Waking the Dragon

I didn't get to post yesterday... we have been busy and visiting with my sister has been a treat!! She really has been a lot of fun and has brought in such a wonderful Chinese New Year's experience!!
We Woke the Dragon yesterday... we read Dragon Dance again and made some comparisons about the dragons that were in the book and the ones we made. We talked about how the Dragon brings the Spring Rains to all the Farm Fields. We then had to Wake Up that Dragon (even though we really didn't want anymore rain here in NC :) ) We got out all our Musical Instruments and started making lots of noise!!!

Then while we all made some noise... a Dragon Magically appeared near Aunt Jackie!!

He shimmied and danced around the room

My Niece was used to the Dragon, so he didn't scare her at all... but some of our friends were a little apprehensive

After the Dragon went back to his resting spot, we made Chinese Lanterns from Red and Yellow Paper

Aunt Jackie even helped us make a Banner or Spring Couplet stating... Good Luck and Good Fortune... The kids were interested in the writing and traced it when Aunt Jackie was done. We then used Gold Glitter Glue to highlight the characters.

My Niece helping Little Miss M with her Chinese Lantern

Yes, Little Miss M needs to be right in the middle... I know she thinks she can do ANYTHING those big kids can do!!!

Our drying Banners. After they dried I punched holes at the top and tied on gold yarn to make a hanger for the kids to hang in their room, from a door knob, or on their doors.

We were going to send home our Chinese Lanterns right away, but they came out so beautiful we decided to hang them here in the playroom so we can see them all week!!!

We had a really great day... and I loved having my Sister and Niece here to help us. They really brought a beautiful and accurate account of the Chinese New Year that I have never been able to pull off before :)