In celebration of the year of the dragon, brighten up your classroom with these easy-to-make lanterns. There’s nothing more iconic than the lanterns that light the streets in China during their New Years celebration. The tradition can be traced as far back a 250 B.C. when Buddhist monks carried torches on New Year’s Eve, hoping to spot the Buddha himself. Today, some locals make bamboo frames and cover them with silk, but for your classroom, construction paper should do just fine!
1. Have a selection of construction paper, scissors and glue (tape or even a stapler will also do the trick). For more variety, bring some fun gift-wrapping paper as another option. The size of the paper can vary—if you use a standard 9×11 piece, lanterns will have a nice hourglass shape. If the dimensions vary, your lanterns will appear a bit more narrow or wide depending on the measurements. That’s what’s great about these lanterns—you can’t really mess ‘em up!
2. Fold your paper of choice in half the long way. You should have one long rectangle.
3. Being careful not to cut quite all the way to the other end, use your scissors to make about a dozen straight cuts starting from the folded side of your paper.
4. Unfold your paper and curl the short ends so they meet up. Glue, tape or staple these edges together.
5. To make your lantern handle, cut a strip of paper about 6 inches long and ½ inch wide and fasten it to either side of one end of your lantern.
Students can even decorate the paper before making their lantern—for example, writing their name beforehand so it shows up after the cuts are made. Or drawing their favorite shapes and designs. Once the lanterns are complete, use some colorful ribbon or yarn to string them all around your classroom. To add real light, try stringing small white Christmas lights from the same ribbon or yarn. Enjoy, as you enter your own classroom canopy of Chinese lanterns.