Throwing a Chinese New Year party is a great way to learn about another culture and today we’ve put together a round-up of our favourite Chinese New Year games and activities for you to play at home or in school.
From easy crafts and DIYs to fun party games that aren’t too complicated for kids, take your pick and get the party started!
Give out fortune cookies
The Dice Size is 0.75' x 0.75' x 0.75' Fish - Crab - Prawn or Bau Cua Tom Ca is a Chinese (Vietnamese) Traditional Game This is a Lucky Game that are mainly played during Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year. Each 6-sided dice contains the following faces: fish, prawn, crab, chicken, coin and calabash. Chinese New Year Dice game Play in pairs or small groups, Take in lurns to roll the dice, For the number/colour you roll, put a cross over If you roll a number/colour khak you have already crossed off you miss a lurnc The person 10 cross all 6 boxes off, wins People wear red because it brings luck and keeps bad things away Chinese New Year.
First things first, no Chinese New Year celebration is complete without fortune cookies! Kids love them and they’re great fun to break open and find out what your fortune will be for the new year. Plus, parents will love how cheap they are – perfect for keeping the cost of your party down.
Play the chopstick game
Chinese New Year Dice Game
Put your chopstick skills to the test with our next game! In this fun minute-to-win-it game you’ll race against each other to transfer as many sweets from one bowl to the other but there’s one condition – you can only use chopsticks!
For each player, you will need:
Pair of chopsticks
Two plastic bowls
Handful of sweets or mini marshmallows
What to do:
Give each player a pair of chopsticks and two plastic bowls. Fill one of each player’s bowls with a few handfuls of sweets and to keep things fair, make sure each player has the same number of sweets in their bowl.
Start the timer and give your players one minute to transfer as many sweets from one bowl to the other using only their chopsticks!
Whoever transfers the most sweets in one minute wins a prize.
Good luck and if you like this game, why not try playing it with straws and mini marshmallows?
Make your own Chinese lanterns
For a quieter Chinese New Year game, how about making your own Chinese lanterns? They’ll be great party decorations and they’re really easy to make with our free printables – simply print them out and follow our step-by-step instructions to put your lanterns together.
Then thread them together with a piece of balloons ribbon and hang them along your walls or in your windows!
Get a dragon piñata
Who doesn’t love playing piñata? And since dragons are such an iconic symbol of China, a dragon piñata like this would make the perfect Chinese New Year party game.
Simply fill the piñata with sweets and toys and hang it from the ceiling. Then take it in turns to bash it and if anything falls out, take a handful! And as for keeping your party on budget, we’d recommend getting a piñata kit like this that includes everything you need including a stick, blindfold, sweets and small toys.
Paint your face like this year’s animal
This year marks the beginning of the Year of the Monkey so why not do some face painting as a fun CNY activity?
All you need is some Snazaroo face paints like these and a couple of brushes and sponges to transform your children into cheeky little monkeys!
Play catch the dragon’s tail
Last up is a traditional Chinese New Year game that’s great fun for kids – catch the dragon tail!
Get all the children to form a line with their hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them. The child at the front of the line is the dragon’s head and the child at the back is the dragon’s tail. The aim of the game is for the dragon’s head to tag the dragon’s tail, and all the children in the middle must do their best to keep the chain in tact!
When the child at the back of the dragon gets tagged, they move to the front for their turn to be the dragon’s head.
If that’s not enough and you still want more Chinese New Year activities, remember that it’s good luck to clean your home in the days running up to Chinese New Year (although we can’t promise this will be fun!) as it will sweep away all the bad luck that’s coming to an end. (Just remember that it’s also bad luck to clean your home in the first few days of the new year as you’ll sweep away the good luck for the coming year).
Head over to Party Delights to browse our full range of Chinese party supplies and for more party ideas, check out:
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Chinese New Year Dice Game
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Playing games like Liar’s Dice and mahjong is a popular pastime in Chinese culture. Throughout China, Liar’s Dice (說謊者的骰子, shuōhuǎng zhě de shǎizi) is played during holidays like Chinese New Year and at bars and clubs. Liar’s Dice is typically played as a drinking game but it can also be played for fun.
The fast-paced Chinese dice game can be played with two or more players and the number of rounds is limitless. Players can agree upon a predetermined number of rounds or set a time limit. Game play is casual because new players can be added each round, but playing Liar’s Dice can also be quite intense as the penalties for losing may include sipping an alcoholic drink like baijiu, chugging a shot of liquor, or paying money.
What You'll Need to Play
1 cup for each player 5 dice for each player 1 table How to Play the Game
Place the dice in the cup. Cover the cup with your hand. Shake the cup with the dice inside. Place (or slam) your cup upside down on the table. Keep your dice hidden from others.
Carefully lift the cup and peek at your dice. Be careful not to reveal your dice to other players. The first player can be determined by rolling the dice and seeing who has the highest number or the winner from the previous round may go first. The first player calls out two numbers: first, how many dice on the table he or she thinks have been rolled on a number between one and six. For example, player one could say “two fives,” which means he or she thinks there are at least two dice that are fives among all the players’ dice (including his or her own). At this point, all players can accept what has been called out and move on to player two or call player one out, which will end the round and result in a winner or loser for the round.
Chinese New Year Games Ideas
If player one calls out “two fives,” it does not matter whether player one has a five or not as bluffing is allowed (and encouraged) in Liar’s Dice. It only matters if another player believes player one is bluffing and calls him or her out on it. In that instance, everyone must remove his or her cups and reveal their dice. If player one is correct, the player who calls him or her out must take a sip of his or her drink, take a shot, or pay money. If player one is wrong, then player one must take a sip of his or her drink, take a shot, or pay money. The round is then over and the winner begins the next round of play. If player one’s call is accepted, then player two calls out a number. The first number must be greater than what player one called. For example, if player one called out “two fives,” player two must call out three or higher for his or her first number, so “three fives,” “three fours,” or four twos” would all be acceptable. “one five” or “two sixes” would be unacceptable. Game play continues around the table until someone is called out. Once a player is called out, the round is over. The next round begins with each player placing their dice in their cups, shaking them, placing their cups upside down on the table, and so on. The numbers that can be called out are reset with the first player (the winner from the previous round) having the ability to call out any number combination. Tips for Players
In some parts of China, the one is considered a wild number, which means it can be any number between two and six. Net ent casino. When bars get loud and noisy, players may use hand signals rather than shout out their numbers. The hand signals are as follows:
One: hold up your hand and extend the pointer finger upward.
Two: hold up your hand and extend the pointer and middle fingers upward into a V-shape (like a peace sign).
Three: hold up your hand and extend the pointer, middle, and ring fingers upward.
Four: hold up your hand and extend the pointer, middle, ring and pinky fingers upward.
Five: Hold up your hand with all five fingers extended upward (like a stop sign) or pinch all five fingers together.
Six: Fold the pointer, middle, and ring fingers into a fist and extend the thumb and pinky fingers outward.
Seven: Make a fist and extend the thumb outward and pointer finger downward.
Chinese Dice Game Rules
Eight: Make a first and extend the thumb upward and the pointer finger forward (like a gun).
Nine: Make a fist, extend the pointer finger and curve it (like making a ‘C’).
Ten: Make a fist or using two hands, extend the pointer finger of the right hand upward and with the left hand extend the pointer finger to the right and cross it with the right hand forming a + sign. Some players choose to cheat by tipping the cup to turn over dice.