Recommended for 1-year-olds! Craft play ideas and fun crafting techniques
Creative activities are not only great for developing fine motor skills; they also let children touch a variety of materials, enjoy different textures, and express their own ideas—making them an essential part of healthy growth.
In this article, we’ll introduce craft ideas recommended for one-year-olds.
From projects that use various techniques to ones you can play with after making, it’s packed with fun, sensory-rich ideas.
We’ve gathered lots of activities that one-year-olds can enjoy, like crumpling paper and touching paint with their fingers.
Watch over the children’s expressions and creative gestures, and try making them together!
Because the children’s creations are regarded as works (art pieces), we use the term “seisaku” (制作) in the text to refer to them.
- [For 1-year-olds] Fun to make! A collection of winter craft activity ideas for use in childcare
- Even 1-year-olds will be captivated! A collection of craft ideas to enjoy the art-filled autumn
- Have fun with one-year-olds! A collection of craft ideas featuring recommended January motifs
- Childcare: Fun February craft ideas to make with 1-year-olds
- Fun November craft ideas for 1-year-olds!
- Fun spring craft ideas using origami to make with your one-year-old!
- Let’s play at home with a one-year-old! Activity ideas using things you already have at home
- [October] Craft ideas for 1-year-olds: Halloween, mushrooms, and more
- For 1-year-olds! Craft ideas recommended for August
- Ideas for September Crafts for 1-Year-Olds: A Fun Collection of Autumn-Themed Projects
- Fun for 1-year-olds! A collection of Halloween craft ideas you can make while playing
- [July] Recommended for 1-year-olds! Fun summer craft ideas
- For 1-year-olds! Indoor play ideas that make rainy days fun
Recommended for 1-year-olds! Craft play ideas and fun crafting techniques (11–20)
Torn-paper collage grapes
Let’s make grapes with torn-paper art! First, draw a bunch of grapes on construction paper in advance.
Then have your child tear purple origami paper into small pieces in various shades, and stick them onto the drawn grapes to add color.
Kids are sure to enjoy the ripping part.
For the sticking step, it’s best to apply glue to the drawing first, then have your child place the paper pieces onto the glued areas.
You’ll end up with a charming, characterful bunch of grapes!
Handprint Sunflower
Let’s use handprints to create a lively sunflower! Once you put yellow paint on your hand, stamp from lots of different directions.
For the center of the sunflower, as well as the stem and leaves, change colors and keep pressing your handprints from various angles in the same way.
For finer details, it’s recommended to dab paint on your fingertips and use finger stamps.
You can also try using the side of a closed fist, or experiment with different hand shapes—not just an open hand—which could be fun too.
For kids, the process of stamping—dab, dab, stamp, stamp—will surely be the most enjoyable part.
Give it a try as a summer craft activity.
Making a phone out of cardboard
Let’s make a play telephone so you can enjoy chatting with friends or parents by saying “Hello!” Cover a piece of cardboard with paper in your favorite color, then add number stickers and drawings to act as the screen.
A smartphone-style phone works too, but a flip phone or cordless-handset style is recommended because the numbers are always visible, giving your child more chances to interact with numbers.
You can explain the number layout as you build it, or just let them work freely without worrying about placement.
Have lots of fun chatting with your own cute, original phone!
Autumn crafts with newspaper stamping
Crumpling up a sheet of newspaper instantly turns it into a stamp.
Let the children enjoy crumpling a big piece of newspaper to start.
Pour paint into a large container like a tub, and stamp with the newspaper.
Using brown and yellow is perfect for depicting autumn foliage.
Attach autumn nuts and insects to the finished tree.
If the children are deeply engaged and having fun, it’s important to step back and simply watch over them.
Create an environment that helps them express themselves freely.
Making a spinning top with a paper plate
Let’s make a spinning top with a paper plate and play with it! Fold the paper plate in half and open it back up, and repeat this process in two places.
The key is to make firm creases.
You’ll later glue a plastic bottle cap at the center where the creases cross, so draw a boundary line so your drawings don’t overlap that area.
Once the prep is done, have your child draw pictures or place stickers to create patterns.
Tearing and gluing colored origami paper also works well.
When the design is finished, glue on the cap—and you’re done! Twist the cap to spin the top round and round.
Making koinobori with stamps
Let’s make stamps using empty lactic acid drink containers and chenille stems (pipe cleaners).
These stamps are easy for children to hold, and not only are they fun to dab and stamp, but the actions of gripping and pressing also help develop fine motor skills in the fingers and hands.
Attach a plastic bottle cap to the mouth of the lactic acid drink container, then fix a pipe cleaner rolled into a circle to create the stamp.
Use the stamped patterns on drawing paper as scales for a carp streamer (koinobori) and enjoy a seasonal craft.
The neatly arranged circular patterns will make an adorable piece of art.
Recommended for 1-year-olds! Craft play ideas and fun crafting techniques (21–30)
Also great for walls! Paper plate spinning top
Let’s make a festive spinning top that you’ll want to display on the wall.
First, cut a paper plate in half.
Then, attach a strip of construction paper along the straight edge of the plate and decorate it with round stickers on top.
Use crayons to draw patterns for the top on the remaining white part of the plate.
Finally, attach the axle piece made from construction paper to the back of the plate, and you’re done.
Spinning tops are a New Year’s classic, and even little ones might look at this wall display—or watch older kids playing with tops—and feel inspired to try it themselves.
