Chinese New Year, or as our friends in Southeast Asia call it, the Spring Festival, is a big deal! Thanks to folks moving around, you’ll find celebrations popping up all over the world.
While not as common, many choose to head home for the festivities.
Based on the lunar calendar, each year gets its own animal mascot in a 12-year cycle. And guess what? Dragons are a huge part of the Chinese New Year, symbolizing power, smarts, and good luck.
With 2024 being the Year of the Dragon, expect dragon-themed fun everywhere!
Want to join the party from home? Check out this list of 10 dragon crafts for Chinese New Year. Grab these crafts, some supplies, and get ready for an absolute blast!
Chinese New Year Dragon Crafts
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Children can create unique dragons with this dragon craft, whether they prefer big, small, cute, or fierce ones. So, lots of little dragon fans can realize their own unique visions.
The best part is all the supplies needed for this colorful craft are items you already have at home.
This fun and easy craft is perfect for kids who love dragons and want to explore the mystical world of Chinese culture. The dragon puppet template is free to download and has everything you need to create your dragon puppet.
It’s a simple craft that smaller ones can help with, but it looks great.
This step-by-step tutorial will guide you through making five unique and charming felt dragon puppets. The finished product is perfect for imaginative play.
With their vibrant colors and intricate details, these dragon finger puppets are entertaining and make a great addition to any puppet collection.
Celebrate the Chinese New Year with this fun and easy fire-breathing cardboard tube dragon craft. Kids will love blowing into the end of the tube to make the paper flames move and bring their dragon to life.
This dragon craft is a really cool toilet paper tube puppet. It’s easy to make with commonly available supplies, and it combines aspects of the Eastern and Western dragon variants, so it can be customized for either. But the best part is that they use glue dots to eliminate mess.
This next dragon craft is perfect for preschoolers and comes with free downloadable templates to make it even easier. Not only is it a fun activity for kids, but it's also a great way to teach them about the Chinese New Year.
Transform your little knight into a fearsome dragon with this easy-to-make cape. No sewing machine experience is necessary to whip up this costume for imaginative play. It’s sure to become a favorite at playtime.
Introducing Ember, the adorable baby dragon plushie perfect for snuggling up with. This precious dragon craft makes a great sewing project for kids looking for a challenge. Kids can even choose their felt for the dragon’s primary color to take it to the next level.
Sometimes, kids just need some coloring pages and crayons. Coloring helps kids relax while creating their artwork. These dragon coloring pages are an activity that will give kids something fun to do, which will keep them busy but also quiet.
Considering how good they look, these dragon finger puppets are deceptively easy to make. As an added plus, they resemble some well-known characters, so they can be used even outside of Chinese New Year.
Which dragon craft are you going to try first?!
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Sam is the crafter and founder of Simple Everyday Mom. She has been featured in Oprah Mag, Good Housekeeping, The Spruce Crafts, Country Living, The Bump and more. Read more.