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Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner. When we celebrate this important Chinese festival, we observe many traditions, such as admiring the moon, hanging colourful lanterns, guessing lantern riddles and, of course, eating mooncakes. It is a time for family and friends to reunite and enjoy their time together. At Huili Nursery Shanghai, this festival also presents the opportunity to teach our pupils about Chinese culture and language. They can learn first-hand the significance of major Mid-Autumn themes and, to this end, our teaching team celebrated the season this week with a fun and enriching mix of Mid-Autumn Festival activities. 
1 Chang’e ascending to the moon Lady Chang’e and the Jade Rabbit are central figures in the legend behind Mid-Autumn Festival. Each year group made rabbit shaped lanterns and decorated the nursery with them. Lanterns are auspicious items that can help to instil in our pupils a sense of optimism about the future.
Constructing them by hand presented our pupils with the opportunity to develop their tactile abilities and tap into their creative strengths. They also learned the compelling classic stories of Chang'e flying to the moon and the Jade Rabbit mixing the magic elixir.
2 Making 'mooncakes' Hands-on activities provide an opportunity for pupils to demonstrate knowledge and practise skills. This is why our pupils also made their own mooncakes using moulds, sand, space clay, play dough, salt dough and other materials.
With the help of the teachers, EY1 pupils had fun as they learned about different materials, tools, shapes, colours and textures.
3 Singing a classic nursery rhyme “In the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is full. I want to make friends with the moon”. These are the words of a timeless nursery rhyme that has been memorised and recited by children in China for generations. Our EY2 pupils also took part in this tradition. They learned fun and interesting facts about the moon and Mid-Autumn Festival customs. This expanded their horizons and opened their eyes to the wider world around them.
Rhythmic nursery rhymes have the additional benefit of improving children's vocabulary and language skills while promoting their personal, social and emotional development by providing opportunities to explore the characters within the content of the rhyme.
4 Papercutting handicrafts Our EY3 teachers prepared various paper, paper plates and other materials for pupils to make their own Mid-Autumn Festival handicrafts. Pupils explored their creative talents and exercise their imagination and creativity. Under the guidance of the teachers, pupils learned how to fold colourful pieces of paper into the shape of the Jade Rabbit and make Jade Rabbit finger puppets and dinner plate toys. These activities presented our pupils with the opportunity to demonstrate collaboration and kindness as they asked their peers for help and advice when they encountered obstacles.
5 Rhythms of traditional poetry Homesickness and family reunion are longstanding and important themes in Mid-Autumn Festival. Our teachers used classic Chinese poetry to explore these themes with EY4 pupils and help build upon their Chinese language skills. They guided their classes in the recital of ancient poems such as Thoughts on a Quiet Night and Prelude to Water Melody to appreciate the subtle and artful beauty of the Chinese language. The pupils were also encouraged to use simple English vocabulary to describe the shape and taste of mooncakes.
As we head off for the Mid-Autumn break, we send our best wishes to every Huili Nursery Shanghai family and to the wider Shanghai community. Here’s hoping that the traditions remain alive and you have a wonderful break together. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
