给北美的孩子讲中国春节

我被孩子老师邀请，去学校讲了两次中国春节，写出来也许对将要去孩子班上讲春节的家长有点帮助。因为你去得说英文，所以我附带了我想说的英文段落。你完全可以自己现场发挥。不是所有人都能当老师的，准备一下还是好的。好多材料可以从网上查来。

每年我们给孩子们巧克力金币红包包. 有一年儿子班上一台湾人给每一孩子$1，我听其他家长背后的反映不是太好。他们说莫名其妙你为何给我孩子钱? :-(



自己做的有孩子中文名字的贺卡很受欢迎， 这张是前年的。他们很高兴看到自己的名字写成中文。你有时间，书法又好，可以当场写。事先了解一下你孩子班上同学的名字，别像我， 对于较偏的英文名，有时当场逼半天也翻译不出个好的中文名来。


如学校老师允许，孩子们很喜欢品尝饺子和春卷 (最好不要油炸的)。带食品去学校，一定要与老师商量好。我就买Sam's Club 的饺子煎了带去，老美吃着放心。我事先还通过Email告知所有家长。如有人不同意，可以跟老师说，或教孩子不尝饺子，但至今还没碰上反对的。




传统的春节对联，剪纸，邮票， 有实物显示最好。





接下来当然要发扬光大中国了: 国旗(National Flag), 国徽(National Emblem)，国歌(National Anthem - March of the Volunteers)








然后是中国大概, 我做了Slides, 还带了中国地图。问得最多的是我是从哪儿来的, 在哪儿上的学，为什么来美国 :-)。 这张也是前年的。现在要用噢帮马了 :-)




孩子们对同龄人很关心，可以大大地发挥一下国内小学教育。你可用国内孩子的家庭作业吓吓他们 :-)


如想送孩子小礼物的可以在 Oriental Trading Company 买。如果老师给你多的时间，你可以在他们网上买些中国新年有关的小手工艺 Kits，让孩子们当场做。

我知道有高中学生的父母去学校教高中生们包饺子的。放肉馅的，菜馅的，甚至巧克力馅的都有。孩子们吃着自己挑的馅自己包的饺子，很是开心。也就记住了中国新年。

Chinese New Year
China’s most popular traditional holiday, Chinese New Year (CNY) is a time for feasting, family reunions, fun and celebration! Every year, Asians throughout the world spend weeks preparing for the 15-day celebration, officially called the Spring Festival. In 2010, Chinese New Year falls on Sunday, February 14th. It is lunar year 4708, the year of Tiger according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

Last year, the CNY begins on Monday January 26 in 2009. It is the Year of Ox, year 4707 on the Chinese calendar.

Here are some of the ways you can celebrate CNY:

1. Clean House - Before the New Year arrives, the Chinese consider it very important to give the house a thorough cleaning, sweeping away any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year.

2. Decorate! - Doors and window panes are also often painted red, considered to be a lucky color. In addition, people like to hang paper-cuts and Chinese Calligraphy on doors and windows. Paper cutting is an ancient Chinese art form.

3. Ware brand new clothes – it will bring you a better New Year and prospect.

4. Don't clean for the first few days of the New Year - if you do any sweeping during this time, you may risk sweeping away your good luck.

5. Offer a Sacrifice to the Kitchen God - Many families have a poster or statue of the Kitchen God in their kitchen. The custom is to offer a ceremonial sacrifice to the Kitchen God, to make sure that he gives a good report on the family's behavior when he returns to heaven. Rice sticky cake (Nian Gao) is popular, or children may rub honey on him.

6. An important tradition on New Year's Eve is for families to gather together and spend the evening preparing Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi – wheat flour or Yuanzi – rice flour). According to Chinese culture, it is common to hide a coin in one of the dumplings. Whoever gets the dumpling with the coin will supposedly have good luck in the coming year.

7. Give out money packets - On New Years day, children receive the “Spring Festival Money Gift (or yashuiqian), a red packet decorated with gold symbols and filled with "lucky money".

8. Like Thanksgiving and Christmas in the US, Chinese serve festive foods throughout the CNY season. Certain foods are served because they symbolize abundance and good fortune. Besides preparing special dishes, tangerines and oranges are often passed out to children and guests, as they symbolize wealth and good luck.