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[For Seniors] Get Hooked! Enjoy Crafting with Chopstick Art Projects
We’d like to introduce nostalgic toys and lovely interior pieces made from disposable chopsticks.
Boats, musical instruments, lampshades, and other creations that make you excited just by looking at them can be transformed into original works with a bit of ingenuity and ideas.
The hands-on process of assembling them feels like returning to childhood—a truly enjoyable time.
It’s also effective for finger rehabilitation and dementia prevention.
As you gaze at the finished pieces, you might find yourself reminiscing and sharing fond memories.
How about enjoying craft-making at a relaxed pace tailored to each older adult?
[For Seniors] Irresistibly Engaging! Enjoy Crafting with Disposable Chopstick Projects (1–10)
potted plant decoration
There are probably some seniors who grow houseplants at home, right? Here’s a planter cover you can make from wooden chopsticks that will hold a pot indoors.
Arrange and glue the chopsticks together to form a shape large enough to fit your pot.
If the chopsticks shift while gluing, the piece will tilt.
The key is to mark the glue points in advance.
You can also deliberately offset them to enjoy a diagonal design—this makes for an interesting piece.
Having a wooden planter cover indoors can create a stylish atmosphere.
Simple lampshade
Doesn’t having small wooden items or furniture in a room help you feel at ease? You can sense the warmth and coziness of wood, too.
Here’s a simple lampshade you can make using disposable chopsticks.
Glue four chopsticks together to form a square.
Make several of these parts and stack and glue them together.
You’ll end up with a wooden lampshade with a charming, handcrafted look.
Because the method is simple, older adults may also find it easy to focus on making.
Place an LED light—available at 100-yen shops—inside the shade to beautifully accent your room.
Marble coaster
Here’s a marble coaster that’s perfect for teaming up to build something together.
Get some chopsticks, marbles, and glue, and let’s get started.
Use the chopsticks to create the course.
Cut the chopsticks so marbles can pass through, and glue the pieces together as you build.
Arrange the chopsticks to form a track for the marbles to roll.
When you get to curves, think about how to make the marbles roll smoothly—discussing ideas like this naturally encourages communication.
string instrument
We’d like to introduce a string instrument you can make from disposable chopsticks that produces tones like a guitar or koto when played.
First, cut the chopsticks to about half their length.
Glue the cut chopsticks together to form a cylinder.
As you do, leave gaps for the strings and glue them in place together.
Once the adhesive has dried, try plucking the strings with a chopstick to make sound.
This chopstick-made instrument might pleasantly surprise older adults as well.
If you can tune it, you can even play nursery rhymes and more, so there’s plenty of fun beyond just making it.
omikuji (a Japanese fortune slip typically drawn at Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples)
“Will it be great blessing or a small one?” Here’s a DIY omikuji (fortune draw) that might have seniors saying just that.
Use a cylindrical container like the kind that holds potato snacks for the fortunes.
If you wrap the cylinder with construction paper, it will look even more like a traditional omikuji container.
Make the fortune sticks—labeled with things like “Great Blessing” or “Blessing”—out of wooden chopsticks.
Write the fortunes on stickers, attach them to the chopsticks, put them in the container, and you’re done.
Try changing the sticker colors for each fortune type.
You can use the omikuji at events or recreational activities, and it would also be fun to take it home and draw fortunes with your grandchildren.
Kalimba
Are you familiar with an instrument called the kalimba? It’s an African instrument that you play by plucking thin metal tines with your fingers.
Other than the thin metal parts, the rest is made of wood.
Let’s try making the wooden part using disposable chopsticks.
Cut bamboo chopsticks to half their length and glue them together with wood glue.
Once the chopsticks are glued into a single board-like piece, attach chopsticks fitted with hairpins and secure them with rubber bands.
Adjust the position of the hairpins to tune the notes, and you’re done.
Once it’s finished, it can be fun for seniors to play together in a little concert along with music.
miniature car
Let’s cut disposable chopsticks short and try making a miniature car.
Place the cut chopsticks on top of a paper with the car’s side outlines drawn, and glue them down as you arrange them.
Once both sides are finished, stand them up and keep attaching chopsticks so they form the shape of a car.
Add the wheels, and your chopstick car is complete.
It’s a lifelike car made entirely from chopsticks.
When it’s finished, older adults are likely to feel a sense of accomplishment.
It’s also the kind of project they could take home and delight their grandchildren by giving as a gift.