The Chinese words in the chorus are a New Year greeting and response, so you may want to divide the children into groups and have each group sing one of the phrases. It’s also a wonderful songs for dancing with scarves, or drawing a picture, or just closing your eyes and imagining.

The Chinese phrases were provided to me by a teacher in an infant room at a daycare where I was the music specialist. I didn’t know she had recently immigrated to the United States and had been a licensed pediatrician in her Chinese homeland. Now she was working for minimum wages, and full of gratitude to be doing so. It was a humbling lesson in so many things, and I have never forgotten her.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:
Have older children make paper Chinese lanterns and create a dance with them by moving and having the children copy your movements, raising them up and down, turning around slowly, etc. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest if you are unfamiliar with them.

Chinese Lanterns

See the pretty Chinese lanterns hanging in the sky
Pretty paper Chinese lanterns lighting up the night
CHORUS:
Tee don long (Chinese new Year greeting) kuo shin lien (response)
Tee don long (Chinese new Year greeting) kuo shin lien (response)
Paper lanterns decorate kuo shin lien

See the animal faces shining brightly all around
Every year a different animal lantern can be found (CHO.)

People come from everywhere,
Lanterns carried in the air
Family gathers all around
Hear the children make a happy sound.

Mother, father, brother, bring your lanterns everyone
Hold them high to make the nighttime sky as bright as sun. (CHO.)

Red and yellow, purple too
Candles shining brightly through
Every Chinese lantern hung
Brings good luck to all in the year to come

See the pretty Chinese lanterns hanging in the sky
Pretty paper Chinese lanterns lighting up the night. (CHORUS)