NURSERY children were treated to a taste of oriental culture - after a special guest helped them celebrate Chinese New Year.

Fisherfield Childcare's Redvales Day Nursery, in Dorset Drive, welcomed Louise Chow who taught the children about the traditions and customs associated with the event that celebrates the year of the Rooster.

Louise helped the children to decorate the nursery with good luck symbols on the walls, lucky lanterns and blossom trees, with lots of red on show–a tradition of Chinese culture.

They were also showed a video of a traditional lion dance which, as Louise explained, is designed to bring good luck and scare away evil spirits.

During the dance, the lion scatters lettuce among the spectators, to bring them good luck in the coming year.

Nursery mascot Rebecca Rabbit also helped to distribute lucky red envelopes – another New Year’s tradition.

The children learned how to say Happy New Year in Chinese “gung hei fat choi”, and other phrases like thank you and also learned to write Chinese numbers.

Louise, who is originally from China but now lives in Rochdale, helped the children to create their very own Chinese banquet.

"Festive food is always special but this Chinese banquet was extra special," she said. "It included spring rolls and fortune cookies that the children had made themselves.

"Other treats were rice, noodles and sweet and sour chicken. The children even got to try eating with chopsticks – even if they ‘cheated’ a bit by using elastic bands to keep them under control."

Team leader at the nursery, Zoe Dewhurst said: “This has been so much fun. We have put in an awful lot of research and planning, but it’s been worth it.

“The children have learned so much, they’ve tried new foods and they’ve enjoyed dancing to the beat of the drum during the lion dance. It was quite the party atmosphere here throughout."