Make a Paper Dragon

Chinese New Year

The dragon is the ultimate good-luck symbol in China and the highlight of Chinese New Year parades around the world. Dragons symbolize power and energy and are known in Chinese culture as being divine and blessed creatures.

Create a small-scale version of the traditional Chinese paper dragon with some decorative paper and a little bit of imagination.
This paper dragon is reasonably straight forward to make but younger kids will require some adult help to get them started with folding and for curling the dragons tail.

You'll Need

Two long strips of paper in different colors
(about 75cm/29in by 2.5cm/1in )
PVA/ white glue
Round ended scissors
Pencil
Colored felt Tip Pens
Foil
Sequins

Firstly make the dragon's body with the two strips of paper. Glue the ends together at right angles and wait for them to dry. Now fold the bottom strip over the top and then follow with the top strip over the bottom strip. Continue until you have created a concertina. Glue the ends together.

Draw and cut out a dragon's head and decorate it with colored card, felt tip pens and sequins. Glue the dragon's head to one end of the concertina body. You can make a curly paper tail by pulling strips of paper or decorative curling ribbon through a pair of round tipped scissors and then
gluing them to the opposite end of the dragon.

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