Chinese New Year Activity - Wishing Wall

Did you know that Disney California Adventure Park hosts a huge festival each January to celebrate the Lunar New Year? This year is the year of the MOUSE! Technically, it's the Chinese year of the rat, but we think mouse is waaaaaaaayyyy better. Our favorite Mouse is a big part of the celebration from January 17th - February 9th. 

What is the Lunar New Year celebration all about? Pixar Pier is decked out in amazing colorful Chinese lanterns and dragons. Park guests can enjoy festive food, special music and entertainment as part of the celebration. There is a hands-on kid craft area and a meet and greet experience with Mulan and her friends. One of the coolest activities is the Wishing Wall. Visitors write wishes for the new year on a tag and tie the tag to the Wishing Wall. Then, Disney magic makes their dreams come true!

I thought it would be a fun activity to make a Lunar New Year Wishing Wall at home! I like the idea of writing down hopes and dreams to share with family and friends. There is something special about dreaming of good things to come. Like Cinderella said, "If you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true!" 

Chinese New Year Activity - Lunar New Year Printable

To start, download the Lunar New Year activity printable here. It is a PDF file. Each page includes 5 individual wish tags. If possible, print them on cardstock paper using color ink. 

Use a nice straight edge slicer to cut out the tags. I really like this paper trimmer from Amazon. There are little white lines separating each tag on the Lunar New Year printable so you know where to cut. If you don't have a slicer, scissors work just fine.

When you have plenty of Lunar New Year Wishing Wall tags cut, pass a few to each of the people in your family. My kids all wanted to write several! 

Chinese New Year Activity - Writing Wishes

It was fun to see the wishes my little crew dreamed up. My son wished to fly a drone. I didn't realize he was interested in drone flying! My daughter is hoping to be able to do a back tuck for tumbling. I think seeing the wishes written down will help them to find ways to make it happen. 

Use a hole punch to make a cut out on the top of each tag. Make sure not to make the hole too close to the edge. You don't want the paper to rip when you hang it up!

Chinese New Year Activity - Making the Wishing Wall

You can display the wishes however you want! Hang a line of string up on a wall and then use ribbon to tie the tags to the string. Or, you can stick them to your fridge or on a cork board. I have a little metal wishing wall that I use to display my favorite mini photographs. We tied our wishes onto that. It is a happy mini Lunar New Year Wishing Wall now!

Place a stack of blank tags next to your Wishing Wall and continue to add to it throughout the month. Think of how inspiring it will be to see all of the wishes hanging together when the Lunar New Year ends. I think this Chinese New Year activity is way more fun than traditional New Year's Resolutions. 

If you are traveling to Disneyland during January and early February, make sure to participate in the Lunar New Year celebration at the park. It really is a festive and joyful experience. Find details about the daily event schedule in the park map you get when you enter the park. Or give our travel experts a call at 855-GET-AWAY and they can tell you all about Lunar New Year.