January 31st was Chinese New Year and to celebrate the Year of the Horse we made paper lanterns and decorated the classroom with streamers. We were very lucky to have a visit from Mr Xu who explained some of the customs that people perform as part of the celebrations, such as throwing fire crackers to ward off evil spirits and eating dumplings. He then told us the story of the Great Race – the animals that make up the Chinese zodiac. We held our own race and placed the animals in order just like in the story. Finally he taught us how to write the character Fu in Chinese which means good fortune or happiness.
            
Fu                                                                upside down Fu
In Chinese houses the character is usually displayed upside down on red squared paper or fabric on the door for New Year. It was a bit tricky but we all had a good go.
We all had a lovely day.
