New Beginnings, Shared Hopes: Celebrating Lunar New Year and the Traditions That Unite Us
As we welcome the Lunar New Year on February 17, 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse, we are reminded that across cultures, the turning of a new year carries universal meaning: hope, renewal, family, and the promise of fresh starts. While our traditions may look different, the values at their core connect us. The Lunar New Year is celebrated by different names and traditions: Vietnam celebrates Tết Nguyên Đán (Tết for short), Korea celebrates Seollal (설날), China celebrates Chunjie (春节 – in Mandarin), Mongolia celebrates Tsagaan Sar, Tibet celebrates Losar.
This year, we invited members of our NAEYC community to share how they celebrate new beginnings. Their reflections remind us of what we share, our backgrounds may vary, but our wishes for health, connection, and prosperity unite us together.
Family, Food, and Togetherness
For many, the new year centers on gathering with loved ones around a shared meal.
Debbie LeeKeenan, AANHPI Interest Forum Facilitator, shares her Chinese-American family's tradition: "We do a family hot pot where we all sit around a big table; there is an electric skillet filled with hot broth in the middle and different types of raw food, such as chicken, shrimp, tofu, beef, vegetables and sauces are available. Each person picks their own ingredients and cooks it in the broth. We always add noodles for long life and good health. Children receive red envelopes with lucky money. Most important is having the family together. When everyone cannot be in one location, we try to include folks virtually. Gong Hay Fat Choy!"
Jerry Yang, Executive Director of Kai Ming Head Start in San Francisco, echoes this sentiment: "Food, food, and more food ~ it's all about spending time together and making shared memories in this ever-changing world. Each dish holds its own hidden meaning, like a quiet cultural thread that connects people across time and space."
Jorge Saenz De Viteri, Co-facilitator of the NAEYC Latino Caucus Interest Forum, describes his Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican family's celebration of Nochevieja: "We get together for a big late dinner, music, and a lot of laughter. At midnight we hug, toast, and wish each other health, blessings, and prosperity. One tradition I love is eating 12 grapes for good luck. We also talk about Año Viejo as a way to leave the past behind and start fresh."
Symbols of Luck and Hope
Across cultures, we find small rituals that carry big meaning, symbols of luck, health, and prosperity for the year ahead.
Jerlean Daniel, facilitator of the NAEYC’s Black Caucus shares a cherished African American tradition: "My parents always served black-eyed peas on New Year's Day to bring good luck in the new year."
Lisa Kuh, Sheva Center Program Director at Jewish Community Centers Association of North America, reflects on the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah: "As a child I remember dipping apples in honey as a symbol of the hope for a sweet new year. A tradition I began doing when my own children were little is Tashlich, where we throw tiny bits of bread or seeds into a body of water to cast out our shortcomings from the past year and commit to doing better in the coming year. The Jewish new year is a time of reflection and renewal."
Building New Traditions
Sim Loh, Public Policy Specialist at First Up in Philadelphia and NAEYC AANHPI Interest Forum's Social Media Intern, shares how a small gesture sparked something bigger: "Red envelopes (红包) have always been a Lunar New Year staple in my family, tiny red packets filled with love, blessings, and good energy from our elders. This year, I decided to share the joy with my coworkers. What started small sparked big conversations about celebration, foods and New Year traditions across cultures. And just like that, a new tradition was born: we now intentionally create space for my co-workers to share the cultural holidays that shaped them. It's brought us closer and more curious about one another's roots. In this Year of the Fire Horse, I'm wishing you joy, good health, and the boldness to build traditions that let your whole self shine. Happy Lunar New Year—新年快乐, Selamat Tahun Baru!
A Message of Unity
Ed Greene, a friend and colleague, and a facilitator of the NAEYC’s Black Caucus offers this reflection: "Wishing my friends celebrating Lunar New Year, and everyone welcoming new beginnings, a vibrant and inspiring year. May this year ignite transformation, courage to break old patterns, and the strength to ride forward into lasting renewal and cultural harmony."
