[Childcare] Playful craft ideas to enjoy with 5-year-olds
I want to enjoy crafts with a five-year-old, but they get bored with flat, two-dimensional projects…
Does that sound familiar?
Here are some craft ideas perfect for five-year-olds, whose thinking skills and ability to work on tasks are really blossoming—plus, they double as toys you can play with.
Enjoy the crafting process, and then try playing with the toys you made, both indoors and outdoors.
It’s also fine to lend and borrow toys with friends.
Kids tend to cherish toys they made themselves, so they’ll likely play with them carefully.
Teachers, why not make and play together too?
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[Childcare] Playful craft ideas to enjoy with 5-year-olds (21–30)
A mysterious horse that walks without power
Here’s an idea for making a moving horse out of construction paper! First, cut a rectangle from construction paper that’s 3 cm wide and 15 cm long.
Then, on both the left and right sides, make two slits each, 1 cm wide and 5 cm long.
Fold the middle of the slit sections into a valley fold to form the head and tail, and make mountain folds on the sides to create the legs.
Use scissors to round off the corners of the legs.
This will allow the horse to move.
Color it with crayons and draw the face to finish.
Try letting it walk down a slope and have fun!
Daruma’s Mayudama Rolling
A mysterious toy with a marble inside that moves as if it’s alive when you roll it: the Mayudama Roller.
In this idea, it’s made with a daruma motif.
First, cut three strip-shaped pieces measuring 1.5 × 10 cm from red construction paper.
Layer the three strips radially and glue them together at the center.
Gather all the ends, place a marble inside, and glue the ends together to form a sphere.
Then stick on a white round sticker with a face drawn on it to finish.
Try rolling it down a slope and have fun!
Snow globe made from a plastic bottle
Here’s how to make a snow globe using a plastic bottle.
Prepare an empty bottle from a lactic acid bacteria drink, decorative pom-poms, beads, glitter, liquid glue, and a hot glue gun.
Put the beads and decorative pom-poms into the empty drink bottle.
Fill the bottle about halfway with liquid glue, then add water.
Color a piece of paper with colored pens, place it into the bottle, and let it tint the liquid.
Mix everything together, then top up with water to push out any air, and you’re done.
Close the cap tightly and secure it with a hot glue gun so it won’t open.
Wrap vinyl tape around the top to finish.
Decorating with washi tape might make it even cuter!
Scrap-Material Racing Car
It zips along and looks so cool! Let me share an idea for a racing car made from scrap materials.
Have you heard the word “scrap materials” before? It refers to materials or items that are thrown away as unnecessary.
Common examples include toilet paper rolls and plastic bottles.
This time, let’s try making a racing car using scrap materials.
You’ll need items like a toilet paper roll, plastic bottle caps, straws, bamboo skewers, colored paper, round stickers, and scissors.
It could be fun to race them with your family or friends, too.
Moving! Paper Cup Snowman
When January comes, there will surely be regions where snow piles up.
One of the seasonal symbols of snowy weather is the snowman.
So let’s make a snowman craft using a paper cup.
Draw the snowman’s face on the paper cup.
Then make a hole in the cup, insert a straw, and attach a mitten made from construction paper to the end of the straw.
When you move the straw, the hands will flap.
Kids are sure to enjoy a craft with a moving mechanism like this.
Make it with a snack box! Cute little horse
Let’s make a horse toy that sticks out its head when you pinch and move its tail! All you need is a box from your favorite snacks.
First, cut the box into three ring-shaped slices about 2 cm wide.
Stand one ring vertically, then place a second ring next to it to form the horse’s neck and body, and staple them together.
Take the third ring, align its left edge, and attach it underneath the neck and body.
Once attached, flatten it so that the box juts out to the left, and staple it again.
Finally, use the remaining box material to make the head, ears, legs, and tail, attach them, and you’re done!
Let’s make horse hoof sounds!
The sound of hooves striking the ground is quite distinctive, isn’t it? In this idea, we recreate that “pakaran” sound using a simple craft.
You’ll need three paper cups, one pair of chopsticks, and some twine.
Prepare three pieces of twine in different lengths.
First, use an awl to make a hole in the center of the bottom of each paper cup.
Thread the twine through the hole and secure it on the inside with tape.
Finally, fasten the other ends of the twine to the chopsticks in order from shortest to longest, and you’re done! Hold the chopsticks with both hands and press the paper cups against a hard surface like a desk or flooring.
If you tap them in a steady rhythm from the shortest to the longest, it should sound like “pakaran,” just like hooves.