself to a variety of other complementary projects.
You could have your students create travel brochures by researching the country. This can be done in class or as a homework assignment to complement what you are doing in school. These printables make it super simple. 
You could have your students learn about the wildlife native to China. This PRINT and GO ANIMAL RESEARCH RESOURCE packet can be used over and over again through the school year because it was designed to be used when researching any animal. If you need ideas specific to China, I suggest: the Asian Elephant, Sable, Dugong, Pallas Cat, North China Leopard, and Binturong.
Finally, I encourage you to take some time to do a craft with your students to represent the country you are focusing on. It is so hard to fit in creative activities, but this is a perfect time.
Here is what we made when we studied China:
You can see the instruction if needed for how we made this (as well as these other crafts we made to complement a study of many other countries) on my Holidays Around the World Pinterest Board.
Click on any of the images below to learn more about each title:
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Click to see all of the Holidays Around the World Videos I have curated for you.
I have put together a Holidays Around the World Cookbook for you. It is available as a bonus file in the Holidays Around the World Bundle and for a limited time, I am offering just the cookbook for free here.
This post is part of a series designed to help teachers and homeschool families. Other posts can be found below as well as the links to my other posts that you may find helpful in the month of December.
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I also encourage you to visit this article to learn how to manage a Holidays Around the World learning experience in your classroom. You can read it here.
LINK TO MAIN BUNDLE:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Holidays-Around-the-World-PROJECTS-passport-CRAFTS-close-reading-writing-1583004?utm_source=CFC%20BLOG%20%7C%20HOLIDAYS%20AROUND%20THE%20WORLD%20%7C&utm_campaign=INDIVIDUAL%20COUNTRY%20POSTS
