CHINESE
CELEBRATIONS
CHINESE
MOON FESTIVAL
When? Usually in September
Why? To
celebrate a time when the moon in the sky shines brightest and fullest (round)
How? Families get together to dance, eat good food (including
"mooncakes"), and watch the moon.
Activities:
*Moon Cakes: Children
can make a preschooler version of mooncakes by rolling out refrigerator dough
and cookie-cutting it into circle shapes (full moon). (For some of you,
the "circle" is your shape of the month too, so how appropriate, huh?)
Have children prick the rounds a bit with a fork then help you bake them
until they are light brown. When cool, children spread jam on one cake and
top it with another. If you don't have time for this, but would still
like to serve a simple version of a mooncake, children could press two cookies
together with frosting in between.
*Creative Drama:
Children can role play the watching of the moon with their families (turn off
classroom lights).
*Have children paint a full moon
on black paper.
*Mini-Homework: Send a note home
for parents to join their children in looking at the night sky and watching the
moon. Is it a full one or a crescent moon? Discuss it with
children the next day.
By the
way, this celebration could be introduced for the letter Mm (omitting the date
altogether).
More Chinese celebrations are coming if/when I have time
to do the research.
Please
share your ideas too. E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com
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