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"Chinese New Year Celebrations in the Neighbourhood" • 

Frobel Preschool Ang Mo Kio


Chinese New Year provides an authentic context for children to develop an awareness of and nurture appreciation for the local ethnic culture. By participating in customs and traditions related to the festival, children are provided with opportunities to learn and use the Mother Tongue Language in real and relevant situations. In this activity, the children learnt about the customs and traditions of Chinese New Year. They then put what they had learnt into practice as they went on a neighbourhood walk and presented members of the community with mandarin oranges and addressed them with auspicious greetings.

Objectives:


a) Gain an awareness of and appreciation for the Chinese culture 
b) Communicate with others using appropriate Chinese New Year greetings and gestures

Introducing the customs and traditions of Chinese New Year


Teachers explained to the children the customs and traditions of Chinese New Year. They introduced items related to Chinese New Year and showed how to greet others while giving oranges. Children then role-played the correct way of giving oranges to each other. 
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Going on a Neighbourhood Walk


On the actual day, the children were all geared up and excited to participate in the neighbourhood walk. Together with their teachers, they walked around the neighbourhood and gave mandarin oranges to the shop owners and senior citizens while wishing them a happy and prosperous year ahead! Many of the people who received the oranges were very touched and delighted by the children’s sincere gesture. Some of the shop owners returned the gesture by giving the children treats while many senior citizens hugged and praised them.

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After the walk, the Kindergarten 1 and 2 children discussed and wrote about their experiences while the younger Playgroup and Nursery children talked about their feelings. Overall, it was a fruitful activity as the children experienced the spirit of giving and spreading joy through simple gestures. Children learnt a simple lesson that it is better to give than to receive!



Contributed by: Teachers Annabel Chow, Bianca Altarejos, Thanam Subramaniam 
Principal Hannah Grosse 
Frobel Preschool Ang Mo Kio