[Respect for the Aged Day] Mural decorations to brighten the celebration. Simple handmade ideas to try
How about spending a fun time together while creating wall decorations for a Respect-for-the-Aged celebration? This time, we’re sharing lovely mural-making ideas that you can create together with older adults.
Using familiar materials like construction paper and newspapers, you can make vibrant pieces featuring cranes and turtles—the symbols of longevity—as well as seasonal flowers.
The process naturally sparks conversation and fills the space with smiles.
Once the artworks are displayed, the entire facility will be wrapped in a brighter atmosphere.
Please use this as inspiration for creating warm, heartwarming memories.
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Respect-for-the-Aged Day: Mural ideas to brighten the celebration. Simple handmade ideas (11–20)
red-and-white knot
If you want to brighten up your room, how about decorating with a red-and-white knot? As the name suggests, a red-and-white knot is an ornament made by tying together red and white cords.
The decoration you often see on congratulatory gift envelopes is a red-and-white knot.
The kind attached to those envelopes is too small to hang on a wall, so let’s make a larger one.
For materials, thicker cords or straw-like materials are recommended.
If you’re particular about good luck, be sure to check the proper tying method as well.
Message with cranes, turtles, and brush calligraphy
We’d like to introduce a birthday card featuring auspicious cranes and turtles.
Using turtle and crane stencils, you can add color with pastels to the base paper or colored paper where you’ll write your message.
If you also tint the entire card and base/colored paper with pastels, you can create a soft, gentle atmosphere.
Adding a handwritten message with a brush will turn it into a one-of-a-kind message card or shikishi board.
We also recommend the embossing technique—perfect for birthdays—for adding gold feathers and other lucky motifs.
In other words, using embossing to raise gold patterns is a great option too.
Older adults are likely to be pleased with such original birthday cards or shikishi boards.
Crane diamond ornament
Here’s an idea for making a “Crane Diamond Ornament” using five sheets of origami in different colors.
It may look difficult, but the folding steps are simple, so please give it a try.
Fold the origami into a triangle and unfold it, then fold the adjacent edges along the crease.
Turn the paper over, fold a crane using the white area at the remaining corner, and create the connecting section using the yellow area.
The crane only includes the head and wings, so it’s easier than it looks; just fold the head slowly to make a clean shape.
Fold all five pieces in the same way and connect them to complete the ornament!
red-and-white Daruma
Would you like to make red-and-white daruma dolls to brighten up your celebration wall? Prepare two balls made by crumpling paper, then cover each from the top with red and white origami paper and glue them on.
Attach a paper face and patterns made from yellow origami, and you’re done.
You can make a large daruma to display, or create small ones and arrange them to form characters like “祝” (congratulations) or “おめでとう” (best wishes).
In addition to red and white, making a gold daruma will also look festive.
They’re easy to make, so give it a try!
Colorful garland
Colorful garlands are items that instantly brighten the atmosphere just by being displayed.
Let’s decorate with garlands to celebrate Respect for the Aged Day! Fold several sheets of origami into accordions and combine them.
To make them easy to hang, attach small pieces to the ends, and you’re done.
Choosing color combinations is where your sense of style shines.
The method is very simple, so it should be fun to make together with seniors.
Add origami flowers and other decorations to enhance the festive mood for Respect for the Aged Day!
Two-tone fan crane
The red-and-white fan crane is a perfect motif for celebrations.
How about making it together with seniors as an item to liven up Respect-for-the-Aged Day? After folding a red sheet of origami paper in half twice, make a cut in the center.
Fold along the cut and create an accordion fold.
Use the other side to fold the crane.
From here, the work becomes more detailed, but the steps are the same as folding a standard crane.
When making the second one, change the color or reverse the front and back before folding.
Combine the two pieces to complete the fan crane.
The fine movements in origami help exercise seniors’ fingers and provide good stimulation for the brain.
Let’s all make them and enhance the atmosphere for Respect-for-the-Aged Day.
Respect-for-the-Aged Day: Mural ideas to brighten the celebration. Simple handmade ideas (21–30)
flower(s)
How about decorating an entire wall with flowers that are easy to make from origami? The method is super simple: accordion-fold the paper, round off the corners, make two pieces by folding them in half, then glue them together and fan them out 360 degrees.
You’ll get a cute, fluttery flower.
You can stick them on the wall as they are, or create a tree trunk and place the flowers around it to resemble cherry blossoms for a lovely finish.
With few steps and a simple folding process, it’s easy for older adults to enjoy as well.
