Lovely childcare

[Children's Day] Let's make and display! Children's Day wall decoration special

20 years of experience as a nursery teacher / kindergarten teacherhiyoko sensei
I’m Hiyoko-sensei, a former nursery school teacher from Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since I was five, my dream was to become a childcare worker, and before I knew it, 20 years had passed since I achieved that dream. Through singing and playing with the children, I kept working with the spirit of someone in their twenties, even as I increasingly felt my physical limits year by year (haha). From here on, I’d like to share helpful information carefully and thoughtfully, drawing on my on-site experience.
9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherShibata Risa
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.

As Children’s Day in May approaches, many preschools and kindergartens are likely making carp streamers (koinobori).

Let’s brighten the walls with festive colors and spark children’s curiosity and interest in the celebration!

In this article, we’re sharing wall decoration ideas perfect for Children’s Day.

From bold pieces that brighten up a room, to unique displays that make use of the children’s photos, to three-dimensional creations using materials like cellophane and paper cups—these wall décor ideas are sure to be fun just to look at!

We’re also introducing ideas for garlands and hanging decorations, so be sure to display them throughout your facility and celebrate Children’s Day together!

[Children’s Day] Let’s make and display! Children’s Day wall decorations (11–20)

Stained glass carp streamer

This is an idea for making very cute stained-glass-style koinobori and hanging them from the wall or ceiling.

Cut out the belly section of a koinobori made from colored construction paper and attach transparent cellophane.

Transparent origami is sold at 100-yen shops these days, so that would be great to use too! Layer different colors of cellophane or transparent origami to look like scales and stick them on.

When you hang it up, light will shine through and sparkle, creating a very beautiful koinobori.

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Turn mini carp streamers into big carp streamers!

A large koinobori (carp streamer) displayed on the wall.

It’s a common May wall decoration wishing for children’s growth, but if you look closely… the big koinobori is made up of many small koinobori.

Each child makes their own small carp streamer.

They can color it in their favorite hues, or you can unify the colors—warm tones, cool tones, etc.—to create different overall effects.

There are many ways to make them: draw with crayons, create a collage with origami, or use a wet-on-wet bleeding technique.

Enjoy the variations in color as you create them!

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Hanging paper-cup koinobori (carp streamer)

Paper cups are a staple for craft projects.

Here’s a wall decoration idea: make koinobori carp streamers using paper cups and hang them up.

Use white paper cups and let each person paint them freely, glue on colored paper, or draw scales—it all works.

For infants, try using stickers to represent the scales and eyes.

Using pre-colored paper cups would also make for a cute and colorful decoration.

Punch holes, thread string through, and connect the koinobori to create a gently swaying hanging display.

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A carp streamer made with an origami samurai helmet

Speaking of Children’s Day, a kabuto (samurai helmet) is an essential item, too.

Children’s Day is a day to wish for children’s healthy growth, and the kabuto symbolizes protection from danger and misfortune.

Here’s an idea: let’s make a wall-hanging carp streamer using origami kabuto.

Each folded helmet is small—about the size of your palm—but when you stick a lot of them on, you’ll get a very striking carp streamer.

The kabuto parts pop out a little, making the scales look three-dimensional, which is really cool!

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Iris flowers and carp streamers

Children’s Day is also called Tango no Sekku and was originally a festival for boys.

The iris (hanashōbu) became a motif for armor and other martial gear, and it grew common to decorate with irises as the festival flower for boys’ day, Tango.

This idea is to decorate an entire wall with those irises and carp streamers (koinobori).

The refreshing contrast between the koinobori—looking as if they’re swimming against a clear May sky—and the irises in full bloom during the fresh green season makes for a lovely wall display.

How about decorating the wall together with pinwheels and samurai helmets (kabuto) as well?

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Koinobori wreath

Let's make a May carp streamer wreath with origami!

Koinobori wreath

This is a koi-nobori wreath made from origami.

Its biggest feature is that, although you might imagine a wreath being assembled by stringing decorations together with thread or cord, this design doesn’t use any of that.

You form each piece of origami into a triangle with an insertion slot, and combine six of them in a circle to complete the wreath.

Then attach the koi-nobori in the center to finish the wall decoration.

By changing the colors of the base wreath, you can also adapt it for occasions like Christmas, so give it a try!

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[Children’s Day] Let’s make and display! Children’s Day wall decor special (21–30)

Chick and Four-Leaf Clover

Here’s an introduction to making chicks and four-leaf clovers.

Prepare paint, brushes, a palette, drawing paper, and crayons, and let’s get started.

Put paint on the children’s palms and have them do hand painting to color and create the four-leaf clovers.

Older children can try drawing chicks and ladybugs on the drawing paper.

For younger children, it’s also nice to have them paste pre-made chicks or ladybugs.

For the background paper, we recommend spring-like colors such as pink or light blue!

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