Mid-autumn Festival Craft – Full moon in the Sky craft (Template Download)

Description

Mid-autumn Festival Craft – Full moon in the Sky craft Toy (Template Download)

Looking for a mid-autumn festival craft that you can do at home to teach kids about the mooncake festival?

If you have children who love doing art & crafts at home, they are guaranteed to love this workshop. The completed art & craft is also a fun toy that kids can play with. By blowing on the toy, the moon (ping pong ball) will rise to the sky! Science teachers can also teach about air currents, which creates the lift.

We will teach you how to construct a mechanism that makes the moon float in the air.

Most of the items, required for this eco-friendly craft, use materials that can be recycled and found at home.

This craft is perfect for Mid-autumn Festival for a child-and-parent bonding activity.

Why buy our Mid-autumn Craft?

• An innovative method to make the ping pong ball float in the air.
• Eco-friendly – All the items use things around the house to reuse.
• Fast and international – Receive the template to download immediately upon payment. No matter where you are around the world, you can get it immediately. (Please choose the download option if you are not from Singapore.)
• Easy-to-do – If you getting our package with all the materials provided, we have made it child-friendly easier by pre-doing the more difficult tasks.
• Video Instruction – You will get a Chinese video to watch with English subtitles. Hey, you can learn Mandarin at the same time! (N.B. It is not a word-for-word translation to make it easier to understand the instructions.)

Shipping: Download OR All Materials provided.
Recommended age: 5 years and up.

This Mid-autumn Festival Craft is Available in 2 formats:

Download Option: 

Upon payment, you will receive the video link instructions as well as a template printout. Please it on A4 size using your home printer.

You will need to prepare materials:

• Pipe-cleaner
• Bendy Straws
• Ping Pong Ball
• Clear Tape
• Scissors

All Materials provided Option

Have a stress-free option by buying our Mid-autumn craft box. All the required materials (pipe-cleaner, bendy straws, ping pong ball and scissors) are provided except for scissors. We have included a small booklet on the origins of the Mid-autumn Festival.

Just scan the QR code on the box to watch the video on how to construct the craft.

What is Mid-autumn Festival?

Significance

The full moon is considered a symbol of reunion, as such the Mid-autumn Festival is also known as the Reunion Festival. Shaped round like the full moon, mooncakes signify reunion. The Mid-autumn Festival is associated with the moon and “moon appreciation” (shangyue) parties, particularly because the moon is at its brightest during this time. The festival also coincides with the end of the autumn harvest.

History

The festival started more than 2,000 years ago as a post-autumn harvest celebration, which was devoted to thanking the gods. Most scholars believe that the Mid-autumn Festival first appeared during the Song dynasty, derived from the tradition of worshipping the moon. Here are 3 different stories associated with the full moon which became synonymous with Mid-autumn Festival.

Origin stories

Among the Chinese, Chang-Er and Hou Yi is the most popular Mid-autumn Festival story. Even for this version, there are many different endings and variations which you can find on the internet. Here’s one which has a happier ending:

Hou Yi and Chang-er

Hou Yi, an archer, was said to have saved the earth from burning by shooting down nine of the 10 suns. He was rewarded with the elixir of immortality. He did not consume it because he did not want to leave his beloved wife.

However, while Houyi was out, his apprentice Fengmeng broke into his house to steal the elixir. Not wanting the elixir to land in the wrong hands, Chang-er ate it. She then flew upward toward the heavens. She chose the Moon as her home as she hoped to live nearby her beloved husband.

Rabbit on the moon
Buddha disguised himself as a hungry old man and approached three animals – a fox, a monkey and a rabbit – for help. The fox caught a fish for him, the monkey brought some fruits, but the rabbit threw itself into the fire, offering itself as meat. In gratitude, Buddha resurrected the rabbit and sent it to the moon to be venerated. That is why you can sometimes see the image of a bunny on the full moon.

Why do we eat mooncakes as part of the Mid-autumn Festival?

Rebel leader Zhu Yuan Zhang wanted to instigate a rebellion against the Mongols in the 14th century. He could not do so openly so the wise man spread the message by placing secret messages in sweet round cakes, which was later called mooncakes. The successful rebellion took place during the Mid-autumn Festival, hence the celebration of the festival and the eating of mooncakes.

Other items which are suitable for other Chinese Festivals.

• Chinese New Year Prediction – Mr Bottle shows 16 pictures of items related to Chinese New Year on a 4 x 4 grid. A volunteer chooses a number from 1 to 16 to select one of them. The magician reveals the prediction to match his selection. As a surprising ending, the item appears magically from the flat piece of paper.
• Dragonboat Papercraft template download – Put together this papercraft in which rice dumplings are pulling the oars of the dragonboat.
• Chinese New Year Lion Dance Craft – Make a traditional Chinese Lion Dance art and craft.