Chinese New Year Crafts & Ideas for Kids 2026

That season has arrived once more, and our super handy collection of the Best Chinese New Year Crafts for Kids is ready to help! 2026 celebrates the Chinese New Year of the Horse! We adore Dragon Crafts for Kids and are sharing plenty here today, along with a wonderful selection of other Chinese New Year ideas. Chinese New Year 2026 falls on 17th February, marking the Year of the Horse! You might also enjoy our Animal Crafts for the Chinese Zodiac.

Come along and create these fantastic Chinese New Year Crafts 2026

Chinese New Year is China’s most significant celebration – translated literally, it means the Spring Festival and marks the beginning of a fresh Zodiac year. Naturally, this tradition is not limited to Chinese culture, as numerous Asian countries observe the Lunar New Year.

Homes are thoroughly cleaned to welcome a new beginning, while entrances to the homedecorated with red ornaments representing “good fortune”, “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”.As a general rule, Chinese New Year crafts focus on the lucky colour Red, the shade of wealth Gold and Dragons – together with the 12 animals in the Zodiac.

Since 2026 is the Year of the Horse, we felt that our Chinese Dragon Crafts AND Year of the Horse round ups could be helpful:

This collection of Year of the Dragon crafts features several brilliant free Dragon Printables too! Alternatively, take a look at the wonderfully entertaining Year of the Horse Activities here.

Chinese New Year Crafts for Kids

Let’s start with Chinese Dragon DIY projects

Chinese Dragon Puppet & Printable

This Chinese New Year Dragon puppet makes creating a dragon craft wonderfully simple. We designed an easy printout so that making the project is enjoyable and straightforward! Plus, when you visit Happy to Shelf, you can discover some delightful learning activities that use our dragon printable! All you require are our printables, red paper and recycled popsicle sticks! Such fun.

Chinese Dragon Paper Plate Twirlers

These Paper Plate Dragon Whirligigs are incredibly cute and enjoyable, come with printables, look amazing and are wonderfully simple to create. They make an ideal Chinese New Year decoration fort he classroom or at home!! We love them. They are suitable for preschoolers right through to adults! We painted ours with acrylic paint, although red paper plates work perfectly, as will any paints you already have!

Build Your Chinese Dragon Printable

Here is another excellent free resource: this fantastic build-your-own Chinese Dragon Printable. There are countless ways to use it… make it very short.. make it extremely long. Shape it into a curly wurly design or keep it straight. Use it for counting or practise number bonds (add extra segments), or investigate colour theory (blend colours across the dragon’s body..). If you are pressed for time, print it on coloured paper and put it together – ideal for Chinese New Year Bulletine boards in the classroom!

Printable Dragon Finger Puppet

This dragon finger puppet is another terrific printable, or, to celebrate the Year of the Snake, choose the single Horse Paper Puppet! It combines a wonderfully entertaining dragon colouring page and craft! You can download the dragon printable puppet alone or collect the complete set of 12 Zodiac Animal Finger Puppets!

Origami Dargon – simple paper crafts for Lunar New Year

As you prepare Chinese New Year resources, be sure to try this beautiful Origami Dragon – begin with a straightforward origami pattern… then use paper cut offs to create simple shapes (we guide you through it!) and transform the basic origami project into this impressive dragon craft. They would make lovely wall decorations or could be joined together as a garland for Lunar New Year displays. Be sure to watch the video on auto play as well!

Dancing Dragon Printable Card

You could also print and colour this gorgeous Dancing Dragon Card. It is so lovely!

Dragon Origami Bookmark Ideas

There are two versions of the Dragon Corner Bookmark. We absolutely adore these wonderful Dragon Corner Bookmarks for Chinese New Year, along with this Dragon Corner Bookmark. They are incredibly simple and, naturally, enjoyable to create. You could also make the Year of the Horse Bookmark corner, which is just as easy! (I now offer all 12 Zodiac Animal Corner Bookmarks together in one convenient bundle).

A brilliant Dragon Paper Craft for Chinese New Year!

