Chinese New Year Drum Craft for Kids

Chinese New Year is an ancient celebration of the Chinese lunar calendar, which begins on January 31st. The celebration continues into the first 15 days of the year and traditionally ends with the Lantern Festival. Often referred to as the Lunar New Year, the Chinese New Year is centuries old and soaked in holiday traditions. There are so many reasons that celebrating Chinese New Year for kids is a great idea! One symbolic component of the Chinese New Year story are drums and this Chinese New Year Drum Craft is used to create a rhythm and motion perfect for the Lion dancers!

Celebrating Chinese New Year Story

Chinese New Year Drum Craft

Before we met, my husband lived in China for playing professional basketball in stadiums all throughout the country. He even celebrated Chinese New Years in China! So when our kids were born we knew we wanted to celebrate the Chinese New Year with them. So last weekend we headed to Chinatown and went shopping for inspiration… the mall was flooded with bright red lanterns and anything you would need to celebrate Chinese New Year. We chatted with some of the attendants who explained a few of the traditions to us. She was so sweet with my daughter and helped us select all that we needed for our Chinese New Year for kids party (link below).

Related: Celebrating Chinese New Years with a Culture Party

After some shopping, we had a great Chinese dinner with my husband telling stories about his time in China… climbing the Great Wall, eating with Chinese diplomats and all the (very) interesting foods he’s eaten. It was a great bonding time for all of us, learning about new holiday traditions and cultures.

Chinese New Years for Kids

How to Make Chinese Drums

To get the kids excited, we decided to make our version of traditional Chinese drums! We got all our supplies for this drum craft for kids at our local Walmart in their craft section. I probably spent a total of $10. Here’s what you’ll need to make Chinese New Year Drum:

• Hot Glue Gun
• Foam Disc
• Red Paint
• Glitter Glue
• Dowels
• 16 gauge copper wire
• Wire clippers
• Rounding Tool
• Thread
• Beads

I also used a traditional sheet of Chinese paper that you can find at local Asian supermarkets, but feel free to decorate how you wish.

Drum Craft Instructions: Paint your foam disc red and allow to dry completely. Push the dowel mid-way through the disc and remove. Place a bit of hot glue into the hole and replace the dowel. Reinforce the dowel with a bit of additional hot glue. We then hot glued our desired decoration and applied gold glitter around the disc.

Using wire cutters, I cut a 1 to a 1.5-inch piece of wire and rounded the tip. I coated one end of the wire with hot glue and pushed it into the side of the disc, ensuring it was somewhat centered. I repeated those steps for the other side, then thread the string into the loops and the beads! Before you secure the thread, measure the length of the string to make sure the beads will hit the center of the drum.

I love this craft because it combines many of the best crafting activities that kids love – painting, gluing and drawing/decorating. There are easier ways to make Chinese New Year drum crafts, but this one can hold up for years as a handmade instrument. My kids have been making beats and songs all week long! It was a fun craft for kids and instilling new holiday traditions.

Check out how we celebrated Chinese New Year with a Culture Party! Do you celebrate Chinese New Year with kids?