Lunar New Year Celebrations and Fun at Aspire
Lunar New Year was celebrated on January 29th and marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese zodiac. Lunar New Year is a major cultural celebration in many Asian countries, and a time for family reunions, honouring ancestors, and celebrating new beginnings. The holiday is often filled with traditions like feasts, giving red envelopes for good luck, and spectacular fireworks.
At Aspire Early Education, many of our centres celebrated Lunar New Year to honour the culture that is close to the hearts of our families. Discover more about the celebrations, activities, and delicious feasts that were organised across some of our Aspire centres below.
At Aspire Cranbourne West, the toddler children participated in a smooched dragon painting activity to recognise Lunar New Year. The children using their hand eye coordination to spread the red and yellow paint over the paper in the shape of the dragon. This fun experience enhanced their cultural awareness, as well as creativity learning.
In the 3-year-old Kinder room, the children immersed themselves in a Chinese restaurant role-play to recognise Lunar New Year. They explored different Asian cuisines, practised using chopsticks, and engaged in wonderful conversations with their peers. This fun, hands-on experience helped them develop cultural awareness, social skills, and fine motor skills while celebrating culture, teamwork, and creativity. Check out the wonderful restaurant set-up below!
Aspire Ramlegh celebrated Lunar New Year through various fun activities. The children did a special group time with educator Ying who taught the children the Chinese numbers. Through song and saying each number together as a group, they learnt a few of the numbers.
The children also looked at traditional clothing and some of the kinder children were able to try the clothing on – how cute do they look! They also had a play dough table set up with red and yellow playdough with pretend food and chopsticks for the children to explore their imagination. Educator Ying demonstrated to the children how to hold chopsticks and use them to eat traditional Chinese food.
The centre had a Photo Booth at the foyer with some colouring sheets celebrating the year of the snake. During the week the children made a Chinese snake with their handprints and displayed them on the door. The children also made Chinese lanterns out of red paper and hung them around the room. It was wonderful to see the children engage so enthusiastically, learning about and appreciating a new culture!
At Aspire Thornhill Village, they were fortunate to have an amazing Lion Dance performance to celebrate Lunar New Year. In many cultures, the lion is believed to bring good fortune and drive away negative energy. The dance was filled with vibrant costumes, dancing and energetic movements. The children were so excited and thoroughly enjoyed the performance, sharing their blessings and good wishes for the new year.
At Aspire Clyde North, they also had a magical Lion dance performance which had the children smiling with joy and amazement. This traditional dance was a great way to recognise Lunar New Year and its meaning.
Check out some photos of the performances at the centres below!
The Aspire Head Office team had a wonderful time celebrating Lunar New Year on the last day of January. The staff enjoyed a delicious feast which included a mix of dumplings, fried rice, satay chicken, steamed vegetables, spring rolls, chicken wings and of course some prawn crackers! It was a great opportunity to consume many dumplings (of course!) but also enjoy some time with our peers.
Along with the lunch, there were some red envelopes shared, where staff could choose their envelope from a lucky dip. Each one included a fortune as well as some chocolate coins, topping off a wonderful lunch had by all.
We hope everyone who celebrated had a happy and safe Lunar New Year!