Chinese Dragon Masks (with Template)

These enjoyable Dragon Masks can even transform your little one INTO a dragon. How fantastic! They are ideal for Chinese New Year celebrations. Choose from this set, cut out the pieces, and create your own, or:

Easy Dragon Mask Coloring Sheets

You can also try these Printable Dragon Mask Coloring Pages!

Egg Carton Dragon for Young Children

We are always fond of a clever recycled craft, and this charming egg carton dragon is no different. I Heart Crafty Things created this fantastic Egg Carton Dragon. Visit their page to discover how to make one today!

Chinese Dragon Cupcake Liner Art

Why not try this beautifully simple Dragon Art project? Colourful cupcake liners are all you need to finish it.

Learn more about this Dragon Craft for children from I Heart Crafty Things.

Egg Carton DragonPuppets for Chinese New Year

I first featured this Dragon many years ago when I began creating roundups for Red Ted Art. I adored it then, and I still love it today, so I am sharing it with you once more. Crafts made from egg cartons are fantastic because they use a simple household item you already have on hand. Add some paint and see the result! This design comes from Activity Village. Wonderful.Egg Carton Dragon Puppet

You can also take it one step further and turn your egg carton dragon into a puppet, as shown by Family Disney! It is absolutely gorgeous. Sadly, the step-by-step instructions and photographs are no longer available, but I thought you might still enjoy seeing the picture.

Chinese Dragon from Cardboard Tubes

Oh my goodness! As the self-proclaimed Cardboard Tube Queen, I am feeling envious because I wish I had created this wonderful dragon puppet. I absolutely LOVE it! Learning We Like developed the idea, and it is incredibly cute.

Chinese Dragon Made with Handprints

Here is another craft that makes my mummy heart melt. Just look at this sweet dragon, whose body is formed from the children’s handprints. How adorable is it? This one definitely belongs in the “hand craft drawer”. Baabaabeep and her wonderful children have created something enchanting! You can combine it with the hands shown here by using our free dragon printable at the top of this page.

Printable Paper Bag Chinese Dragon Puppet

I adore this simple Chinese Dragon Paper Bag Puppet from Pink Stripey Socks!

Chinese New Year Paper Bag Lion Masks

If you want an alternative to the classic Chinese Dragon Crafts, Pink Stripey Socks offers these incredible Paper Bag Lion Masks to create. They are fantastic!

Chinese Lantern Craft Projects

Kids absolutely adore dragons.. yet lanterns.. well, lanterns are simply beautiful! They look especially lovely when illuminated with fairy lights or tea lights. Below are some delightful DIY Chinese New Year Lantern Craft Ideas!

Zodiac Animal Paper Lanterns for 2026

Continue reading to discover how you can create traditional red paper lanterns from the beginning. If you prefer a speedy printable option, I have a useful collection of full-colour or colouring-page Zodiac Animal Paper Lanterns. Choose the complete set, or select JUST your favourite Zodiac animal.. and since this is the Year of the Horse.. why not choose that one alone? Of course, all 12 designs are wonderful!

Red Chinese Lanterns created from paper

As a child, I recall making these for “Carnival Day” (February). They are simple, enjoyable, and look wonderful when several are hung together. This is an excellent activity for developing cutting skills. So why not make a Chinese Lantern today! Place a tea light inside a glass in the centre, or attach a small handle at the top so it can be hung.

Festival Lanterns – Fairy Lights

Alternatively.. create smaller versions of the same simple lanterns… and fasten them to fairy lights. The result is soooo charming.Chinese Lantern Fairy Lightspost. This is a lovely variation on the classic lantern project. Since we are discussing “cutting”, paper cutting is an important traditional Chinese activity. Discover more about it with Miss Panda Chinese.

Lanterns from Paper Rolls

Let’s return to our beloved Toilet Roll Crafts – these can easily become lanterns! They are entertaining and inexpensive once again. Visit our Paper Roll Lantern post to learn how.

Lantern Suncatchers

This Chinese Lantern Suncatcher is not only gorgeous to look at, but it is also simple enough for preschoolers to create!!! Learn more about it at The Gingerbread House!

Chinese Lantern Art Activity

This Chinese Lantern Art Project is wonderfully charming. Children may design one individually, or work together to produce a shared piece of artwork. Visit Pink Stripey Socks to find out more!

