7 June 2026 · Little Rei
Chinese New Year Crafts for Families
Almost every Chinese New Year craft online is designed for a school-age child with scissors skills and forty minutes of patience. With a one- or two-year-old you have neither, and the ones that work are the ones where the child's contribution is genuinely theirs rather than the adult doing it while they watch.
The good news is that the visual language of the festival — red, gold, round, repeating — happens to suit exactly what small children can do, which is stick things on other things.
Which crafts work at which age?
| Age | What they can do | Craft that fits |
|---|---|---|
| 6–12 months | Grasp, press, taste everything | Handprint fish in red paint; supervised |
| 1–2 years | Stick, scrunch, post things into gaps | Paper lantern strips; ang bao collage |
| 2–3 years | Simple gluing, big brush painting | Fai chun painting; blossom prints |
| 3–4 years | Safety scissors, following two steps | Paper lanterns; dragon streamers |
| 4+ | Cutting, folding, sequencing | Folded fish, paper cutting, a full lantern |
The crafts themselves
- Paper lanterns. Fold a red sheet in half, cut strips from the fold toward the edge stopping short, open it out and tape the ends into a cylinder. A three-year-old can do the taping; you do the cutting until at least four.
- Handprint fish. A red painted palm printed onto gold card, with the fingers as the tail. Works from about eight months with washable paint and one hand at a time, and "nian nian you yu" makes it a talking point with the grandparents.
- Fai chun with a paintbrush. Give a toddler a big brush, black paint and a square of red paper. It will not be a character and it does not need to be — it goes on the door beside the real ones.
- Blossom prints. Dip the end of a cut-up kitchen roll tube, flattened into a petal shape, into pink paint and print onto a bare painted branch. Genuinely beautiful and requires no skill.
- Ang bao fish. Fold used red packets into a fish or a lantern shape and string them together. Free, uses what is already accumulating in a drawer, and looks better than it sounds.
- A dragon on a stick. A paper plate face, a crepe paper body, taped to a wooden spoon. Two-year-olds will run the length of the corridor with this for the entire fortnight.
- Mandarin orange stamping. Halve an orange, dry the cut face, dip in gold paint, print. The smell alone occupies a toddler for ten minutes.
More making things
What is actually dangerous?
Craft materials are the least regulated things in the house, and Chinese New Year supplies in particular are sold as decorations rather than as toys — which means they are not tested against toy safety standards at all.
- Glitter, sequins, small gold coins and plastic gems. Choking hazards, and they migrate to the floor where the baby is. Not with an under-three in the room.
- Button batteries in light-up lanterns and singing decorations. Swallowing one causes internal burns within hours. Only items with screw-secured compartments, and treat a suspected swallowing as an emergency.
- Red string and ribbon. Anything long enough to wrap twice around a wrist or neck goes away between sessions.
- Joss paper and incense near a craft table. Both are common in the house at this time of year and neither belongs within a child's reach.
- Superglue and hot glue guns. Use a glue stick or PVA, and do the hot-glue parts after bedtime.
- Non-washable paint. Check the label for a toy-safety mark rather than assuming — a lot of craft paint sold in bulk over CNY is not tested for this.
How do you keep it from being a disaster?
Set up so that mess is expected rather than managed. A muslin or an old sheet under the table, sleeves rolled, and everything you need already out means you are not leaving the table mid-craft, which is when the paint gets eaten.
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What do you do with it all afterwards?
Put it up, at their height, and leave it up for the fortnight. The point of a craft with a small child is not the object — it is the ten minutes of making it, and then the two weeks of them pointing at it on the wall and telling visitors they did it.
Photograph the best two, keep one, and quietly recycle the rest after the fifteenth day. Nobody has ever regretted this.
Questions parents ask
What Chinese New Year crafts can toddlers do?
Handprint fish, painting fai chun with a big brush, sticking paper lantern strips, mandarin orange stamping and folding used ang bao into fish shapes.
How do you make a paper lantern with a child?
Fold red paper in half, cut strips from the fold toward the edge without cutting through, open it out and tape the ends into a cylinder. Adults cut; children tape.
Are Chinese New Year decorations safe for babies?
Many are not. They are sold as decorations rather than toys, so they are not tested to toy safety standards. Watch for small gold coins, sequins, red string and button batteries.
What craft can a baby under one do?
Handprints, with washable non-toxic paint, one hand at a time and close supervision. Everything else at that age is an adult craft with a baby nearby.
What paint is safe for toddler crafts?
Washable, non-toxic paint carrying a toy safety mark. A lot of craft paint sold in bulk over the festive period is not tested to that standard — check the label rather than assuming.
Sources
This guide is general information, written to help you understand a topic and ask better questions — it is not medical advice and does not replace your own doctor, midwife or paediatrician. Anything that worries you about your baby belongs with them.