Ang Pow Monkey Craft

It is the time of the year to start making some Chinese New Year crafts – Ang Pow Monkey Craft! This year, the first day of Chinese New Year falls on the 8^th February 2016 and it will last for 15 days. Over the past few years, I had made quite a few ang pow lanterns, taught the children simple ways to learn the Chinese zodiac, made various paper cuttings and also made a 3D Chinese “Spring” character. Click on the title Chinese Culture to look at my previous Chinese New Year crafts. Or pop over to my Pinterest’s Chinese New Year craft board below!

This coming year is the Year of the Monkey. Hopefully during these next few weeks, I will be sharing different types of monkey crafts or maybe Chinese New Year foods with you!

Today, I am showing you how to write the Chinese character “monkey” using old ang pows (red packets). This is a very simple way to decorate your wall and teach your children a Chinese word.

Many Chinese people tend not to reuse any ang pow as it is considered rude to reuse any old ang pows to re-gift it to another person. Normally they just throw them away after one use. So we tend to have lot of old ang pows which I keep for crafts.

To make this craft, you will need:

• A3 coloured paper
• Pencil/pen
• Glue
• Scissors
• Ang pow
• Paints & paintbrushes

Method:

1. Cut the ang pow into different shapes or sizes.
   
2. Write the Chinese character on the paper and rub the glue against the character.
3. Quickly stick the ang pow onto the word before the glue dries.
   
4. Then decorate it with paint or maybe glitter if you wish!
   

This is very easy to make and great for younger children. It is also a great way to learn to write Chinese character! I think next we are going to practise to write Happy New Year in Chinese next (Xīn Nián Kuài Lè – 新年快乐)!

Follow ET Speaks From Home’s board Chinese New Year on Pinterest.