Lunar New Year Activities for Toddlers

Picture credit: Design by Aly

Hat belonging to a traditional hanbok worn on Lunar New Year.

Lunar New Year, or Seollal, is the most important holiday celebrated in Korea.  Falling on the second new moon after the winter solstice, Koreans begin preparing for it's arrival days before the start of the lunar calendar.  This year, the celebration begins on February 10th and extends into the following two days.  Below are a few ways that our family will be learning about and celebrating Seollal in 2013.  

Reading

We just love incorporating Korean holidays into our family traditions, so this year we are starting early by reading one of our favorite books about the activities and traditions of Seollal entitled, "This Next New Year" by Janet S. Wong. This story takes you through one multicultural family's festivities of Lunar New Year, which coincides with a few that we share as a family as well!  This beautifully illustrated book is filled with hope and optimism that are brought to life by a little boy eager to start fresh.

Sweeping

One tradition that most families share is cleaning the entire house to "sweep away the bad luck."  They do this as an attempt to start fresh, so that's exactly what we'll be doing as well. Since my toddler loves to help out with the chores, I thought we would get a bit of practice in before the start of the new year!

To help my little one sharpen his hand-eye coordination and work on a basic life skill, I found a small broom and dust pan that was perfect for him.  I had a package of foam blocks that we used just last week to paint with shapes and thought they would be easy for him to sweep up.  I simply dumped the foam shapes on the floor and showed him how to guide them into the dustpan with the small hand broom.  Since the next step is usually tossing the dust into a garbage can, I found a tub that he could use to dump the blocks in as he "cleaned up."

Bathing

Just as it is important to clean your house, personal cleanliness is a focus as well.  We'll start out by giving my toddler a bath the morning of Seollal, instead of waiting until bedtime, and dressing him in a brand new outfit (to symbolize a new beginning).    

Until then, we thought it would be fun trying out a creative bath before the big day by coloring it red with Crayola Color Bath Dropz.  I've been wanting to add glitter ever since I saw a post that Creative Playhouse shared on Bath Activities for Kids during the start of winter.  So before dinner one evening, we tossed in a red color dropz, added some bubbles, and sprinkled in a bit of red glitter for shine! He had so much fun in the bath!

As we get closer to the start of Lunar New Year, we will also gather a few provisions that are custom to serve during the holidays: tangerines and fish that are said to bring good fortune.  That evening, our son will also be presented with a red envelope containing "lucky money," and a small gift such as a new book to commemorate the beginning of a fresh start in our household ~ the Year of the Snake!   


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