Chinese New Year...Year of the Snake

February 10, 2013, is Chinese New Year.  And 2013 is the Year of the Snake...so we thought it would be fun to celebrate with a couple of fun Snake Crafts (ewwwww!!)  

We read Stone Soup in November around Thanksgiving time, but it would be a fun Chinese New Year tradition also.  You can click on this link to get our Stone Soup recipe.  Stone Soup is about three Chinese Monks who go to a selfish village in an attempt to teach them what real happiness is.  They teach them that happiness is found in sharing with others.  We use the Scholastic version:

For the first "snake craft," you're gonna need some different colors of construction paper, cut into strips the short way:

You'll need some green construction paper, cut in a circle about the size of a mug.  In fact, we used a mug! 

Fold the paper in half and then in thirds, so that the circle is at the top of a stack of paper, and you'll end up with 9 circles.  Follow our "paper cutting trick" and staple the corners to keep it stable while you cut:

Now, depending on the skill level and age of your kiddos, you can make a small paper chain using staples, tape, or glue.  (We always use Tacky Glue, it is so much better than Elmer's for paper crafts!!)

Fold your green circles into a big snake mouth:

...And staple it to the end ring.  Then cover the staple with glue...

...for the tongue.

Cut some orange and red papers like this...and glue them to the back of the "mouth" like so...

Cut a small piece of white paper to look like "teeth" and glue them to the inside top of the snake's mouth...and add some googly eyes (of course!!)

And there you have it!!

A colorful snake craft for Chinese New Year's!!

Another fun project uses just a toilet paper roll and a small slip of red construction paper for a mouth.

Cut a head shape out of the top of the toilet paper roll and then follow it around with a spiral cut all the way to the bottom...making a skinny tail.

Then decorate it...depending on the age and skill (and patience) of your kiddos, you can let them paint, color with crayons or markers, glue dots or sequins on the snake...

We just colored it with markers.  But it would be cute with glitter, too.

Finish him up with a tongue glued to the bottom of his mouth...

...and add some googly eyes, and there you have Snake #2!!

What are you going to do for Chinese New Year?  We'd love to hear!