Telford youngsters get a taste of Chinese New Year

The children at ABC Day Nursery in Lightmoor have been sampling food, making crafts and even writing in Chinese as they tried to understand more about the culture.

Kirsty Caldecott, lead operations manager at the Lightmoor nursery, said: “The children have really bought into Chinese New Year and have loved learning about how it is celebrated and how it differs from our traditional new year in this country.

“They have been fascinated about animals being linked to each year and how we are now in the Year of the Pig. We have been making decorations - something they always love doing.

“We have had great fun making lanterns and tasting different types of food. The children have been writing some Chinese words and have learnt how Fu is a very important word in Chinese, meaning happiness and good fortune."

The children have been learning about Chinese traditions and celebrations for New Year.

Kirsty said: “Traditionally, the Chinese hang up certain words at this time of year so we have been cutting out words and symbols and getting heavily involved in paper-cutting art before hanging them up around the nursery.

“The colour red is a very important part of the culture in general and the new year in particular - something else which is significant to the Chinese, once again meaning happiness and good fortune.

“The Chinese are very colourful, their celebrations and clothes, which has also caught the imagination of the children. They have been learning about how the Chinese wear new clothes to mark the new year because new clothes and new year means new beginnings.

“At ABC we like to incorporate current themes and events with what we do with the children. It helps to give them a feel for what is going on in the wider world while at the same time keeping it all fun.”