Asian Heritage Month Resources for Young People

Virtual Field Trip: A Journey Through Chinatown | Thursday, May 22, 1:30 - 2:30 pm

Join us for a lively, interactive virtual tour of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre! Explore fascinating artifacts, hear inspiring stories, and discover how they built a strong and vibrant community that continues to thrive today. Best suited for School Groups, Grades 4 – 9, but everyone is welcome.

Virtual Tween Book Club: Asian Heritage Month | Thursday, May 22, 3:45pm – 4:45pm

Join us online to discover new books and connect with other kids. Fantasy, adventure, laugh-out-loud books and graphic novels - each month has a different focus. For Tweens in Grades 4-7. This month we'll be talking about books by Asian authors.

To register, please click here.

Check out VPL’s Asian Heritage Month for Kids booklist

Start a book club or read along together with friends & family! VPL offers the following Book Club Kits which include 10 copies of the book and a discussion guide:

• Front Desk by Kelly Yang
• Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai  
• Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
• Torn Apart: the Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi by Susan Aihoshi

Colouring Pages & Activity Resources:

• Crayola: Asian – American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Colouring Pages
• Dr. Sun-Yet Sen Classical Chinese Garden: Online Activities

Check out VPL’s YA Books for Asian Heritage Month booklist.

Other resources & organizations:

• Learn about Chinatown, one of Vancouver’s historic neighborhoods.
• Ricepaper Magazine is a Vancouver-based Canadian magazine which has showcased Asian Canadian literature, culture, and the arts since 1994.
• S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is a non-partisan, non-profit multicultural Canadian organization with a proud 50 year history of serving newcomers, seniors, youth and families based in Chinatown.
• The Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society is a registered secular non-profit organization with year-round programming in the arts and culture scene. Our mission is to foster, promote and celebrate the arts and cultural diversity that Asian-Canadian communities bring to Canadian society.

Places to visit:

• Burnaby Village Museum Explore their feature exhibit on Burnaby’s South Asian communities or their award-winning virtual reality exhibit on Burnaby’s Chinese Canadian communities.
• Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre Learn about the history and heritage of Japanese Canadians by exploring the exhibits, educational tools and games, and other resources.
• Chinese Canadian Museum Visit exhibits and programs to learn more about the rich history, contributions, and living heritage of Chinese Canadians in BC.

Online resources:

• The Canadian Encyclopedia: Asian Heritage in Canada Watch videos, take quizzes, view galleries, explore a timeline, and read hundreds of articles about Asian Canadian history.
• National Film Board of Canada: Asian Communities in Canada View videos for a variety of ages in this curated collection of films on Asian Canadian contributions and achievements.
• Government of Canada: Asian Heritage Month Learn more about how Asian Heritage Month came to be recognized in Canada and significant people and events from Asian Canadian history, including educational resources and organizations in BC.