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Make this easy dragon mask and organize your own parade for Chinese New Year. You can dance around the classroom, in the halls or join a parade in your town with each child participating with their own mask. It is also a good opportunity to talk about the culture and traditions of China.

Trivia:

The dragon dance itself originated sometime during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) as a way to pray to the gods, or perhaps the dragons themselves, for much-needed rain for crop harvests. Source: ProjectPengyou – Dragons that Dance: A Brief History of Dragon Dances on Chinese New Year

Supplies

• Card Stock or Heavy Paper
• Glue Stick or White Glue
• Scissors
• Straw or Dowel

Instructions

1. Print and cut out the mask in color or black and white. Have the kids color their mask before cutting if using the black and white version.
2. Glue mask to dowel or straw using the picture for a reference
3. Line the kids up and have them dance in a moving line winding right and left pretending to be the dragon

Patterns, Templates and Printables

Click on a pattern to open it in a new window to print in the correct size