It’s Time to Plan a Kid-Friendly Lunar New Year Party!

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with a fun children’s party! Put a fusion twist to it by assembling the event with homemade decorations, kid-friendly dishes, Chinese treats, and festive favors to take home. Find the perfect excuse to go crazy with crafting something memorable with a cultural learning experience for your little guests! (*this post contains affiliate links)

How to Throw a Kid-Friendly Lunar New Year Party

After you’ve sent the word out to your guests as early as January, you can choose to anchor your theme on the coming Chinese horoscope. For the year 2019, it will be the Year of the Pig! Start with a kids’ tablescape (1 – via Pottery Barn Kids) in colorful red and gold elements from take-out boxes filled with sweets to red paper lanterns to hanging streamers to Chinese horoscope placements atop with red party plates and chopsticks. You can even personalize each dining chair with your guest’s names!

The Party Food and Treats

Prepare a party menu with easy to cook recipes such as stir-fried egg noodles (2 – recipe via Supervalu) with chicken, Chinese egg rolls (3 – recipe via Kikkoman), and dumplings. Buy or make your own turnip cake known as lo bak go (5 – recipe via Instapot), which is a must-eat during the Lunar New Year. Keep the kids happy with some American-inspired munchies made with Kix cereal. Serve these rice crackers (4)  up in red and gold homemade containers. Prepare your own version of a tray of togetherness that is traditionally filled with 6-8 components of sugared fruits and nuts, sweets, coins, and seeds. You can personalize it with sweets like chocolate coins, white rabbit candy, Chinese good luck candy (6 – via Amazon), and candied oranges. If you are lucky enough to live near a branch of Aji Ichiban, you can find many of these items at this snack food store!

For additional goodies to serve, we’ve also prepared our own list of Chinese desserts from almond cookies to pineapple tarts. Fresh fruit such as mandarin oranges, kumquats, and lychees are also a popular option.

Party Favors and Activities

We all know that during the Lunar New Year, bright red envelopes filled with money are given out to children. But why stop at giving hong bao? Prepare a loot bag of Chinese treats to take home with items such as chopsticks, stickers, paper fans, and coloring books. Reading stories during Lunar New Year is a great party activity for the whole family. Select 3-4 storybooks (7 – via Amazon) for the little ones to enjoy and even take home as a favor. Plan a fun crafting activity such as making a Chinese firecracker garland (8 – via Kidspot), lanterns, or decorating your own pig (via Amazon) on unfinished ceramic using crafting paints. Lastly, get everyone excited by watching a traditional lion dance live or on DVD!

Happy New Year! 新年快乐!