What This Means for Early Childhood Educators
When we share our traditions with young children, we teach them that every family has stories worth telling. We show them that while our celebrations may look different, hopes for love, health, happiness, and togetherness often connect us.
This Lunar New Year, consider inviting families in your program to share their own new year traditions. You may find that despite our differences, we have far more in common than we realize.
For our prior blog on Lunar New Year traditions, please visit https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/lunar-new-year-2025
We also want to thank all of the members who shared their New Year greetings with us at the annual conference! Please check out the video clip!
Happy Lunar New Year from NAEYC
Sandy Baba, PhD, is a recognized researcher and practitioner in early care education and family service development. Dr. Baba has led and participated in numerous statewide and national quality rating improvement system efforts. She developed a family engagement framework to support low-income Asian American immigrants that was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Baba is an advocate and well known for her dedication to creating inclusive learning environments for children and adults. In 2008, Dr. Baba led a group of early childhood experts and founded the NAEYC AANHPI Interest Forum with a goal to elevate the workforce, families and children in the United States and the globe. Dr. Baba has degrees in Asian Studies (B.A., University of California, Davis), Early Childhood Education (M.A, San Francisco State University), and Transformative Studies in Global Education Management and Workforce Advocacy (PhD., California Institute of Integral Studies). Her academic interests include classroom-based coaching and mentoring with a focus on mental health support. She is also interested in the positive effects of school environments on child development, using community-driven interventions to promote family engagement in the classroom. Dr. Baba's volunteer leadership roles include serving as Vice President on the Board of Directors for The Council for Professional Recognition, Executive Board Member for The Asian Early Childhood Education Alliance, and Founding Member of NAEYC's AANHPI Interest Forum. For more information about NAEYC's AANHPI Interest Forum, visit: https://sandybabaece.wixsite.com/naeycaif.
Debbie LeeKeenan, MEd, is codirector and cofounder of Anti-Bias LeadersECE, lecturer, consultant, and author. She has been in the field of early education for over 50 years. She is a former preschool, special education, and elementary school teacher. She was director of the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School at Tufts University from 1996 to 2013. She has been a member of the early childhood faculty at Tufts University, Lesley University, and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Debbie is producer of the films Reflecting on Anti-bias Education in Action: The Early Years (2021) and Families Embracing Anti-Bias Values (2024). Her work has been published in numerous journals and books, including Young Children, Exchange, and Theory into Practice. Her most recent coauthored books include From Survive to Thrive: A Director’s Guide for Leading an Early Childhood Program and Leading Anti-bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide to Change, for Change. Debbie is Chinese-American, the child of immigrant working-class parents, and is part of a multiracial family.
Iris Chin Ponte, PhD, is director and classroom teacher at the Henry Frost Children’s Program in Belmont, MA. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University. Recognized as an Exchange Emerging Leader in 2015, Iris is a former Fulbright Scholar, with expertise in cross-cultural issues in education in the United States, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, Japan, and Newfoundland. She worked for Sesame Street Research at the Children’s Television Workshop in New York and has published in the areas of children and technology, behavior management, children’s play, outdoor environmental design, early education program leadership and birth parent reunions and heritage trips for adoptees in China. Dr. Ponte has received professional recognition from the Children’s Defense Fund, CBS, and the American Educational Research Association and was awarded the Thomas J. Watson IBM Fellowship.
Sim Loh is a Public Policy Specialist at First Up, where she informs system and policy change in early childhood education by empowering educators and families, particularly those from immigrant and AANHPI communities. She previously served as a Family Partnership Coordinator at a NAEYC-accredited, Keystone 4-STAR program, supporting diverse families through trauma-informed, strengths-based practices. Deeply committed to equity, Sim serves on regional and national committees, amplifying underrepresented voices to advance inclusion and opportunity for children, families, and the early childhood education profession.
Nicol Russell, EdD, is the chief academic officer at Teacher Strategies in Phoenix, Arizona. Her greatest ambition in life is to leave a legacy of love in action. Her professional interests are grounded in the ethics of knowledge—how we know what we know, and how we use that knowledge responsibly in systems that affect people (children and adults).