Decorations are an important feature of the celebrations for the Chinese New Year.

    One of the main forms of decoration are the 'Red Couplets', which are Chinese good luck sayings written on red paper, often with gold trimmings and usually made up of four Chinese characters which ask for luck in terms of long life, wealth etc.

    Red is not only a lucky colour for the Chinese, but also frightens off the monster 'Nian' who arrives at this time of year and destroys crops and homes.

    Some New Year couplets are intended to be pasted or pinned in special places such as the kitchen or doors, while some can be placed anywhere. The couplets are usually taken down after the New Year celebrations, thought some people keep them up all year long in the hope of keeping good luck.

    Chinesemoods.com has provided a Chinese New Year couplet for use in classroom activities. It is in the form of a graphic which you should either download and print onto an A4 sheet of paper (preferably red!) or print straight from the browser. The A4 sheet should be cut in half from top to bottom, and the two strips placed on either side of a door. The graphic is available either with the characters prefilled in, or in outline so they may be coloured in the classroom.

    The couplets say "May you be blessed with peace and safety in all four seasons" and "May you be blessed with peace and safety wherever you are".