Hands-On Mid-Autumn Festival Ideas for Kids: Crafts, Food & Fun!
Last Friday, we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in our first-grade Chinese immersion classroom, and it was an unforgettable day! Parents were invited to join the fun, and our students had a blast rotating through five exciting and meaningful activities that brought this traditional Chinese holiday to life.
If you’ve been following along, you know I love using centers in my classroom. They’re the perfect way to engage young learners — students work in small groups, rotate through each activity, and everyone gets a chance to explore, create, and learn at their own pace.
Our Celebration Began with Music
To kick off the festival, my students performed a Chinese song about the Mid-Autumn Festival: 《月亮圆 来团圆》 (“When the Moon is Full, We Reunite”). After two weeks of practice, they sang and danced beautifully! The performance set the mood for our celebration and helped everyone feel the spirit of reunion and togetherness this holiday represents.
Then came the real fun — our five Mid-Autumn Festival learning centers!
[insert the slide showing the 5 centers]
1. Lacquer Fan Craft 漆扇制作
Students created their own beautiful lacquer fans (漆扇) by dipping paper fans into acrylic paints. Watching the colors swirl and mix was so satisfying! This traditional Chinese craft was the perfect mix of art and culture.
For older or more advanced students, you can extend the activity by having them write Chinese characters or short phrases (e.g. 中秋月圆) on the fan using a calligraphy pen.
The acrylic paint set we used can be found on Amazon.
2. Playdough Mooncakes 橡皮泥月饼
This one was a huge hit! Kids used playdough and mooncake molds to make their own pretend mooncakes. It was a wonderful way to strengthen fine motor skills while learning about mooncake patterns and cultural symbolism. The bright playdough colors made it extra fun and creative — and best of all, no oven required!
The round mooncake mold we used can be found here.
This set includes mooncake molds in various shapes and sizes.
3. Mooncake Tasting Activity 月饼试吃
No Mid-Autumn Festival celebration is complete without mooncakes! Parents kindly brought in six delicious flavors: red bean (红豆沙), taro (芋头), pineapple (菠萝), white lotus (白莲蓉), chocolate (巧克力), and salted egg yolk (咸蛋黄).
Each student picked four to taste and shared their favorites in Chinese, practicing words like 甜 (sweet) and 咸 (savory). We even created a quick tally chart to find out which flavor was the class favorite — a fun and tasty way to mix math, language, and culture!
Some Chinese sentence starters for students to use when sharing their opinions:
我最喜欢 ____________，因为 ____________。
我最不喜欢 ____________，因为 ____________。
4. Jade Rabbit Lanterns 玉兔灯笼
Inspired by the legend of the Jade Rabbit, students transformed plain hanging paper lanterns into adorable bunny lanterns! They added eyes, a nose, and long ears to bring their rabbits to life.
Tip: print the ear template on cardstock paper so they stay upright. You can also add a fluffy pom-pom tail for extra cuteness!
5. Paper Mooncake Craft 摇摇月饼
For this hands-on paper craft, students cut out two mooncake shape template and used folded paper strips to create a bouncy “spring” in between. They can add patterns and details on their paper mooncake with markers. Once glued together, their paper mooncakes could wiggle and wobble — so fun to play with and display!
Bonus Fun: Pomelo Hats & Tasting 柚子帽子
Last but not least, we enjoyed tasting fresh pomelos (柚子, yòuzi) together and turned the pomelo peels into funny hats! Wearing them is not only a playful tradition but also thought to bring a little extra good luck.
People eat pomelos during the Mid-Autumn Festival because they symbolize good luck and family reunion. The word “柚” sounds like “佑” (yòu), which means to bless or protect, so eating pomelos represents blessings for the family.
Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in the classroom helped our students connect deeply with Chinese culture in a joyful, hands-on way. Through crafts, food, stories, and songs, they experienced it with all their senses.
Read more about Mid-Autumn Festival activities:
Mid-Autumn Festival Chinese Printables:
