On 24 Jan and 26 Jan, at the invitation of Little Judy Pre Primary School and Judy Montessori Primary School, Confucius Institute at the University of Mauritius held Chinese New Year festive activities for around 120 students and teachers on the Judy campuses.
Chinese Teacher Elsa interacting with the pre-primary school children
At the beginning of the activities, the children were told stories of the origin of Chinese New Year, which is about the legend of Monster Nian. They learned that the monster was frightened by loud noises, bright lights, and the color red. “Modern Chinese New Year celebrations still follow the traditional customs. Many people light firecrackers or set off fireworks to scare away monster Nian with bright lights and loud noises. Some people prefer to wear red and the red decorations are used to ward away the monster and other demons on the eve of Chinese New Year.” said Jasmine, the teacher who presented the story in French.
Chinese Teacher Jasmine demonstrating the art of the paper cutting
The children were also attracted by Chinese paper cuttings and the pop-up books with interactive elements. They showed great interest in learning to say “你好( nǐ hǎo ) ” and “ 新年快乐（ Xīn Nián Kuài lè ) ” in Chinese, singing New Year songs together with the teachers from Confucius Institute. The ending of the Spring Festival activities comes with the good surprise to the kids: each of them received “红包（hóngbāo)”，the red envelope with candies inside to wish them an amazing, lively and jolly Chinese New year.
Teachers, Peilan and Elsa, giving away “hóngbāo” to children of the school
