[For Seniors] Kick Off the New Year with Laughter! Fun DIY Ideas for Fuku-warai
When it comes to classic New Year’s games, Fukuwarai—arranging facial features while blindfolded—is a favorite.
Even traditional pastimes can feel fresh and more exciting when you add handmade twists and ideas.
The possibilities are endless: versions you can eat at the end made from cookies or cake, ones that combine clay and pebbles, or designs based on anime characters.
One of the biggest charms of handmade Fukuwarai is that you can enjoy the time spent creating the pieces together with older adults.
Why not try these easy, handmade Fukuwarai ideas at a senior facility or at home as a New Year’s activity?
- [For Seniors] January Activities and Recreation Games
- [For Seniors] Lively! Entertainment Ideas for New Year’s Parties
- [For Seniors] Fun to Make, Soothing to Display! Snowman Craft Ideas
- [For Seniors] Simple Tabletop Games: Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Handmade Game Ideas You Can Enjoy
- [For Seniors] Let’s Make New Year Decorations by Hand! A Collection of Easy Ideas Using Everyday Materials
- [For Seniors] Heartwarming Handmade New Year’s Cards: Fun Ideas Using Everyday Materials
- [For Seniors] Brighten Up Your New Year’s Party: A Collection of Handmade Decoration Ideas
- [For seniors] January health topics: A roundup of popular recreational activities from exercises and crafts to New Year’s games
- [For Seniors] Craft Ideas Recommended for New Year’s and the New Year
- [For Seniors] Recommended Handmade Activities! Simple Ideas
- [For Seniors] January Craft Ideas: Boost Your Luck with New Year Decorations and Good-Luck Charms
- [For Seniors] Short New Year's card messages to include: ideas and examples that will bring a smile
[For Seniors] Have your first laugh and liven things up! Fun DIY Fukuwarai Ideas (21–30)
Iron bead Fukuwarai
Let’s make a fukuwarai game using Perler beads! Perler beads are a craft where you arrange special beads on a pegboard to create a picture, then fuse them together with the heat of an iron.
In this image, the design uses a maiko (apprentice geisha) motif made with Perler beads.
Once the Perler-bead base is complete, make the facial features out of origami paper.
To make the game more fun, prepare multiple variations of each facial part so players can enjoy lots of different fukuwarai combinations! How about introducing a slightly different take on fukuwarai for recreational activities at a senior care facility this year?
Anime character
@suzuran.group VOICEVOX: Shikoku MetanTranslationIndependently producedFukuwarai
Using royalty-free BGM – Suzuran Group
Anime characters sometimes have slightly different placement of their facial parts compared to real people, which could make them a fun and more challenging version of fukuwarai.
Let’s incorporate famous characters and have participants aim for an even cuter finished face while blindfolded.
If participants join from the stage of creating the outline and parts, their attachment to the character will grow, and it will also serve as helpful hints for the game—highly recommended.
Even if they make mistakes, let’s enjoy the excitement that comes from the quirky, shifted look of the misplaced parts.
Felt Fukuwarai
If you make a fukuwarai game out of felt, you can enjoy its soft texture.
Cut out the face base and each facial part like the eyes and mouth, then add expression by layering different felt pieces or using embroidery on the eyes and mouth.
You can also draw directly with a marker pen if you like.
The detailed handiwork will serve as good finger dexterity training.
Once it’s finished, everyone can of course play fukuwarai together, and above all, the soft look is just adorable!
Recommended for group activities! Instruction-based Fukuwarai
“Fukuwarai” is a great recommendation for recreation in senior and welfare facilities.
Seniors and staff form teams together.
The seniors, blindfolded, place the facial parts, while the staff hand them the parts.
When placing each part, the staff give verbal guidance like “a little higher.” It turns into an exciting game.
It can get a bit hectic, but setting a time limit makes it even more lively.
It’s also excellent brain exercise—thinking of verbal directions and remembering where the facial parts go.
Plus, it promotes communication through cooperation and conversation with others.
Clay and Found Pebbles
Here’s an idea for a fukuwarai game using clay and stones.
Make the base with skin-toned clay.
For the parts like eyes and nose, paint designs onto stones you’ve gathered.
It’s fun to create the parts together with older adults, but you can also prepare the pieces in advance so participants can simply enjoy the game.
If you make the base from colored construction paper instead of clay, it’s even easier.
Prepare plenty of different parts and start the year with lots of smiles.
Do you know who it is?
@hanakin.official Got it—you’re amazing! Big laughs like a Fukuwarai!#CapCut#HikakinVoice
Nanikore Chin Hyakkei Theme (Pictures at an Exhibition) – Soundworks
Fukuwarai is a game where you have fun arranging facial parts on a board with an outline drawn on it.
Typically, you prepare one set of parts for a single face, but in this version, you prepare multiple options for each part and play.
The fun idea here is that if you choose the correct parts, the face of a specific person will be completed.
If older adults are playing, why not use the face of a famous enka singer as the motif? Once the face is complete, try asking, “Do you know who it is?”
Fukuwarai with circles, triangles, and squares
It’s a game that raises the difficulty of Fukuwarai, challenged using only parts limited to specific shapes like circles, triangles, and squares.
Precisely because each part is a similar shape, it tests your ability to discern subtle differences in form and your fine-motor focus.
If you make the parts exactly the same shape, it becomes impossible to judge by fingertip sensation, so it’s best to vary the size and shape slightly.
Mixing in dummy parts made in different shapes will further sharpen players’ focus on their hands.