2-3 years ago, I was at a craft fair and saw some simple Chinese New Year craft colouring sets – one was one of the paper dragon puppets.
I thought “I could make one of those” and create a Chinese New Year Printable for you. Only 3 years later, I have finally gotten around to drawing my own free DIY Dragon Puppet printable for you.
Chinese New Year 2021 falls on Friday 12th of February and is the year of the ox!
First published in 2012 and republished for your convenience
Of course you can design your own paper dragon, but if you don’t have the time or have a large amount of children to work with (I am hoping to do these with Red Ted’s class again), then these are perfect for you! We made them on a play date – 5 kids – and they all loved making these fabulous Dragon Paper Puppets!!
The two younger one’s lost a little colouring patience, but they still love their dragons. And to be honest, I think you can leave them “uncoloured too” – or print out the free printable of coloured paper (e.g. red paper) and stick things on?
Chinese Animal Zodiac – Year of the Rat
For 2021 the Chinese Zodiac animal is the Ox– you may like these cow DIYs – replace them with browns, blacks and reds and you have the perfect Year of the Ox Activities!
You may also specifically like this simple (free) printable Year of the Ox drawing prompt card:
Chinese New Year Craft for Kids: Dragon Puppet
Paper Dragon Craft – Materials
- paper for printing (though I used very light card) – or print on coloured paper to save colouring your paper dragons youserlf
- a printer,
- red paper for the body,
- pens or crayons,
- tissue paper (optional),
- lollipop sticks (we used recycled ones from summer ice lollies),
- glue & scissors
You can also get STEP BY STEP Photo instructions worksheets on my Teacher’s Pay Teacher’s Account. Perfect for the classroom or a playgroup! By purchasing this $2 printable (Lesson plan, worksheet and dragon outline), you help support the upkeep of this website! Many thanks!
How to make a Paper Dragon Craft for Kids
We have a How to make a Paper Dragon Step By Step video or read the instructions below!
To get your kids excited about the project either make one first or show them photos of the finished product (e.g. this post) – when they see what they will make the colouring in sheet makes “much more sense”.
UPDATE: We had a go at these in Red Ted’s class room and changed the “Order” of the craft a little: First we cut, then we folded, then we assembled and finally coloured. So that each child could “finish their dragon”, even if they got bored of colouring. We also taped on the Popsicle sticks, so that we didn’t have to wait for that it to dry. The kids were brilliant and did an amazing job!
If you require step by step PHOTO instructions in worksheet format, you can get those here.
1) Print out your dragon printable for Chinse New Year – there is a double sided head, to fold later and a double side tail part. 4 feet – so that you can stick them together and that your dragon looks great from both sides.
2) The children used pens to colour, but we soon discovered that was going to take ages (Red Ted took ages over it and even did a good 30min to finish it off at bed time, he did a GREAT job in terms of detail and patience). So… I recommend the following options:
* pens for kids who like colouring and are patient,
* crayons for younger children who want to cover big surfaces quickly,
* experiment with paints (but you may make it a bit soggy), or
* print on coloured paper and use glitter glue or stickers.
3) Once they are finished colouring, cut out the shapes. The mums did it on this occassion, but again, I think, if this was in the class room, they can do it themselves. Of course it won’t be as neat, but I think it will look lovely anyway. When you have cut the head out fold it over by the mouth and then you can cut out the “mouth space”, so you can some tissue paper fire.
4) We used a sheet of A4 paper cut into three equal strips – each strip was for one body. And folded it “concertina style”. I was impressed at how well the children managed with instructions (fold, turn over, fold, turn over, fold…). Red Ted wanted an extra long dragon, so we glued two of these strips together before folding.
5) Glue your head, tail, feet and lollipop sticks to your body.
6) Cut some tissue paper to add fire (optional of course).
Enjoy! Hope you liked our Chinese New Year Printable and that you have a go at making these fun and easy DIY Dragon Puppets!!
We noticed that if you hold the two lollipop sticks at right angles in one hand, the dragon makes a nice fan too!
