Celebrate Chinese holidays and the country's ancient culture with animal zodiac kites. Happy new year!

• 1.

  Research the meaning of kites in Chinese culture. Find out what the 12 animal zodiac symbols mean. Discover how kites are used everyday as well as in celebrations, such as for Chinese New Year.

• 2.

  With Crayola® Scissors, cut oak tag or posterboard into a diamond kite shape. Cover the entire kite with construction paper. Trim the edges with ribbon and attach with Crayola Glue Sticks.

• 3.

  On separate paper, draw an animal zodiac figure with Crayola Fine Tip Markers. Choose the animal that symbolizes the current year, or the upcoming new year. Color your zodiac figure with Crayola Markers. Cut out the zodiac figure. Glue the animal to the kite.

• 4.

  Punch holes in the top and bottom points of the kite. Thread ribbon or string through the holes. Add craft feathers or other ornamentation if you wish.

Standards

• LA: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
• LA: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Participate in shared research and writing projects.
• LA: Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.
• LA: Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
• SS: Describe how people create places that reflect ideas, personality, culture, and wants and needs as they design homes, playgrounds, classrooms, and the like.
• SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.
• VA: Identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resources include: The Legend of the Kite: A Story of China by Chen Jiang Hong; Kites: Magic Wishes that Fly Up to the Sky by Demi Demi; The Dancing Dragon by Marcia K. Vaughn
• Ask for parent volunteers who are experienced at flying kites. Organize a time when students can take their kites outside to fly them and view their chosen symbols in the sky.
• Encourage students to select a favorite Chinese symbol. Sketch this symbol using Crayola Crayons. Students write 2-3 sentences about the symbol chosen. Display the symbols and writing in the classroom.