Lunar New Year Craft Ideas For Kids

Eco Friendly Craft Ideas for Lunar New Year

We're welcoming our Babipur Buddy Liz to the blog to chat with us about Lunar New Year celebrations, New Year's cake and a fab kids craft idea for the Year of the Rabbit. Also known as the Spring Festival 春节 in China, Lunar New Year starts this year on the 22 January and includes up to 16 days of celebrations! 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, the fourth animal in the Zodiac. Let's hand over to Liz to find out more ...

Hi Liz! Thanks for coming to chat with us about Lunar New Year and how your family celebrate! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your family?

Thank you for having me! My husband and I are from Malaysia. We came to the UK for university, met each other, found a job afterwards, decided to build a life together here in the UK and the rest is history! We now have two gorgeous boys (6yo and 3yo) and a baby on the way. You can follow our life happenings over on IG @mummyyof2boys .

Majority of our extended family are in Malaysia and it is during the Lunar New Year especially that we miss them and wish we could be part of the festivities back home.

This year, 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit – can you tell us what this means? What does the Rabbit symbolise?  

The year of the Rabbit is said to symbolise longevity, peace and prosperity. I think after the turbulent couple of years the UK has had, we hope that this year does indeed bring us all some peace and prosperity. 

As children, we get excited when it is the year of our animal zodiac. I think it is the sense of pride and belonging seeing your animal zodiac heavily featured on the CNY displays and also printed on red packets. Now as adults, we still get excited over this but it is also like a reminder that the years are passing by! 

Now, someone mentioned cake … food always has an important role to play in special celebrations! Can you tell us a bit about your favourite food preparations for Chinese New Year?  

Yes definitely! Food plays a major role in the Chinese New Year celebrations, largely for their symbolic meaning. The auspicious symbolism is based on their pronunciation, the way the food is prepared, served and eaten. 

I wish I had the time and skill to prepare all of my favourite CNY snacks and dishes! My social media is currently awashed with pictures of them and it is making me very hungry indeed! 

One of my husband's and my must-eat CNY food item is 'Nian Gao', new year's cake. Nian is a play on words as it means sticky '粘' but also means year '年' and Gao '高' means tall/high, so jointly, it means 'getting taller year after year', symbolising prosperity. This cake is often given as gifts to family and friends to wish each other well for the upcoming year. It brings back fond memories for my husband and I of our childhood, of us being back at our grandparents' homes, where we would gather around the table to catch up with family while savouring this sweet, sticky cake. 

In the UK, we used to purchase 'Nian Gao' from our local oriental supermarket but since learning how to make it, I have been making our own! There is a sweet and savoury version of it. The one we grew up eating is the sweet one.

We'd love to hear more about how you make Nian Gao, it sounds amazing!

The 'Nian Gao' as we know it, is a steamed, brown, sticky and sweet cake, made with glutinous rice flour, brown or white sugar and water. I like to replace the water with some coconut milk to add a depth of flavour and fragrance to it. This year, I will also add some coconut sugar syrup, commonly known as Gula Melaka, which we brought back from Malaysia last summer! Once the cake is steamed and cooled, I refrigerate it for 1-2 nights to let it firm up more before slicing. 

We like eating the cake pan-fried on its own, with egg wash, or paired with a slice of sweet potato, dipped in batter and deep fried. Crispy on the outside, warm, sticky, sweet like caramel on the inside…yummy!! 

This cake is traditionally steamed in round steel pans, lined with banana leaves but nowadays, many steam them in round plastic containers for convenience sake. Since starting to make these cakes a few years ago, I have been on the lookout for suitable containers not just for these cakes, but also for everyday life. I'm so glad to report that the Elephant Box Seal and Go containers are the perfect shape and size for all these reasons! 

I usually cover the steaming bowls with cling film or foil to prevent condensation from going in, but this time, I tried it with the food-grade silicone lids that come together with the containers. I'm so pleased it worked! This is by far the prettiest Nian Gao I've ever made! These will definitely be my go-to containers for steaming Nian Gao from now on! 

We are very excited to have my brother with us during the first few days of CNY so we will definitely be enjoying some special dishes together. Keep an eye out on my IG stories to follow our celebrations! 

Wow! They look delicious! Will you be doing any Lunar New Year crafts this year to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit?  

It's hard not to scratch that craft itch to celebrate a special occasion, especially with a box of paper and cardboard leftover from Christmas just waiting to be used! So, for the year of the Rabbit, together with my preschooler, we made a bunny bunting! 

We made bunny bodies with our Dr Zigs bubble paint kit and filled in the details with Kitpas crayons. I used a Grapat hoop to make the shape of the bunny before cutting it out, punched some holes in, and threaded them with twine. 

I repurposed an old calendar for this as I find the bubble paint works best on thicker paper or card. When my 3yo was done making bunnies, he asked for the pint size Klean Kanteen cups and straws and enjoyed making an overflowing cup of bubbles!

This bunny bunting will also be perfect for Easter! 1 craft for 2 occasions! Win! 

What a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing your craft ideas! Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year!  

Thank you for having me. Happy Chinese New Year to team Babipur and to all who celebrate! Wishing you peace, longevity and prosperity in the year of the Rabbit and the years to come!