In hot August, children in daycare and kindergarten often spend more time indoors.
Water play and pools can help them cool off, but they don’t stay in the water all day.
So here, we’re introducing crafts and activities perfect for summer that give a refreshing feel.
There are lots of fun ideas kids will love.
Many materials can be found as recyclables or at 100-yen shops, so feel free to incorporate them easily into your childcare activities.
Please use this as a reference and enjoy cool summer creations with the children! Since the things children make are treated as works, we use the term “seisaku” (production) in the text.
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[Childcare] August crafts: 10 cute summer projects (1–10)
Yo-yo fishing

Let’s make a handmade version of the lively festival game, yo-yo fishing! Punch holes in both ends of long, narrow strips of construction paper, then fold each strip in half.
After making four strips, glue them together in a radial pattern.
Next, take a chenille stem (pipe cleaner), bend one end, and thread it through the holes at the tips of the paper strips.
As you pass it through each strip in sequence, it will gradually form a ball shape.
Each time you thread through a hole, glue that strip to the others where they meet.
For the last strip, after threading the pipe cleaner, form it into a loop and pass it back through the hole to secure everything.
Make a fishing rod using a pair of chopsticks, string, and another pipe cleaner, and your yo-yo fishing game is complete! Make lots of yo-yos and enjoy playing with the kids.
Playing aquarium

Here’s a fun pretend-aquarium activity that lets you feel cool during the hot and humid days of July.
Use blue plastic bags as a stand-in for the ocean and make your fish swim through it.
Create your favorite sea creatures—like whales, fish, starfish, and jellyfish—and you’ll encounter all kinds of ocean life.
If you also hang plastic bags from the ceiling and stick the sea creatures on them, the whole space will feel like an aquarium.
The best part is that people of any age can enjoy it!
Osakana Maru Uchiwa

Sure to be a hit in summer! How about making a cool fish-shaped fan with the kids? First, cut two pieces of thick paper into circles, then cut out the round handle area and a fish shape from each.
Next, attach a piece of clear plastic file, cut larger than the fish shape, to one of the thick paper circles.
On top of that, stick randomly cut pieces of cellophane, imagining fish scales as you go.
Finally, glue the two pieces of thick paper together and draw the fish’s eye to finish.
Decorate freely by drawing pictures or adding stickers.
The bright summer sun will make the fish sparkle even more and boost that summertime feeling!
Stained glass-style fireworks

How about making stained-glass-style fireworks that shimmer and shine? The process is very simple—just cutting and pasting.
First, fold a sheet of black construction paper, then cut along the overlapped section with scissors.
Try cutting out several triangles.
When you unfold it, you should see a pattern that looks like a snowflake.
Next, stick small pieces of colored cellophane onto a piece of parchment (baking) paper.
Using a variety of colors will make it look more like stained glass.
Finally, glue the black construction paper and the parchment paper together, and you’re done! It’s a craft that glows beautifully when light shines through.
fluffy shaved ice

Let me introduce fluffy shaved ice that looks delicious, too.
Put cotton and food coloring into a bag and mix them to dye the cotton.
It might be fun to imagine what flavor you’re making as you go.
Stick double-sided tape onto the shaved-ice base you made, then attach the cotton.
The key is to layer it on loosely to create a fluffy, voluminous look.
Dissolve paint and glue in water to mimic condensed milk, and drizzle it over the shaved ice.
Your tasty-looking shaved ice is complete!
Summer and Animals

Here are some July wall display ideas perfect for the hot summer, featuring summer motifs and animals.
With classic summer treats like shaved ice, rhinoceros beetles, and watermelon, the display really gives off a summery vibe and looks delicious.
By adding animals around them, the wall display gains a sense of story.
Try making shaved ice in different flavors to increase the variety.
It’s also a great idea to create a summer-festival-like display by incorporating elements like rhinoceros beetles, watermelon, fans, and food stalls to capture the summer atmosphere.
Setting a clear theme for the display can make it more concrete and easier to create.
3 summer wall decoration ideas

Here are three summer craft ideas for infants.
The first is a refreshing-looking fish made with a clear bag and tissue paper.
The second is a whale made with flat plastic ribbon (suzuran tape) and construction paper.
The third is a wall decoration of a rabbit made with a paper plate and construction paper.
Crumple tissue paper, stick on stickers, and draw patterns and designs with crayons… These are all wonderful ideas that help little ones use their fingers a lot.
With a few adjustments, toddlers can enjoy them too, so feel free to use these as references and give them a try!


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