Make a Chinese zodiac cycle wheel

You will need

Print the wheel and twelve animal tiles. Use card, glue, a pencil, scissors and a split pin. An adult can cut the wheel and make the centre hole.

Build the wheel

Cut out the circular wheel. Match each animal tile to the numbered position: Rat at 1, Ox at 2, and so on through Pig at 12. Glue the tiles around the edge.

Cut a narrow arrow from spare card and fasten it at the centre with a split pin so it can turn freely. Write the year you are studying on the arrow.

Try the cycle

Begin at Horse for 2026. Turn one place to Goat for 2027, then Monkey for 2028. Count twelve turns to arrive at Horse for 2038.

Keep the animal and its element separate: the animal returns after twelve years, but the same animal-and-element combination returns after sixty. January birthdays need the exact Chinese New Year boundary.