Dragons for Chinese New Year

Every Chinese New Year Parade ends with a Dragon Dance. The parades start on New Year's Day and continue for the next fifteen days until the end of the festivities with the Lantern Festival.

The Dragon Parade is a highlight of the festivities. The Dragon represents wisdom, power, and wealth and a very important aspect of Chinese Culture. It is also said that the Dragon Dance performed on New Year's Day scares away the evil spirits and all the bad luck with them...

During the Dance, a dozen or so performers hold the dragon up on poles. They raise and lower the Dragon making him "dance" as they wind through the masses to the sounds of horns, drums and gongs. (from http://www.china-family-adventure.com/dragon-dance.html)

Here is a Dragon Puppet the was used in a Chinese New Year parade.

First and second grade artists looked at many examples of Chinese Dragons and then drew their own using construction paper crayons and oil pastels.