Year of the Snake Crafts and Decorations
Today I wanted to share a few snake crafts and decorations I recently made to help decorate for the upcoming Lunar New Year as on January 29th, we will be welcoming the Year of the Snake. Hope it can help to add a little fun to your family or classroom celebration as well!
These files are best printed out onto regular paper and used as a template to cut out onto colored construction paper. If you don’t have construction paper, regular white printer paper will work just fine. Your kids can color in their snakes using crayons, markers, or oil pastels. You could also print out the template onto mixed media paper for your kids to paint.
When making these lanterns, simply print out the paper lantern cut template above, fold in half, and use as a template to cut onto construction paper. We also used 12X12 pieces of cardstock to create some larger lanterns. This is a great activity for kids to work on scissor practice. My older kids still enjoy this activity and look forward to making lanterns every year.
This is what all the pieces look like when they are all cut out.
The eyes, tongue, and fangs should be glued onto the smaller circular head. Kids can either hole punch or draw in nostrils with a Sharpie. Then glue the belly, hood, and tail to the lantern body as shown.
My daughter wanted to also draw in eyelashes and curl her dragon’s tongue.
My middle daughter colored in her snake’s belly, and also drew and pasted on extra detail. I included a circle and diamond template that can be used to cut out a bunch of shapes onto construction paper for kids to further embellish their snakes.
We hole punched our lanterns on top at two sides and added pipe cleaners.
We displayed some on our bookshelves along with photos of my kids from past years with their lanterns. The links to my other lantern craft templates are provided at the bottom of this post. We also visited our local library and filled our bookshelves up with books about Vietnam, Tet, as well as snakes.
We made giant paper snakes to help decorate our home.
They are made from colored poster board (standard size measuring 22×28 inches). You just draw the largest swirl possible ending with a semi heart shape for the snake head then cut. I was able to layer the poster board so I could cut two to three out at once.
My kids helped me to cut and paste on eyes, draw in nostrils, and glue on their tongues. I made a template for the snake eyes that is free to download above.
They turned out really huge! We used painter’s tape to hang them to our kitchen ceiling and they have added a lot of festive fun to our space.
I also used paper plates to create two large snakes slithering up our walls.
I used a pack of 20 nine inch green paper plates to create each snake. They were purchased for 97 cents from Walmart. I attached them to my wall using painter’s tape. My kids helped me to attach the bottom of the snake and tried to make them symmetrical. I had to get a ladder to finish our snakes on top. I also added a green punch balloon to form the head, paper eyes (see the free template I made above), and a ribbon tongue.
Lastly, my kids helped me to make a green balloon garland and we made another snake head by adding another punch balloon. We also added some hoa mai flowers that we made from paper bowls and yarn.
My kids made smaller versions from a template I created a few years ago. It is free to download here.
They made pipe cleaner snakes using the template I made above. Simply print onto white cardstock, cut out, and tape a pipe cleaner to the back for kids to bead. They can work on creating their own unique patterns. This is also a wonderful activity for younger kids in strengthening their fine motor skills.
They studied all their books about snakes and made snakes out of air-dry clay. They are looking forward to painting them later when they are all dried.
You may also enjoy:
More Lunar New Year Crafts (includes free Happy New Year in Vietnamese banner and paper Hoa Mai cut outs to decorate more lanterns)
Lunar New Year I Spy and Counting Clip Cards
The Best Egg Rolls Ever Recipe
I create more printable activities for kids here with the goal of helping to grow kids who love to learn.
If you get a chance to make these snake crafts or decorations, I would love to see it! Please use #sodangfun on social media, tag me @sodangfun on Instagram, or post to my Facebook page.
Wishing you and your family a healthy and happy Year of the Snake!
Share this:
