Celebrating Lunar New Year 2025
The new year is an incredibly important time that represents hope, new beginnings, and cultural unity around the world. Every year, the whole world comes together to celebrate the start of a new year regardless of their own cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This collective celebration is a reminder that no matter how different our cultures may be, we are all united by one common time: The start of a new year. The start of a new year occurs at different times, depending on your calendar and culture. In 2025, the Lunar New Year, which begins on January 29, is celebrated by many Asian cultures. Yet each ethnic group may celebrate the Lunar New Year differently; for example, with fireworks, lion and dragon dances in China, singing and dancing in Korea, or traditional dishes in Vietnam. Other cultures celebrate their new year on different calendar dates—for example, the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), Iranian/Persian New Year (Nowruz), Islamic New Year (Muharram), and the Gregorian calendar New Year, to name a few. No matter when you celebrate a new year, typically this time is filled with joy, excitement, and family gatherings. It’s inspiring to see so many people come together for something bigger than themselves, and it makes us feel proud to be part of a global community.
For many ethnic groups, the Lunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunar calendar. It is the most important holiday in China, and it is also widely celebrated in North and South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Vietnam and in countries with a significant overseas Chinese population.
The Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays celebrated in Asia. For some families, it is marked by one large feast; for others, it is a 15-day celebration filled with traditions. To prepare, families spend weeks cooking traditional foods, cleaning the house, and decorating doorways with spring couplets. To kick off the celebration, a New Year’s Eve Reunion Dinner is usually held with symbolic dishes, such as long-life noodles, abundance cakes, and a whole fish for prosperity. Over the following days, families spend time visiting friends and offering lucky red envelopes and sweet treats. The Lantern Festival is the fifteenth and final day of the holiday. On this day, children carry red lanterns, and people eat sweet tangyuan (a Chinese dessert made of rice balls that are served in a hot syrup). For many families that work far from home, this is their only opportunity to reconnect with loved ones. For this reason, it is one of the world’s largest holiday travel days.
The Lunar Zodiac is made up of 12 animals: The rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. This year, 2025, is the Year of the Snake. We also recognize that many Asian American and Pacific Islanders do not observe the Lunar Zodiac.
The children in our programs are incredibly lucky to have us as early educators who are equipped with an anti-bias lens and professional development training to support their cultural identity development. By sharing different ways people celebrate the new year holidays, we are providing both mirrors and windows for the children in our settings: In some ways, we are the same; in some ways, we are different, and we can appreciate the differences.
Families in our programs are a good place to seek knowledge and cultural resources when we lack information related to a community or family celebration. Families can teach us valuable cultural lessons and offer teaching staff and the children fascinating cultural learning about the children in our classrooms.
In conclusion, a new year is an opportunity to celebrate our collective cultural unity. The Lunar New Year provides an opportunity to come together regardless of our backgrounds or beliefs, Asian or not, and to appreciate the beauty of our shared humanity. Everyone is welcome. It reminds us that we are all part of something much larger and more meaningful than ourselves. In this way, Lunar New Year serves as a reminder that when we join our hearts and minds together in the field of early childhood education, there's no limit to what we can accomplish.
Favorite Children’s Picture Books on the Lunar New Year
- Our Lunar New Year, by Yobe Qiu
- The Tray of Togetherness, by Flo Leung
- This is Tet! Rhyming Story about Lunar New Year, by Bui Phuong Tam and illustrated by Mai Ngo
- A Sweet New Year for Ren, by Michelle Sterling and Dung Ho
- Tomorrow is New Year's Day, Seollal, A Korean Celebration of the Lunar New Year, by Aram Kim
- Sam and the Lucky Money, by Karen Chinn
Adult Resources
- Anti-biasLeadersECE.com
- Bisson, J. 2017. Celebrate! An Anti-Bias Guide to Including Holidays in Early Childhood Programs, 2nd ed. Redleaf Press.
References
Blakemore, Erin. 2025. “Why Lunar New Year Prompts the World’s Largest Annual Migration.” National Geographic, January 24, 2025. nationalgeographic.com/history/article/lunar-new-year.
“Lunar New Year Is a Wonderful Holiday . . .” n.d. PBS American portrait. pbs.org/american-portrait/collection/113/lunar-new-year-is-a-wonderful-holiday.
De Guzman, Chad. "5 Things to Know About Lunar New Year and How It’s Celebrated Across Asia." Time. Updated January 24, 2025. time.com/6248736/lunar-new-year-celebrations.
“Lunar New Year.” n.d. National Museum of Asian Art. asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/celebrations/lunar-new-year-celebration.
Iris Chin Ponte, PhD, is director and classroom teacher at the Henry Frost Children’s Program in Belmont, MA. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University. Recognized as an Exchange Emerging Leader in 2015, Iris is a former Fulbright Scholar, with expertise in cross-cultural issues in education in the United States, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, Japan, and Newfoundland. She worked for Sesame Street Research at the Children’s Television Workshop in New York and has published in the areas of children and technology, behavior management, children’s play, outdoor environmental design, early education program leadership and birth parent reunions and heritage trips for adoptees in China. Dr. Ponte has received professional recognition from the Children’s Defense Fund, CBS, and the American Educational Research Association and was awarded the Thomas J. Watson IBM Fellowship.
Debbie LeeKeenan, MEd, is codirector of Anti-Bias Leaders ECE in Seattle, Washington. She was director and lecturer at the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School, the laboratory school affiliated with the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study. She is coauthor of Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide to Change, for Change and producer of the film Reflecting on Anti-Bias Education in Action: The Early Years. [email protected]
Sandy Baba, PhD, is a recognized researcher and practitioner in early care education and family service development. Dr. Baba has led and participated in numerous statewide and national quality rating improvement system efforts. She developed a family engagement framework to support low-income Asian American immigrants that was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Baba is an advocate and well known for her dedication to creating inclusive learning environments for children and adults. In 2008, Dr. Baba led a group of early childhood experts and founded the NAEYC Asian Interest Forum with a goal to elevate the workforce, families and children in the United States and the globe. Dr. Baba has degrees in Asian Studies (B.A., University of California, Davis), Early Childhood Education (M.A, San Francisco State University), and Transformative Studies in Global Education Management and Advocacy (PhD., California Institute of Integral Studies). Her academic interests include classroom-based coaching and mentoring for early childhood practitioners, with a focus on mental health support. She is also interested in the positive effects of school environments on child development, using community-driven interventions to promote family engagement in the classroom. Dr. Baba is currently a senior adjunct professor at Pacific Oaks College, Graduate School of Human Development and Education, and board member for The Council for Professional Recognition. For more information about the Asian Interest Forum, visit: https://sandybabaece.wixsite.com/naeycaif