Article Beyond Food & Fiestas
Practical ideas for creating authentic cultural experiences for your students.
Chinese New Year: Lion Dance Puppets
Why is the Lion Dance an important tradition in Chinese culture?
In this K-2 lesson, students will learn the history of the Chinese Lion Dance and create lion head puppets to perform in a parade. Students will learn about the traditional dance, the costumes that are worn, and the music that accompanies the dance performance.
Lesson Content
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Locate China on a world map.
- Ask and answer questions about the Chinese Lion Dance through print and media sources.
- Determine important information about the history and culture of the Chinese Lion Dance.
- Create puppets based on the Chinese Lion Dance.
- Dance in a Chinese Lion Dance parade for an audience.
Standards Alignment
Recommended Student Materials
Editable Documents: Before sharing these resources with students, you must first save them to your Google account by opening them, and selecting “Make a copy” from the File menu. Check out Sharing Tips or Instructional Benefits when implementing Google Docs and Google Slides with students.
Videos
Websites
Teacher Background
Practice the accordion folding technique used in the construction of the Lion Dance puppets in order to easily demonstrate it for students. Build background knowledge of the Lion Dance and Chinese culture to better answer questions.
Student Prerequisites
Students need experience with scissors, glue, rulers, folding, and following step-by-step directions.
Accessibility Notes
Modify movements and allow for extra time as needed.
Engage
- Activate students’ knowledge of China with the . Ask students to observe the images, map, and animated film and generate “I notice” statements and “I wonder” questions.
- As a class, read the book Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year by Kate Waters and Martha Cooper to learn more about the Chinese Lion Dance. Note that Ernie’s family lives in New York City, not in China. Raise awareness that many cities in the United States and elsewhere have communities of people of Chinese heritage and celebrate with Chinese traditions.
- Have a class discussion about the text. Encourage students to share personal experiences or connections.
Build
- Display the informational digital text, , and watch by Culture Creatures.
- Engage students in a class discussion: When is the Chinese Lion Dance usually performed? What are the two styles of the Lion Dance? How are they similar/different? What does the lion symbolize? What is the Lion Dance supposed to do for people? What instrument follows the lion? Allow students to extend the discussion with questions and observations, as time allows.
- Introduce the from the Kennedy Center’s DC Folkdance Festival. After the students have finished viewing the video, ask them to add words that describe the movements in the Chinese Lion Dance to their brainstormed list.
Apply
- Describe Chinese Lion Dance puppets. Look at the brainstormed list of words describing the lion. Ask students to recall the shapes of the lions’ faces and tails, too. Discuss the shapes of the eyes and mouths of the Lion Dance masks. Notice that the wide-open mouth and bulging eyes make the lion look scary.
- Review the and . Model for students how to appropriately use materials and equipment.
- Create Chinese Lion Dance puppets. Have students use the or illustrate their own interpretation of the lion faces and tails using blank paper. Have students cut-out the faces and tails.
- Decorate Chinese Lion Dance puppet face and tail. Display the images from as a reference.
- Create the body of the puppet. Differentiate body styles using the options below.
Simple Accordion: From the remaining paper, cut one strip of paper about 3” x 12” wide. Use an alternating series of folds to make multiple panels, similar in size. This will create alternating folds or “pleats.” Gently pull on the ends. The folds will stretch out like an accordion.
Complex Accordion: From the remaining paper, students should cut strips of paper about 2” x 19” wide. Each student needs two strips of paper to form the body of the lion. Students can trade around to end up with a mixture of colors. Lay one strip on top of the other at right angles to form an “L” shape. Fold the first strip back over the second. Fold the second strip over the first again. Continue alternating in this way until the paper is used up. Students will have a square with many layers of paper. Gently pull on the ends. It will stretch out like an accordion.
Steamer or Tissue: Cut 2-4, 2” wide strips of tissue paper or streamers approximately 12” long. Twist, braid or leave straight.
- Assemble Chinese Lion Dance puppets. Glue the head to one craft stick and the tail to the other. Glue one end of the body to the back of the head with the stick in between the two. Glue the other end of the body to the back of the tail in the same way.
- Plan your Lion Dance parade with . After students have finished creating their Chinese Lion Dance puppets, tell them that they will dance in a parade with their Chinese Lion Dance puppets. Decide where the parade should be (around the classroom, up and down the hall, etc.). Have students think about the movements they observed in the Chinese Lion Dance video. Have them refer back to the brainstormed list for ideas of how the lions should dance.
- Have your Lion Dance parade. As a musical accompaniment, play the for background music during the parade. If possible, invite others in the school and community to view the parade.
Reflect
- Discuss with students the different ways they learned about the Lion Dance: by listening to a story, by reading information, by looking at the pictures and watching videos, and by making a puppet and holding a parade. Ask: What are the advantages of learning information in a variety of ways (reading, watching, listening, crafting)?
- Assess students’ knowledge of the Lion Dance with the .
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Original Writer
Maureen Carroll
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Adaptation
Rebecca Haden
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Editor
JoDee Scissors
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Updated
December 18, 2023
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Collection China
An army of buried warriors, lion dances, dancing shadows and a tornado of fire... experience the vibrant diversity of the arts across China.
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