Storytime Theme: Mid-Autumn Festival

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a lot about the Mid-Autumn Festival, but there have been a number of children’s books being published in the past few years about this harvest celebration and I thought it was an important one to include with the special, holiday storytime lesson plans. My hypothesis is that while Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is more well-known in the United States, it’s probably because this holiday is celebrated in large metropolitan areas, whereas a harvest festival is focused on farming, and that livelihood takes place in a less populated area. This is just my hypothesis and one that may not be correct at all.

Regardless, this is an important holiday in a number of Asian countries, and while it is celebrated differently and at different times, the core of the festival remains the same – gathering and giving thanks. This lesson plan includes a number of picture books about this harvest festival, some fun music and rhymes, and a few activities that can be used to enhance your students’ learning. Again, and I cannot reiterate this enough, I think it’s important for kids to learn about cultures that are not their own, but it’s just as important to make sure that you are sharing that culture in a correct manner, so make sure to do some research, read the nonfiction book in this booklist for at least some basic information, and be respectful!

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