THE children at Hunnyhill Primary School were treated to an afternoon of Chinese inspired activities ­— to teach and celebrate the Chinese new year.

Introduced over the course of the week, parents were invited to the school on Thursday, January 30, to take part in activities with their children.

Early years examined the differences between cultures, having previously studied Diwali, and talked about the years they were born in, the Chinese Zodiac and the traits of the associated animals.

"In the build-up to the event, we had the children look at Chinese writing, and ice their initials onto a cookie in Chinese characters," said class teacher, Sarah Cowell.

"The children were invited to come in wearing something gold or red ­— colours denoting good luck in China ­— and it was nice to involve the parents.

"The children got to try prawn crackers and green tea, and sat down with their parents to watch a CBBC video.

"They made Chinese fans and drums, lanterns, coloured in pictures of dragons, practised Chinese number writing and picked out coloured sequins from piles of dried rice, developing their fine motor skills.

"We even set out a corner where they could pick up rice with chopsticks and pretend they were in a Chinese restaurant.

"It was a great afternoon, and we received some lovely feedback. The children were very excited to have their families in."