Liked this printable? Here is a set of activities to use this Free Printable Dragon in different ways:
We have a fabulous Paper Plate Dragon Whirligig (complete with printable) for you:
More Chinese New Year Crafts here:
For 2021 the Chinese Zodiac animal is the Ox – you may like these cow crafts – replace them with greys, blacks and reds and you have the perfect Year of the Ox Activities!
Martine says
Your dragon looks just right for my kids. They’ll have such fun with this one for sure…but I can’t find a link for the template.
PragmaticMom says
LOVE this! I am looking for a Chinese New Year craft for middle school Chinese New Year school party. I think this is it!! Thank you!
Veens says
Lovely idea. I think Aarya would love doing this. Thank you for the idea.
Red Ted Art says
Ooh that is perfect! So pleased!
Red Ted Art says
Martine – the printable is up now, I am sorry, I managed to not add it properly the first time round!
inès says
super les activités!! bravo les enfants!
Red Ted Art says
Awe merci beaucoup!!
Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum says
looks fabulous Maggy – I love the concertina body
Red Ted Art says
Thanks Cerys! Was impressed at how well the kids managed the bodies!
Claire says
What a brilliant, simple craft. Thanks for sharing and hosting!
Roopa says
Lovely idea and thanks for the printable!
Red Ted Art says
My pleasure Roopa! Do hope you have a go.
Sian says
Great idea! could be made more detailed for older kids too : )
Red Ted Art says
Yes, or those that like colouring! I haven’t photographed Red Ted’s dragon here – it is MUCH more detailed than the ones above! He took hours over it.
Judy says
What a fun idea for a large group…my boys would love making these!
Yogamama says
You are invited to join my new weekly link-up “Say it Two Ways Thursdays”! I would love for you to link up activities like this that teach your child about other languages and cultures. Link up at toddlefast.blogspot.com/2013/01/link-up-say-it-two-ways-thursdays.
Play Create Explore says
Those are so neat! We’ve never made anything for Chinese New Year, but I think my 4 year old would love this.
Lee Davis says
Hi! I’m an art teacher, and this is a perfect craft for a special education class that’s learning more about China. Unfortunately, I’m having no luck with the printable link for the template? I’m hoping it still exists…
Thank you!!!
shannon says
loved this idea for our playgroup but i could not get the template to open, could you possible repost the link? thanks very much
Red Ted Art says
Thank you for letting me know! I have fixed the problem and you can download it again! Happy Crafting!
Jo Todd says
Thanks for your great Dragon. We used glitter glue to paint ours. I’ve added it to my blog Painting with glitter glue with links hope that is ok. Thanks again for all your great ideas. Sorry it won’t let me add a link.
Tiffany says
Love your site! And love this idea.
Amy Huntley says
Darling craft for Chinese New Year!
Ashley says
Great craft for my Preschoolers! Looking forward to doing this!
Pam Harrison says
Maggy, my 8-year-old autistic Grandson simply loved the dragon and he made it all by himself, his 3-year-old sister had a go too and she made hers glittery and pink.
Red Ted Art says
Oh how wonderful!! So happy to hear it! 🙂
Angela Hall says
The dragons are believed to possess qualities that include great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom, and auspiciousness.
Nice blog Maggy. And your blog made it easy for kids fun and creativity.
julia says
Now that you’ve required me to sign up for your newletter to get the “free printable”, where is the link for the pdf????
Red Ted Art says
Hello, it is under the box where you signed up?
Red Ted Art says
(click on the words —–> Free Puppet Printable <—– )
Brenda says
What size lollipop craft sticks do you use? I see quite a number of different sizes and would like to know what size you would recommend based on the dimensions you have for the printables. Thank you!
Red Ted Art says
Hello! I like to encourage people to use what they have already – but I guess ours are around 15cm Long?
Brenda Yen says
Thank you so much! Also, did you use construction paper for the red body or cardstock?
Red Ted Art says
No, I used printer quality paper.. so thinner paper is good. But construction paper should be fine.
Anonymous says
how come I cant print this
Red Ted Art says
Click on the big red button and download?