Lunar New Year
Today is the Lunar New Year also known as Tet which is the biggest holiday for Vietnamese people. It is like everyone’s birthday, Christmas, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one. Today is also celebrated by other Asian countries such as Korea, Tibet, and China. In Vietnam, it is celebrated for weeks.
I am the first person in my family to be born in the United States. My parents (who met in ESL class in America), grandparents, aunts, uncles, and a few of my older cousins fled Vietnam when Saigon fell in April of 1975. My father was a paratrooper who had to leave his family behind and lead his troop to safety. My late uncle served as a captain on one of the largest ships in the South Vietnamese Navy and rescued my mom’s side of the family as well as thousands of other families.
Tet is very special to our family as it celebrates our culture and brings our family together. Though we are all proud Americans, we are also proud of our ancestors and unique heritage.
Growing up, I have many fond memories of delicious homemade Banh Chung (savory squares of sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves with mung bean and pork in the middle), dressing up in ao dai (the Vietnamese traditional dress), receiving li xi (lucky money in red envelopes), visiting family, and exchanging wishes for happiness, health, and prosperity. I hope to continue these fun traditions as well as make some new ones to enjoy with my kids.
We made a lot of lanterns.
These were so simple and inexpensive to make. I hung red balloons to the ceiling with fishing wire and push pins. I then cut a toilet paper roll in half, wrapped yellow crepe paper streamer around it and fringed it, then taped a red mini pom pom ribbon tail (yay for Christmas clearance). I purchased these red envelopes to pass out and hung the extras up with fishing wire.
We used a lot of red while decorating as it is believed to scare away bad spirits. There are many funny superstitions that accompany this day. You’re not supposed to clean (wash clothes, sweep, take out the garbage) or cut your hair on the first day of the new year as it will bring bad luck. I am not saying I completely buy into all of this… but I made sure to shower yesterday night because washing your hair today is also considered bad luck.
The New Year also symbolizes the start of spring with hoa mai (apricot blossoms that have yellow petals and red centers) being one of the first flowers to bloom in southern Vietnam. I made a page of these pretty blooms for the kids to cut and color. We then made simple paper lanterns to paste the blossoms on.
We also used yellow, gold, sequins, and glitter because according to my girls, all decorations look better with some sparkle.
I also made a banner that says Chuc Mung Nam Moi which means Happy New Year in Vietnamese.
The banner is best printed out onto cardstock, cut, then hole punched on top, and hung with ribbon, yarn, or twine. We used double sided tape to adhere more hoa mai cutouts to embellish our banner.
Lastly, as my kids loved the articulated football player puppets we recently made, (so much that we went through a package of 100 brads in one week), I made a new batch of articulated Vietnamese paper dolls wearing their non la (palm leaf hat) and traditional dress (ao dai).
This file is best printed out onto cardstock, given to your child to color, decorate, and cut. You will need to use a sharpened pencil to poke a small hole in the center of each spot that is marked with an x, then your doll is ready to assemble with small brads. Also included is a page of extra ao dai for kids to color, decorate, and attach to their doll. The printout can also be used as a template to trace onto scrapbook paper or a large lucky money envelope to create fancier dresses.
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I create more fun educational printable activities for kids here with the goal of helping to grow kids who love to learn.
Wishing you and your family much happiness and good health in the Year of the Buffalo!
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