Chinese Takeout Lantern

Okay.. this may not exactly be a “traditional” Chinese craft, but I couldn’t leave it out – don’t these lanterns made from “takeout boxes” look fantastic? Make Handmade came up with the idea. I absolutely love it!!

Additional Chinese New Year Craft Activities and Ideas

There always seems to be an “eclectic” craft section at the end? I suppose some projects could have been placed under “Paper Chinese New Year Crafts” or “Animal Chinese New Year crafts”.. but sometimes mixing everything together is much simpler.. so.. what do you think of these enjoyable craft ideas?!

Chinese Money Red Envelopes

In Chinese culture, money is often given in red envelopes as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. Try creating your OWN red envelopes and decorating them beautifully with this Chinese New Year Red Money Envelope craft. It is a fantastic paper project for children! All you need is red paper, scissors, and glitter glue!

Chinese New Year Paper Plate Fans

For a wonderful craft idea, pair paper plates with craft sticks to create these gorgeous Chinese New Year fans! The blend of gold, red, and black gives them a striking festive appearance. Find additional details and step-by-step photos at The Pinterested Parent!

Chinese Paper Hand Fan

A straightforward Chinese Fan is always a lovely idea! The “materials needed” section made this project seem far more complicated than it is.. I am certain you could create equally beautiful fans with fewer “supplies”…. for example, replace the stamps with a gold pen or use pieces of gold paper. The idea originally came from Craft Kaboose, although the site is no longer available. Here are some excellent alternative instructions.

Chinese Drum – a perfect sound maker for preschool children

Create an adorable Chinese New Year Drum Craft: Build your own drum to scare away evil spirits – this version uses an old CD (which creates a lovely sound) and beads. It is simple and entertaining! From St Louise Public Library Parents (visit the library!!).

Chinese New Year Paper Plate Drums

Alternatively, children can make this Paper Plate Chinese New Year Drum. Visit Gift of Curiosity for the straightforward instructions!

Goldfish Kite crafted from Toilet Paper Rolls

Here is more Toilet Paper Roll fun from Lightly Enchanted, who delighted me by creating these charming Goldfish using my favourite Cardboard Tubes! They are incredibly cute, and I can easily picture them dancing in the wind. They are truly wonderful.

Goldfish Origami to celebrate Chinese New Year

Bring cultures together with these Origami projects for children. Introduce your kids to their first origami animal by making these sweet little goldfish. I keep intending to explore more origami. They would make a lovely mobile. If you would like some “fancy origami” paper but do not have any, visit my free printables page, where you will find links to designs that can be printed at home! Crafty Crafted provides a step-by-step tutorial!

Sand in My Toes explains how to create these lovely Chinese Good Luck Ornaments for children!

Fingerprint Zodiac Animal Activity

Fingerprint Zodiac Animal Activity – from the entertaining handprint blog – this would also be a wonderful addition to our collection of Chinese Zodiac Animals!

Create Your Own Fortune Cookies

Did you realize that Fortune Cookies are not actually eaten in China?! They were largely “created for the West”; nevertheless, I think they are a playful addition to any Chinese New Year collection.

The AllRecipes website shares a recipe for making fortune cookies. I have not prepared these before, but I would really like to try. Perhaps there is still time to make them for Red Ted’s nursery… mmmh. Yes, I believe I will!

Fortune Cookies Made from Paper

If the “authentic” edible Fortune Cookies seem somewhat challenging, why not create this considerably simpler Paper Fortune Cookie version instead? They are incredibly fun and easy. I LOVE Paper Crafts!

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WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR—be sure to try some crafts!

Why not explore a few Chinese Zodiac Origami projects?

Or perhaps you would enjoy these fantastic Zodiac Animal Puppets & Coloring Pages? Download ALL 12 Zodiac Animals, or choose only the Year of the Horse puppet for 2026:

You might also enjoy our Animal Crafts for the Chinese Zodiac – ideal if you would like to discover crafts for the year of the rat, tiger, pig, and more!

Discover more excellent Dragon Crafts for Preschool and older children here: