[For Seniors] Celebrate Children's Day: Make Your Own Koinobori (Carp Streamers)
When talking about Tango no Sekku on Children’s Day, koinobori (carp streamers) come to mind.
Many families raise koinobori to wish for their children’s growth.
Along rivers and in parks, there are also events where you can enjoy countless koinobori swimming leisurely in the wide sky—beloved as a seasonal tradition of early summer in Japan.
Let’s try making koinobori by hand, something very familiar even to seniors.
We’ve gathered a variety of ideas, from easy ones made with origami or paper plates to more elaborate versions made with felt.
Koinobori that double as decorations also make perfect gifts for your grandchildren.
By all means, handcraft some koinobori and celebrate Children’s Day!
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- [Respect for the Aged Day] With heartfelt gratitude: Handmade gift ideas that will delight residents in senior care facilities
- For Seniors: Simple and Fun Hina Matsuri Crafts—An Idea Collection Using Various Materials
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- Handmade Gifts: Ideas That Will Delight Older Adults
- [Recreation] Summary of Recommended Origami Ideas for Seniors
[For Seniors] Brighten up Children’s Day: Making Koinobori (21–30)
Hanging decorations for Children’s Day
Speaking of May, it’s Children’s Day.
Let’s make a hanging decoration to boost the festive mood! This idea uses felt, but since you assemble it by gluing instead of sewing, it’s easy for seniors to try as well.
First, make a template—thick paper or cardstock works fine.
Trace the template onto the felt and cut it out.
Carefully finish each piece by gluing it together.
Try making lots of Children’s Day–themed motifs like carp streamers (koinobori), oak leaf rice cakes (kashiwa mochi), samurai helmets (kabuto), and festival banners.
They’re so cute that your grandchildren would love receiving them as a gift!
Carp streamers and irises
Speaking of May, it’s all about carp streamers (koinobori) for Children’s Day.
Those koinobori swimming gracefully in the wide sky are a familiar seasonal sight in Japan, and are likely nostalgic for seniors as well.
This time, we’re introducing wall decorations featuring koinobori and irises.
Irises bloom around mid-May, and they pair beautifully when displayed alongside koinobori.
Make the koinobori in any colors you like—the scales really pop when they’re colorful.
Attach the scales to the koinobori, draw the eyes, and it’s done.
For the irises, cut a sheet of origami paper into six equal pieces and make each petal one by one.
Combine the petals, then add the stem and leaves to finish.
Brighten up your senior care facility with these wall decorations that are perfect for clear May skies.
[For Seniors] Celebrate Children's Day: Koinobori (Carp Streamer) Crafts (31–40)
Hanging ornaments
Here’s a hanging carp streamer decoration that moves in the wind.
Cut washi-patterned origami paper into thin strips and glue them vertically in a long shape.
Fold the top edge and wrap a short piece of straw with it.
Thread a string through the straw to create the base for the hanging decoration.
Attach origami carp streamers to the base.
Next, stick masking tape to the tip of a pair of disposable chopsticks and use the chopsticks as an axis to connect two straws.
Then cut a piece of cardboard to match the size of the bottom of your container.
Make slits in the center and around the edge, insert a straw into the center slit, place it in the container, and add a weight—this will support the decoration.
Hook the hanging decoration onto the grooves of the straw, insert a pinwheel into the drinking end, and your hanging decoration is complete.
It’s delightful to watch it move in the wind.
Carp streamers made only with origami
Easy prep! Here’s a koi-shaped windsock (koinobori) you can make with a single sheet of origami paper.
First, fold the paper along the diagonal to make a crease.
Open it, then fold both sides toward the center to mark the lines.
After folding to the marks, flip it over and fold the left and right corners toward the center.
Flip it over again and fold the remaining corners.
Flip once more and fold along the center line.
Make a small cut with scissors on the tail section; flip it over and fold the clipped corners.
Fold the whole piece in half, then draw or stick on eyes and scales with a pen or stickers to finish.
There are some fine steps, but using your fingers while thinking stimulates the brain and may help prevent cognitive decline.
Give it a try!
Koinobori and wisteria flowers
Wisteria flowers reach their best viewing time from the end of April.
You may have opportunities to go see them with older adults.
Some seniors might look forward to the purple wisteria trellises every year.
Here, we introduce wisteria—the flower that represents May—and carp streamers (koinobori) decorations.
We’ll make wisteria and koinobori out of origami.
There are some steps with fine folds, so seniors who enjoy origami are likely to have fun with this craft.
Once the wisteria and koinobori are finished, attach them to a paper plate.
If you paste a sheet with a sky pattern in the center of the plate, it will look like the koinobori are swimming in the sky.
Cutting out the center of the paper plate to make it into a wreath shape is also lovely.
Swimming carp streamers
Perfect for May craft recreation and for finger dexterity training! Here’s a carp streamer (koinobori) that looks like it’s really swimming.
First, roll an A4 sheet of copy paper into a tube to make the body.
Decide which end will be the head, draw in the eye, and cut a V-shaped notch at the tail end.
Make scales out of origami paper and stick them onto the body, and in no time your koinobori is complete.
If you add a crease around the middle of the body, it will look like it’s billowing in the wind as if swimming.
You can also make a windsock or pinwheel to decorate, but pasting lots of koinobori onto a large sheet of drawing paper would be quite striking too.
In senior care facilities, people often enjoy lively conversations while looking at each other’s creations, so the fun continues even after the crafting is done.
Koinobori (carp streamers) hung up for decoration
We’d like to introduce a hanging carp streamer decoration made with soft-textured chirimen (crepe) fabric.
The carp’s scales are created using tsumami-zaiku.
Tsumami-zaiku involves folding small pieces of fabric and shaping them with tweezers.
Through making this project, older adults can get plenty of fine-motor hand activity.
Even if you don’t use chirimen, it should still turn out cute with ordinary fabric.
You can attach a string to hang the finished piece, or turn it into a garland or wreath—your ideas can expand the possibilities of the project.
