Activities For Kids Easy crafts and printables for kids, preschool and older. You'll also find Birthday Party themes, Holiday crafts, Kids recipes and Classroom prtables.
Celebrate the Chinese New Year with this festive Chinese Paper Lantern Craft for Kids. These lanterns are safe and secure when using battery operated candles inside.
Wrap colorful construction paper around a recycled water bottle so the lantern can hold a small battery operated candle. I’ve come up with several other ideas for the recycled water bottle. In one example shown, I filled the bottle with gold tinsel garland. Other ideas might be to use the lantern as a container for gold foil candy, as a bank or even as a pencil holder.
Not just for the Chinese New Year, these paper lanterns are also a great way to add a decorative touch at your next pool party. Fold the sides or leave rounded, directions for both styles are included below.
Supplies Needed
- Battery operated candle
- Empty water bottle with top cut off
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Tape
Additional, Optional Supplies
- Hole punch if adding a handle
- Pipe cleaner for handle – can be left off or ribbon can be used
- Glue and ribbon for adding decorations
- Markers to decorate
- Gold Christmas garland
Assembling the Chinese Paper Lantern Craft
Adults only: Cut off the top of an empty water bottle using scissors or a razor knife.
Taking Measurements
Measure around the circumference of the bottle. A standard size water bottle should measure around 8″. Measure the height of the water bottle. My bottle’s measurement came to 5 3/4″ tall.
Determine the extra amount you want to add for the height measurement for your lantern. This additional amount is added so the lantern can flare out in the center. In my examples I increased the height measurement to 7″ for the blue lantern and 8″ for the red lantern.
Using your dimensions, cut out the rectangle on the construction paper. I used 8″ x 7″ for the blue lantern and 8″ x 8″ for the red lantern.
Cutting the Paper
Lengthwise, place the rectangle of construction paper in front of you. Use a ruler to create a 1″ to 1 1/2″ border across the top of the paper.
Next, fold the paper in half lengthwise. Use the ruler to measure 1″ sections across the 8″ folded paper. For a straighter line, measure and mark at the top and bottom. Following the lines (with the 8″ paper, I had 7 lines), cut slits through the fold to where the border line was drawn.
Unfold the paper and refold the opposite direction – this way your markings will be on the inside of the lantern. For a rounded Chinese lantern, do not put a hard fold in the paper.
Attaching the Paper to the Water Bottle
Put about a 1″ section of tape at the top and bottom of the paper. Attach the paper to the top and bottom of the water bottle. This is the trickiest part of the craft since the paper is actually a little longer than the height of the bottle.
Securely wrap the paper around the water bottle and use tape to attach the top and bottom.
If you choose to use a handle, use the hole punch on opposite sides of the lantern. Twist the pipe cleaner through the hole.
Insert a battery operated candle into the water bottle. I added a little gold Christmas garland that I had left over from the holidays to add a little more sparkle to my Chinese lantern, this is optional but could also be used in place of the candle.
