[For Seniors] Simple and Fun: Craft Ideas You Can Make with Everyday Items
What we introduce here are easy craft ideas for older adults.
They’re all easy to incorporate into recreational activities at senior facilities such as day service centers.
Using familiar, everyday materials, these crafts are simple to make, making it easy for seniors to give them a try.
We hope you’ll use craft-making to help stimulate both mind and body.
Since it involves using the hands, it also serves as brain training and can help prevent dementia.
Be sure to read this article and use it as a reference for craft activities.
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[For Seniors] Simple and Fun: Craft Ideas You Can Make with Everyday Items (11–20)
fabric scrap mat
Introducing an easy, no-needle scrap-fabric mat you can make by repurposing unwanted cloth.
All you need are a non-slip mesh sheet from a 100-yen shop and fabric scraps in your favorite colors and patterns.
Cut the scraps into strips, thread them through the mesh openings of the non-slip sheet, and tie them in tight knots.
The key is to alternate the placement of the knots.
Finally, trim any excess and neaten the shape to finish.
By choosing different fabric textures and colors, you can create a warm, original mat.
Since there’s no sewing involved, it’s easy even for those with limited hand strength, and the finger movements can help stimulate the brain.
It’s an eco-friendly and practical handicraft you can enjoy.
A bag made from a tenugui (Japanese hand towel)
It’s convenient to have a bag you can take for short outings or shopping.
And wouldn’t it be great if it were easy to make? Here’s a bag you can make using a tenugui (Japanese hand towel).
You can use one you already have at home or one from a 100-yen shop.
You might wonder, “Isn’t a tenugui too thin to make a bag?” You’ll adhere the tenugui to something sturdy—like Kent paper or cardboard—cut to the size of your pattern.
Since you’re attaching the fabric to paper, you can make it without sewing.
With this method, you can create bags and small items in various sizes.
Give it a try and use this as a reference!
basket
How about making a basket that can hold small items? A woven-looking shape might seem hard to make, but if you have a paper cup, it’s easy! Just get a paper cup in your preferred size and wrap it with paper cord or jute twine.
For the handle, attach a braided cord.
Add decorations like lace, and you’ll have a cute basket in no time.
If you want a larger basket, simply use a bigger paper cup.
Try putting in candy and other snacks, stationery, and all sorts of little things.
Medicine calendar
How about a reusable, calendar-style pill case? Create a grid on a piece of cardstock like a calendar, with space for 31 days, and attach pockets to each space.
Make the pockets by cutting a clear plastic file folder into small pieces, and prepare small sachets for the pills using tracing paper or similar.
Glue all the clear-file pockets onto every space in the grid on the cardstock.
For the tracing-paper sachets, add the dates and attach them with clips so you can move them when the month changes and reuse the calendar for the next month.
Finally, assign the month and the days of the week at the top of the cardstock with the pockets, and you’re done! Using colored cardstock or decorating the pockets with colorful washi tape will give it a fun, pop look that makes it enjoyable to use.
small accessory case
Why not turn unwanted items into a handy little organizer? All you need to prepare is one tissue box and two sheets each of two different kinds of origami paper.
First, peel off the film in the center.
Next, from the hole in the middle, draw lines toward the corners to mark cutting guides.
Use scissors to cut along those lines.
Apply double-sided tape to the back, and attach the pieces while shaping them.
Once you’ve formed a box that opens and closes, stick on the origami paper you prepared earlier and decorate to finish.
Imagining the shape as you work stimulates the brain, and since you’ll use your fingertips a lot, it may also help prevent cognitive decline.
box
This is a simple square box made with origami.
Because the pattern of the origami paper shows clearly on the outside, choosing the right paper is an important point.
The size of the box changes with the size of the paper, so it might be good to pick the paper size to match what you want to put inside.
Make crisp creases and fold along them, aiming for precise folds that keep the white back side from showing.
Since the key is to fold accurately along the creases, this activity enhances fine finger movements and concentration on the creases.
[For Seniors] Easy and Fun: Craft Ideas You Can Make with Everyday Items (21–30)
carp streamer
Why not try making felt carp streamers that require no sewing—just cut and stick? First, create the main body of the carp from felt.
Once the body is cut out, arrange pom-poms like scales.
You can simply attach these with glue.
Make the streamers from thinly cut strips of felt.
Glue all the pieces onto a paper straw, wrapping them around it.
For better stability, add a base, and you’re done.
Feel free to experiment with colors as you like.
