Lovely childcare

[Childcare] Collection of Daruma Craft Ideas: Fun Projects Using Everyday Materials

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
Nursery Teacher Mom Writertsukada moe
After working for five years at an after-school childcare club and three years at a nursery school, I began working as a freelance writer. I’m a mother of two children. Inspired by playing the flute in the school wind ensemble in elementary school, I joined a jazz club at university. I’ve also incorporated ukulele and piano performance into childcare. Playing, laughing, feeling sad, feeling frustrated—through all kinds of experiences, I want children to grow.

When it comes to January activities in childcare, making crafts with lucky daruma dolls is a must! Using familiar materials like paper plates, origami paper, and milk cartons, there are plenty of ideas that even two-year-olds can enjoy.

Children can create patterns with torn-paper collage or decalcomania, turn their creations into spinning tops or maracas to play with, or make daruma that gently wobble like roly-poly toys.

Why not enjoy the process of making them and share the joy of playing with the finished pieces together with the children? Here, we’ll introduce lots of ideas for unique, personality-filled daruma crafts! Because the children’s creations are treated as art pieces, we use the term “seisaku” (制作, creation/artwork) in the text.

[Childcare] Daruma Craft Ideas! Fun Projects Using Everyday Materials (11–20)

Daruma’s Mayudama Rolling

[Easy!] Daruma Doll Mayudama Rolling [New Year’s Craft]

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!

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Roly-poly doll made from a roll of packing tape core

How to make a self-righting daruma (roly-poly doll)

Roly-poly doll made from a roll of packing tape core

Let’s make a wobbling roly-poly daruma doll using a roll core from packing tape! First, use the tape core to trace and cut out two circles from colored paper.

Put a weight inside the tape core and secure it firmly, then wrap the core with colored paper.

Cut slits in the excess paper on the outside edge and fold them inward.

Next, attach the two colored paper circles you made earlier—decorated with a face and patterns—onto the ends.

You’re done! Making them in various colors will give you a cute, colorful set of daruma dolls.

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[Toilet Paper Roll Core] Bad-Luck-Clearing Daruma

[Origami New Year] “Bad-Luck-Clearing Daruma” New Year’s decoration, handmade wall decoration, origami, preschool craft, senior care recreation — How to make a Japanese Daruma

[Toilet Paper Roll Core] Bad-Luck-Clearing Daruma

This is a unique “bad-luck-clearing Daruma” with notches inspired by the Daruma-otoshi game.

First, make the body that will be the base.

Flatten a toilet paper roll by pressing it down, then cut slits at 1.6 cm intervals.

Leave one half of the roll uncut.

Next, attach strips of origami paper—cut to the same width as the slits—to the cut half, and cover the remaining half with a larger sheet of origami paper.

Then trim the lower part, which will be the Daruma’s head, to round it off.

Finally, attach a white piece of paper with the face drawn on it, and your Daruma is complete.

You can also enjoy the fun of creating a three-dimensional object by combining flat pieces.

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[Ink and Brush] Let’s try drawing a Daruma’s face

[Sumire Class] January Craft: “Daruma”

[Ink and Brush] Let’s try drawing a Daruma’s face

How about welcoming the New Year with renewed spirit by painting a bold Daruma face in ink? Touching ink and brush is a refreshing, focusing experience, especially recommended for five-year-olds.

The “Daruma,” known as a lucky charm because it rises no matter how many times it falls, features the custom of “filling in the eye” when a wish comes true.

This act carries the meaning of a firm resolve to achieve one’s goals and dreams, and it is also said to imbue the Daruma with a soul.

Share that cultural background as you help them create a cool Daruma!

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[Milk Carton] Daruma Spinning Top

Spinning Top Daruma Made from a Milk Carton

[Milk Carton] Daruma Spinning Top

Crafts using milk cartons are great because it’s easy for preschools to gather the materials.

This Daruma can spin like a top, so kids can keep playing with it after they finish making it.

If you give the Daruma different expressions on the front and back, children can have fun seeing which face it lands on when it stops.

The steps are simple: cut off the bottom of the milk carton to make the base of the spinning top.

Use the rest of the carton to make the Daruma, color it with a permanent marker, and attach it to the top’s base to finish.

If you use the part of the milk carton without the glue seam, it will come out neatly.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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[Handprint/Footprint Stamp] Making a Daruma Doll

[Kindergarten/Daycare] May “Daruma-san’s Hands”! Handprint Stamp Art/Craft

[Handprint/Footprint Stamp] Making a Daruma Doll

A craft I’d highly recommend even for infants is “Daruma-san’s Hands.” Place a die-cut Daruma-shaped sheet on the paper and dab stamps over it like a stencil.

Removing the template is a fun step to do together with the children.

Draw a Daruma face on white paper, paste it on, and add a handprint next to it—done! Handprints are great to keep regularly as a record of growth.

This Daruma-and-handprint idea also creates a festive New Year’s atmosphere.

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[Childcare] Daruma Craft Ideas! Fun Projects Using Everyday Materials (21–30)

Daruma-chan with decalcomania

This is a creative activity packed with depth and fun that uses the technique of pressing paint to transfer patterns.

Simply folding the paper in half and opening it encourages thinking about symmetry and helps develop spatial imagination.

Plus, because children can experience the flow of prediction, experimentation, and results, it nurtures a curiosity that makes them want to try again and again.

For infants, making a decollage in a single red color and then adding facial parts afterward can look adorable, making it enjoyable at different developmental stages.

Although it looks simple, it’s full of learning—perfect for a winter craft: a little Daruma.

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