Lunar New Year Coloring Page with Lanterns and Plum Blossoms

Four round paper lanterns hang from a branch of plum blossoms on this Lunar New Year coloring page, each lantern with a tassel below it. The words Happy Lunar New Year sit at the top in big outlined letters on three lines, with swirling clouds beside the words and along the bottom.

Lunar New Year begins in early February in 2027. This free printable suits elementary classrooms, homeschool, libraries and families who celebrate. The large lanterns and the smaller blossoms and tassels make it a page for ages 6 to 10.

How this coloring page was created

For this page, we typed this idea into Colorin AI: "the words Happy Lunar New Year in big hollow letters at the top of the page, above round paper lanterns with tassels hanging from a branch of plum blossoms, with swirling clouds around them and no other writing in the drawing, drawn with clean outlines, the lanterns and their tassels kept small enough to leave a wide white margin below them, with the whole drawing kept above an empty white margin at the bottom of the page".

"Hanging from a branch of plum blossoms" set the lanterns in a row under one long branch that enters from the left edge and reaches across the page. "Round paper lanterns with tassels" gave every lantern a round body, flat caps and a tassel on a short cord. "Swirling clouds around them" added clouds with spiral curls.

Why This Lunar New Year Coloring Page Is Special

The page is built in bands from top to bottom. The words come first, the flowering branch runs across the middle, and the row of lanterns hangs under it with clouds below.

Paper lanterns are part of Lunar New Year celebrations, and the date changes every year with the lunar calendar. A teacher can hang the finished sheets side by side on a bulletin board for a Lunar New Year week, so the lanterns form one long row. A librarian can set copies next to books about the holiday.

Seven plum blossoms grow on the branch, four large ones along its top and three smaller ones lower down. Every blossom has five rounded petals and a center ring with stamens tipped with dots, and round buds sit on short twigs. Each lantern hangs on its own cord, with a flat cap at the top and the bottom and four curved ribs that split its body into five panels. A round bead sits above each tassel of straight strands. There are eight clouds in all. Two sit beside Happy, two beside Lunar and four low on the page.

Coloring Ideas and Techniques

Color the lanterns red with gold caps, or give every lantern its own color. The ribs make good guides for shading. Press a little harder on the outer panels and lighter in the middle, and the lanterns will look round.

The plum blossoms look fresh in pale pink with a darker pink center, and the branch can be brown or dark gray. Leave the clouds white, or color them in pale blue and gold so the spiral curls stand out against the paper.

For a class banner, design your own lantern page with the class name below the branch.

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