Chinese zodiac wheel

The animals and their years

The cycle repeats every 12 years. A zodiac year starts on Lunar New Year, which falls between January 21 and February 20, so anyone born in January or early February may belong to the previous year’s animal. The Year of the Horse began on February 17, 2026.

A Lunar New Year lesson

1. Tell the story of the Great Race: the Jade Emperor invited the animals to race across a river, and the order they arrived in became the order of the years. The Rat rode on the Ox’s back and leapt off at the finish to come first.
2. Spin the wheel. The class finds that animal in the table and works out its next year by adding 12 to the most recent one.
3. Students find their own birth year in the table (check January and February birthdays carefully) and draw their animal.
4. Spin again for a short writing task: “If the Monkey had won the race, it would have...”

Good to know

• Goat, Sheep or Ram: the same animal goes by all three names in English, because the Chinese word covers them all.
• Elements: each year also has one of five elements, so the full cycle is 60 years. 2026 is a Fire Horse year.
• Other versions: the Vietnamese zodiac has the Cat in place of the Rabbit. Edit the entry if that is the version your class celebrates.