This week, it is the Chinese National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Their holiday lasts for a whole week! I saw several teachers on my VIPKID FB pages post rewards they've created for their students. I decided to get into the holiday spirit and create a background and rewards that match this holiday. And I have LOVED the result!
Don't you love it!! These two images are a combination of the reward and the decor. So it is a little busy...but it is marvelously busy. I was so excited to make this as soon as I heard about the holiday. And it will be staying up all week.
I traveled a TON before I got married. My Dad serves in the Air Force and we were fortunate enough to be stationed overseas for 10 years. I loved learning about different cultures; their customs, habits, holidays, stories, etc. I've even adopted some of these into my own personal life. We spent most of our time in Europe, but we spent 3 years in Japan. I LOVED living in Japan. The Japanese people are so kind. I'm starting to feel the same as I've been teaching my Chinese students. It's been so fun. So in creating this project, I combined two of my favorite things: crafting and cultures. It's the best. Most of research was done on China Highlights. Here, I read about so many cool stories and learned about what they do during the holiday. I can't wait until I teach older kids so I can talk to them about this holiday and what their family plans to do. If you want to learn more about it, click here.
I'll be sharing some of the traditions I've incorporated into this decor as well. So that you too can have an cultural education!
I'll start with the lanterns. Chinese Paper Lanterns
Paper lanterns are a well-known part of Chinese culture, so of course I had to have those on my background. Turns out a part of the holiday is to light lanterns. However, they aren't all red like the ones for the Chinese New Year. They have lanterns of different colors, shapes, and sizes. Many lanterns lit in cities are in the shapes of different animals and people. It's like walking around the neighborhood and seeing the inflatable Christmas decor. It's just made out of paper. I have a pin on my Pinterest page that I used to make these paper lanterns.
I used my handy-dandy paper cutter to make it straight and even. I easily got six done in a half hour.
If you noticed, I changed out what the color of the handle would be and even added strips of black paper on the top and bottom for more color. It's beautiful! Even Dino (the VIPKID mascot) gets to hold a lantern too.
Mooncakes
Just like how we have eggnog and candy canes during Christmas, the Chinese have mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. My understanding though is that its seen like how we see fruitcake, a delicacy no one really likes anymore (Edit: this is not true. When I was presenting this award to another student, she showed me about 5 of them she had). But I needed a reward for the students and this was a pretty good one. I found the images online and printed them. Of course, I do not own the rights to these images and use them at my own risk. To find more images, simply Google, Mooncakes.
So at the beginning of the lesson, the mooncakes aren't on the wall, they are added as students complete activities. The Moon
Of course the moon must be included. It's a part of the name of the holiday. In fact, the moon is worshipped on this holiday.
Again, these images were found online and must be for personal use only. I Googled Moon clipart for the moon on the right. The image on the left I found on Freepik. And so far, it's a pretty awesome sight! I actually signed up for an account that night for Freepik because it had what I needed for my designing. There's a reason why the Moon is worshipped on this holiday. A long time ago, a warrior was given an elixir to become immortal for saving the Earth. However, this warrior loved his wife and chose to stay with her as a mortal. So he kept the elixir in his home. One day, a thief comes to steal this elixir for himself. The wife drank the elixir instead of allowing this crook to keep it. Once she became immortal, she flew to the moon, where it is said that she still lives there and will live there forever. In remembrance of his wife, the warrior began to pray and gave offerings to the moon. And the tradition as continued since.
The jade rabbit is also an icon for this holiday (as you can see on the photo above on the left). That is because the rabbit also lives with Chang'e (the woman on the moon). It is of his selfless sacrifice to the immortals.
So there you have it, the decor, the inspiration, and the stories! What a great blog post :D
Thanks for reading, folks! I have loved sharing this holiday with you and I hope the parents of my students appreciate what I have done (and I really hope I've done nothing wrong or offensive). Again, subscribe if you are interested in more VIPKID ideas or even just crafting ideas. You can follow my Facebook or Pinterest page as well. The links are on the top of the page. Thanks for reading!
P.S. If you think this will be a fun job to join, I’d love to help you through the interview process. You can email me with the mail icon below for any questions. My referral code (for when you apply) is: 04A7J3
2 Comments
Denise Lyday
4/19/2018 08:36:37 pm
I am trying to find Dress Dino file on the props and Videos, where will I find these?
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Char Call
4/20/2018 04:01:45 pm
When I made the post on FB, I attached a file to it. If you go to the group you found this post, you should be able to find it in the files.
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About MeHello! My name is Char. Thank you for visiting my blog, CallCrafts. I am a wife and mother who LOVES to make things. Read tutorials on crafts I've created to decorate my home, for parties, and more! Read more about me in My Story.
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