Happy Year of the Snake!
The Lunar New Year is a 15 day celebration, and the Manatees—along with our greater school community—have taken the week to learn more about the way it is celebrated in NYC and around the world.
The Owlets and Dolphins even paid us a visit in celebration of the new year! We received a red envelop with snake gold coins from the Owlets, and the Dolphins surprised us with their dragon dance.
THE GREAT RACE
The Lunar New Year celebrates a 12-year cycle of animals that mark each year. The mythical story behind the Chinese zodiac originated from a race between animals held by the Jade Emperor on his birthday. “The Great Race” tells the story of how the animals got selected to be a part of the lunar calendar. The are several versions to this story, so on Tuesday, I told the Manatees a version I am familiar with, which highlights how different animals helped each other cross the great river to the finish line.
I used props from the classroom to model how our toys can be used to tell a story.
We have also been exposing the manatees to other forms of storytelling, such as audiobooks and videos.
Almost everyday the Manatees request a story to listen to while eating snack. This week we listened to a version of “The Great Race” that is told with a humorous tone. The Manatees had a good laugh learning why rats and cats don't get along in this mythical story!
YEAR OF THE SNAKE
This week we have also been working on our fine motor skills to make snake masks! We used small brushes to first paint our masks red, and then we used our strong fingers to peel stickers to add more decorations.
We also worked together to make a snake for the classroom! Everyone painted and collaged their own toilet paper roll, and today we came together to assemble it.
The Manatees have been working on a sewing project in art class, so it was great practice for the Manatees to thread their own roll to add to our collective artwork!
We even had a big dance party and popped our pretend firecrackers by stomping on bubble wrap!
HAPPY YEAR OF THE SNAKE!
Other Highlights
