[For Seniors] Recommended for day-service centers. A collection of craft ideas for April
April brings warmer weather and a lighter mood.
How about incorporating seasonal flowers like cherry blossoms and hyacinths, as well as spring-themed motifs, into your craft recreation activities? Participants can take their finished pieces home, so they can enjoy the feeling of spring there as well.
Craft activities that use the fingertips allow for focused engagement, which many older adults particularly enjoy.
We’ve gathered a wide range of projects—from simple to more elaborate—so please choose the ones that best suit each individual and give them a try.
Let’s all enjoy them together while communicating and connecting!
- [For seniors] Enjoy spring: April craft ideas
- [Day Service] Spring Take-Home Crafts: Ideas to Warmly Brighten Your Room
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Arrival of Spring Indoors! Recommended April Origami
- [For Seniors] Enjoy Cherry Blossoms Indoors: Wall Decoration Ideas
- [For Seniors] Making a March Calendar: Introducing Spring-Themed Motifs and Arrangements
- [For Seniors] Feel the Arrival of Spring: A Collection of Cherry Blossom Craft Ideas
- For Seniors: Come, Spring! Recommended March Craft Ideas for Daycare Services
- [For Seniors] Make an April Calendar: Fun Ideas to Brighten Your Mood
- [For Seniors] Enjoy at Day Service: A Roundup of May Craft Ideas
- For Seniors: Feel the Arrival of Warm Spring. Cherry Blossom Wall Decoration Ideas
- [For Seniors] March Origami: Ideas to Brighten Your Room with Seasonal Flowers and Events
- [For Seniors] Embraced by Spring: Wall Decoration Ideas to Enjoy in April
- [For Seniors] Introducing Fun Crafts Made with Plastic Bottle Caps
For Seniors: Recommended for Day Services. April Craft Ideas (71–80)
Iris made with tsumami-zaiku
Let me introduce a tsumami-zaiku iris that beautifully highlights the fabric’s texture.
Cut your chosen fabric into squares and fold each piece three times with tweezers.
Apply adhesive and open it to form a petal.
Make several of these.
Next, fold smaller pieces to create the inner petals as well.
For the leaves, fold the fabric three times, then cut it into a long, narrow shape.
Slowly open it while securing the edges with glue, shaping it into a leaf.
Attach a round paper base to a wire, and then glue the parts you made onto the base in order to complete the iris.
Since this involves fine, delicate work, it’s best to proceed slowly, one step at a time.
Three-dimensional origami iris
We’d like to introduce an origami craft featuring a beautiful three-dimensional iris.
You’ll need green washi paper, craft wire, and purple origami paper.
First, make the flower.
Fold the origami paper vertically, horizontally, and diagonally to create crease lines.
Fold along these lines to collapse the paper, then fold and open each edge one by one.
Once the shape is set, gently open it while curving with your fingertips to form the flower.
Next, make the stem.
Apply glue to the washi paper and attach the wire and the flower together.
For the leaves, cut the washi into long, narrow strips and neaten the top edges.
When everything is ready, arrange the flower and leaves in a vase.
You’ll be pleased with a result that hardly looks like it was made from origami.
The fingerwork involved and the task of arranging with an eye for balance can also be expected to help prevent cognitive decline.
Making a tulip calendar
@craftymedha tulips are so pretty! #diycalendar#painting#watercolor#watercolorpainting
♬ original sound – armin arshe
Tulips, which bloom with beautiful flowers from late March to early May, are one of the quintessential flowers of spring.
They come in a wide variety of colors, and seeing beds of colorful tulips may make some people feel the arrival of the season.
This time, we’re introducing a spring-themed calendar featuring drawings of tulip flowers.
Use a fine black pen to draw the tulips, then paint them with watercolors.
Light colors will create a gentle, soft feel, while bold colors can give a bright and lively impression.
Have fun coloring with your favorite shades.
[For Seniors] Recommended for Day Service: April Craft Ideas Collection (81–90)
Making an April calendar with clay crafts
Why not make a spring-like cherry blossom calendar using clay and craft bands? Use small pieces of green clay to shape leaves.
Add veins with a craft band, then fold each leaf in half.
Twist a moistened craft band to create tree branches.
Use light pink clay to form buds.
With scissors, shape them into cherry blossoms.
After softly drawing a background with pastels on construction paper (or similar), attach the branches.
Bend them to evoke real tree branches for a more lifelike look.
Apply brown clay where you’ll attach the blossoms, then add the cherry blossoms and leaves to finish.
It’s lovely to include your favorite words, such as a senryu or haiku.
Making a calendar by collecting April-themed posters
Here is an introduction to making a calendar using spring-themed illustrations.
When you think of spring, what comes to mind? Cherry blossoms, tulips, bees, and butterflies are all typical spring images.
Prepare sheets of paper with such illustrations.
From those sheets, older adults can choose their favorite illustrations and paste them onto the calendar.
Creating a spring-like calendar is a great way for seniors to feel the season.
They can make it while chatting with others—saying things like, “This design is nice,” or “It really feels like spring.” It can spark conversation with others and might even help relieve stress.
Strawberry Crepe Calendar Arrangement
When it comes to fruits you want to eat in spring, many people probably think of strawberries.
Just imagining strawberry desserts or going strawberry picking is exciting, isn’t it? Let’s make a calendar themed around a crepe featuring strawberries! There are many ways to fold paper strawberries, so choose the method that suits you.
Attach three strawberries to yellow cellophane, then add a half piece of lace paper.
Fold it into a fan shape and glue it down to complete a cute crepe.
Glue the calendar onto construction paper and attach the crepe.
For extra flair, decorate with spring motifs like clovers to make it even more festive!
Making a calendar with drawing
Try making a calendar featuring your own drawings or paintings.
Some older adults may be especially good at drawing.
Ask them to create illustrations or paintings that evoke April or spring, and add color to complete a lovely calendar.
You can even have them write in the dates.
It will be a one-of-a-kind, original calendar.
For those who aren’t confident in drawing, spring-themed coloring pages are also recommended.
Please use this as a reference when creating a beautiful calendar.