I have fond memories of celebrating Mid Autumn Festival with my cousins at my grandparents’ house in Taiwan.
Running around their house with my paper lantern, lighting sparklers on the front porch are some of the memories I want to share with my kids.
Celebrating Mid Autumn Festival and other main Chinese holidays is a wonderful way to introduce the culture to kids.
Culture gives language context, not to mention it also makes language learning so much more fun and engaging for kids.
Here are some fun and simple ways to celebrate Mid Autumn Festival as a family.
Read a Book on Mid Autumn Festival
What better way to celebrate than through a story!
Here are some great books on the Moon Festival for kids.
Chinese Children's Books on Mid Autumn Festival
simplified Chinese, follow a child’s experience celebrating the holiday with family
bilingual board book for kids on the holiday, available in simplified/traditional Chinese
Learn about the Story Behind Mid Autumn Festival
Learn about Mid Autumn Festival through kid friendly educational videos on the holiday.
Here’s one in English.
This is a fun and silly live action reenactment of the story behind Mid Autumn Festival from one of the popular kid channels in Taiwan told in Mandarin Chinese.
Netflix also has a wonderful movie on Mid Autumn Festival called Over the Moon!
Audio is available in Mandarin Chinese!
This would be great for a family movie night!
Moon Cakes 月餅
Moon cakes are central to Mid Autumn Festival celebrations and enjoyed during the holiday.
This small pastry symbolizes unity and is rumored to have been a way messages were delivered during revolutions in China’s history.
Nowadays there are many different interpretations of this treat from ice creams to mochi moon cakes.
Whether you choose to buy some edible ones from your local Asian market (or bakery) or one of the following fun hands on moon cake activities for your family, here are several options to include moon cakes this holiday!
Play Dough Moon Cakes
I purchased this mold from Amazon and used this recipe to make home made play dough for some hands on moon cake fun!
For older kids, you can have them add play dough egg yoke and red bean paste that are usually found in these moon cakes. But I just went for a the simple straight forward one colored moon cakes.
These are fairly easy and requires low prep. My three year old did need some assistance from me.
If you’re looking for something simple, Culture Tatortots has pre-made moon cake kits!
Moon Cake Toys
Bitty Bao has a beautiful magnetic moon cake wooden toy set to add to your child’s play kitchen.
Pretend play is a wonderful way to immerse your child in the culture and build their Mandarin vocabulary!
Be sure to also check out these beautiful felt moon cakes from Le Petit Dumpling!
Lanterns
I have such fond memories of running around my grandparents’ house with my cousins holding our paper lanterns. So of course I had to include this part of the celebration for my daughter.
Here’s a lantern you can make out of a Kleenex box
Here’s a simple paper lantern tutorial:
Pomelo Hats 柚子帽
Another fun memory I have of 中秋節 is eating sweet pomelos and the adults making a hat out of the rind.
The word for pomelo in Chinese is 柚子 (yòu zi) which is a homophone for “prayer for son.”
So that’s why people eat this fruit during this holiday, as a sign for prayer for protection over the children in the family.
Another legend is that wearing this hat makes it easier for the Moon goddess 嫦娥 (cháng’é) to see the children from the moon and as a result give her blessings to them.
If there are no pomelos at your local Asian grocery store, you can also use a grapefruit or you can use my pomelo hat printable! (Info on end of post on how to access printable).
How People Really Celebrate in Taiwan
When we were living in Taiwan, adults would get together and barbecue all sorts of meat and fresh seafood outside.
This is actually unique to Taiwan.
How to Access My Mid Autumn Festival Printables
To access the free printable register below if you have yet to do so.
After confirming your email address, you’ll receive a password to access the printables.
If you’ve already registered, simply head over to my printables libray and enter the password to download a copy of my Mid Autumn Festival printables.
How Do You Celebrate Mid Autumn Festival?
How do you celebrate it? What are some fond memories you have of the holiday? Please share below.
I’d love to hear from you!
If you do the activities I shared above, please tag me @spotofsunshinechinese on social media. I would love to see your celebrations!
More Great Mid Autumn Festival Activities for Kids
For some more fun Mid Autumn Festival activities, check out the following posts:
- How to Celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival from Chinese American Family
- Mid Autumn Festival Activities from Mama Baby Mandarin
- Mooncakes and More! Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival! from Little Passports
- Global Ed:Chinese Mid Autumn Moon Festival free Mid Autumn Festival printables from Miss Panda
- Chocolate Snowskin Mooncakes recipe from Fortune Cookie Mom
- Mid Autumn Festival Printables from Ed Kids Home
More Goodies
For some more fun activities and read up on how I’m teaching my daughter Chinese, check out the following posts:
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