Chinese New Year 2027: Activities and Celebration Ideas for Primary Schools

Planning Chinese New Year 2027 activities for your primary school? From dance workshops and storytelling to art and classroom discussions, there are plenty of ways to bring the celebration to life.

Whether you’re planning activities for one class or organising a whole-school event, these ideas offer a starting point for EYFS, KS1 and KS2. A shared workshop experience can bring children together, with classroom activities helping them explore what they have seen, heard and learned.

When is Chinese New Year 2027?

Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 6 February 2027, welcoming the Year of the Goat. The traditional celebration period ends with the Lantern Festival on Saturday 20 February.

Schools can explore the celebration throughout January and February, choosing dates that work around their school calendar. Our Chinese workshops are also available throughout the year for cultural weeks, arts weeks and topics about China.

For more background, explore our guide to Chinese New Year traditions and activities for children.

Start with a Chinese New Year workshop

A Chinese New Year workshop can give your children a shared experience to build their classroom learning around. Seeing the props, exploring the movements and taking part together gives them something to draw on in discussions, artwork and writing afterwards.

At Primary Workshops for Schools, we offer three options:

Chinese Dragon Dance

Our Chinese Dragon Dance workshops for schools combine an authentic dragon with fans and umbrellas in a colourful group routine. Children work together, developing coordination and discovering how their different roles contribute to a shared performance.

It’s a way to introduce teamwork and movement, with opportunities afterwards to discuss how children listened, cooperated and performed together.

Chinese Lion Dance

Our Chinese Lion Dance workshops begin with a live demonstration by skilled artists, followed by guided dance sessions. The performance gives children plenty to notice, from the movements and rhythm to the performers working together.

Their observations can become the starting point for descriptive writing, drawings or conversations about the experience.

Chinese Dance

Our Chinese Dance workshops explore fan and umbrella dancing, giving children opportunities to enjoy expressive movement using authentic props.

The shapes, patterns and group movements can connect with classroom activities in art, dance and creative writing.

We can deliver up to eight sessions per day, with up to 30 children per session. All our workshops can be adapted, and our team is happy to help you plan an experience around your classes, children’s needs and school routine.

More Chinese New Year activity ideas for your school

Alongside a workshop, there are plenty of ways to explore Chinese New Year in the classroom. Sharing stories, creating colourful artwork and discovering family traditions can help children build on their experiences and follow their curiosity.

The Chinese New Year activity ideas below offer inspiration for EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Some could introduce the celebration before your workshop, while others give children opportunities to reflect on what they enjoyed and learned afterwards.

Whether you’re planning a celebration day or exploring Chinese New Year 2027 across several lessons, these ideas can fit around your existing plans and be adapted to suit your children.

Chinese New Year activity ideas for EYFS

Explore celebration photographs

Photographs of lanterns, family gatherings and lion or dragon dances can spark curiosity and conversation. Questions such as “What can you see?” and “What would you like to find out?” give children space to share their observations.

You could introduce words such as celebration, lantern and performer, then invite children to choose a favourite picture and explain what caught their attention. The photographs can stay available for children to revisit during play.

Enjoy movement with scarves

Fabric scarves offer a simple way to explore colour, shape and movement. Children could wave them high and low, move slowly and quickly, or create a short sequence with a partner.

Following a workshop, this can become a creative response to movements they remember. Seated movements and smaller gestures offer different ways to take part, while copying and taking turns encourage cooperation.

Chinese New Year activity ideas for KS1

Share the zodiac story

The Great Race legend introduces the twelve zodiac animals through storytelling. Children could sequence animal pictures, retell a favourite moment or discuss the choices made by different characters.

Finding the goat in the story provides a link to Chinese New Year 2027 and the Year of the Goat. Drawings and captions could become part of a classroom display. The British Council’s Lunar New Year story resource offers one option to explore and adapt.

Create a paper lantern display

Looking at photographs of lantern displays can inspire children’s own paper decorations. Folding, cutting and decorating offer opportunities to explore shape and repeating patterns, with prepared templates available where helpful.

A short caption about the Lantern Festival can connect the artwork with what children have learned. Their finished lanterns could contribute to a shared school display celebrating Chinese New Year 2027.

Chinese New Year activity ideas for KS2

Discover how celebrations vary

Accounts and photographs from Chinese families, communities and cultural organisations can help children explore different experiences of the celebration.

The Royal Museums Greenwich guide to Chinese New Year celebrations includes contributions from members of Newham Chinese Association. Children could compare examples, discuss similarities and differences, and identify questions they would like to investigate further. This encourages them to recognise that one account cannot represent every family.

Become reporters for your school’s celebration

A workshop or celebration day provides a real event for children to write about. They could collect facts, interview a participant and create a report explaining what happened and what they learned.

Headlines, descriptions and genuine quotations give them opportunities to practise writing for an audience. Selected reports could feature in a classroom display or school newsletter, sharing the experience with families.

Chinese New Year assembly ideas

An assembly can bring the school together and introduce the activities children will be exploring. Ideas include:

• Sharing the 2027 date and introducing the Year of the Goat.
• Exploring photographs of particular family or community celebrations.
• Watching a lion or dragon dance clip and discussing the performers’ teamwork.
• Sharing children’s artwork, writing or reflections following a workshop.

Children who celebrate at home may also enjoy contributing their experiences, with sharing kept voluntary. The Royal Museums Greenwich celebrations guide includes a recorded lion dance to preview for your group.

Ideas for an inclusive celebration

Photographs, visual prompts and familiar stories can help children feel prepared for new experiences. Activities can offer different ways to join in through movement, drawing, pointing, speaking or writing.

Books and resources that include Chinese voices help children explore the celebration through people’s experiences. Alongside these, their own artwork and creative responses provide opportunities to express what they have noticed and learned.

If you’re planning a workshop, chat to us about your children’s communication, mobility or sensory needs so we can discuss suitable adaptations.

Bring your Chinese New Year 2027 plans together

A shared theme gives each class something to connect with while leaving room for different activities across the school. EYFS children might share a picture, KS1 children could contribute artwork and KS2 children could present their research or reports.

Together, these contributions can create a display or assembly that celebrates the children’s learning.

Ready to plan your Chinese New Year 2027 celebrations? Explore our Chinese New Year workshops for schools or get in touch to check your dates.

Call 01536 265432 or email info@primaryworkshopsforschools.com. We would love to help you plan a memorable day for your children.