Engaging Lunar New Year STEM Activities

The Lunar New Year is such a special time of the year. I love incorporating it into our classroom activities to celebrate different cultures while keeping learning engaging and hands-on. This year, I’m sharing two fantastic STEM activities that I use to bring the Lunar New Year to life for my students. These activities tie cultural appreciation with essential STEM skills, making the Lunar New Year a memorable experience in our classroom.

What is Lunar New Year?

The Lunar New Year, often called the Chinese New Year, is a vibrant and meaningful celebration. It marks the beginning of a new year based on the lunar calendar. This is different from the one we use day-to-day. What I find so fascinating is how the traditions surrounding the Lunar New Year are packed with symbolism and focus on themes like family, renewal, and good fortune.

Lunar New Year is a wonderful opportunity to explore a cultural tradition with students.

In many cultures, this holiday is celebrated with family gatherings, delicious feasts, and special activities like giving red envelopes filled with money to symbolize good luck. Decorations like lanterns, oranges, and paper cuttings are often red and gold because these colors are believed to bring prosperity and ward off bad luck. The incredible dragon and lion dances bring so much energy and joy!

I love introducing the Lunar New Year to my students. It’s an opportunity to explore a rich cultural tradition while making connections to their own lives. Whether it’s the idea of starting fresh or spending time with loved ones, there’s something universally relatable about the celebration. Incorporating these themes into our STEM activities adds even more excitement to the learning experience!

The “Why” Behind Lunar New Year STEM Activities

Incorporating the Lunar New Year into STEM activities is about more than celebrating a holiday. It’s an opportunity to create meaningful, cross-cultural connections while engaging our students in valuable skills like coding, problem-solving, and teamwork. These activities allow students to see how technology and cultural appreciation can come together.

Lunar New Year STEM engages students in coding, problem-solving, and teamwork.

When we explore the Lunar New Year through STEM, we teach our students how to code a robot or solve a problem. We’re also cultivating curiosity about the world and appreciation for its many traditions. These experiences open the door for discussions about diversity, empathy, and understanding.

What I love most is how these activities spark excitement. The hands-on nature of STEM tasks paired with the themes of the Lunar New Year makes the classroom come alive. Our students are motivated to try new things, collaborate with their peers, and celebrate their successes. All while learning about a beautiful cultural tradition. For me, that’s the perfect blend of learning and inspiration!

Fun & Engaging Lunar New Year STEM Activities

Now that we’ve explored the traditions and the “why” behind including the Lunar New Year in STEM activities, let me share my favorite resources that bring this celebration to life in my classroom. These activities give our students an engaging way to celebrate while building important STEM skills. Let’s dive into how these resources can make your Lunar New Year lessons unforgettable!

Using the Lunar New Year Robot Mat Activity

The Lunar New Year Robot Mat Activity is one of my favorite ways to celebrate the holiday with my students while tying in STEM concepts. The setup is straightforward but incredibly engaging! I start by printing the photo squares featuring vibrant Lunar New Year-themed images. These squares become the foundation of our activity. They can be arranged into a large mat or used as loose pieces to create custom mazes.

The Lunar New Year Robot Mat Activity allows students to think through coding sequences.

Before we begin, I explain how the robots work, whether it’s Bee Bot, Dash, or Sphero. I have my students place their robots on the “Start Here” square and draw task cards. Each card challenges them to program the robot to reach a specific square, like the dragon dance, the red envelope, or the temple. Watching them think through the coding sequences and test their programs is always a highlight for me!

I also love how customizable this activity is. For an extra challenge, we add “X” cards to act as obstacles the robot must avoid. I also let my students create their own mazes using blocks or other manipulatives. This flexibility keeps the activity fresh and engaging year after year.

To tie everything together, I use response sheets where my students document the steps they programmed for their robot. It’s a great way to reinforce their coding skills and reflect on the process. My students always leave this activity with a better understanding of coding, teamwork, and Lunar New Year traditions!

Using the Lunar New Year Ozobot Mazes

The Lunar New Year Ozobot Mazes are another interactive way to celebrate this holiday in my classroom. I start by selecting the maze sheets that best fit my students’ skill levels and printing them. Then, my students fill in the missing spots on the maze with color codes using markers—red, blue, black, and green. I love watching their faces light up as they figure out how to direct their Ozobot to navigate the maze and collect items like lanterns, oranges, and fans.

The Lunar New Year Ozobot Mazes are a perfect blend of STEM and cultural appreciation.

To make it even more exciting, I sometimes set a timer to challenge my students to complete the maze faster. This adds a bit of friendly competition to the mix. The activity is open-ended, so students can experiment with different coding solutions and see multiple ways to succeed.

You can additional challenge to this coding activity by changing up the order in which the Ozobot must “pick up” the different items on the maze. This is a great way to make sure your students are using all the different commands and not just coding the easiest path.

This resource is a perfect blend of STEM learning and cultural appreciation. It’s a rewarding way to teach coding while connecting to the traditions and themes of the Lunar New Year. My students always have so much fun, and it’s a tradition I look forward to every year!

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with Engaging Activities

Bringing the Lunar New Year into the classroom is a meaningful way to combine cultural exploration with hands-on learning. Whether it’s coding through the Ozobot Mazes or programming robots on themed mats, these activities give our students a chance to connect with traditions while building essential STEM skills like problem-solving and teamwork. I hope these ideas inspire you to bring the excitement of the Lunar New Year into your classroom.