In many day service centers and other nursing care facilities, crafts are often incorporated as part of recreational activities.
Using one’s hands and thinking through the steps serves as brain training, and above all, enjoying crafts can be refreshing for the mind.
Since craft recreation often features seasonal themes, this article introduces craft ideas for autumn—perfect for creating maple leaves.
Please enjoy trying these colorful maple leaf-themed crafts.
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Craft ideas with a maple leaf theme. Fun craft activities for seniors (1–10)
A maple leaf made by folding a strip of paper
Here’s an artful maple-leaf craft idea that brings out the feeling of autumn in Japan! If it’s for seniors, it’s best to keep the materials and steps as simple as possible.
How about a beautifully three-dimensional maple leaf made just by folding and gluing paper cut into strips? Since you’ll need lots of pieces, the more participants you have, the more smoothly the work will go.
The silhouette is as clean as a paper cutout, so if you hang them as mobile-style decorations, they’ll look great by windows, at the entrance, or on walls.
Please try incorporating this into day service activities so everyone can enjoy the autumn season together!
Colored paper of maple leaves
These shikishi art pieces let you savor the autumn atmosphere with maple leaves! The key is how easy they are to make: simply arrange vividly colored maple leaves on a shikishi board—just a few simple steps.
You can use templates for the leaves or download and print images.
If you use images with gradients, you’ll get a more realistic maple look.
Draw branches on the shikishi with a brush pen or marker, then place the leaves.
The trick is to apply glue only at the base of each leaf and start attaching them from the tips of the branches.
By varying how you draw the branches and the number of leaves, you can create a shikishi full of originality!
Maple-leaf bookmark
What I’d love for you to make this season—often called the “autumn for reading”—is a maple leaf bookmark.
You can easily craft it using leaves you find in a park or along a walking path.
First, lay a tissue on top of a notebook and arrange the maple leaves you picked up.
Place another tissue over them, close the notebook, and put a weight on top.
After letting it sit for about two days, arrange the leaves on the bookmark to decide the layout.
Finally, cover it with clear tape and trim off the excess, and you’re done.
Give this autumn-inspired project a try and enjoy the seasonal feel!
Maple Lanterns
Autumn is also the season when we look forward to the changing leaves, isn’t it? How about making a lantern inspired by autumn foliage and maple leaves to enhance the fall atmosphere? It’s an easy lantern you can make with scrap materials and items you already have at home.
Use a milk carton as the frame, cut out all four sides, and attach oven paper or parchment paper from the inside.
Then, stick paper-cut maple leaves made from origami on the outside, and place a battery-operated light inside to finish.
Using two colors—red and orange—for the maple leaves makes it especially pretty.
Maple leaves made with tsumami-zaiku
Once you start to feel the autumn breeze, you’ll want to bring autumn-themed activities into your day-service craft sessions! How about trying handmade maple leaves using tsumami-zaiku, a traditional Japanese craft that evokes a classic aesthetic? Tsumami-zaiku is a technique passed down since the Edo period, where small pieces of fabric are folded and pinched, then combined to create shapes.
Because it involves delicate work, it can help older adults with dementia prevention and fine motor training.
It’s perfect for autumn décor and as a charming accent for accessories, making it a lovely gift as well.
Stained-glass-style wall hanging of maple leaves
Stained glass might seem like a high hurdle, but you can create something with a similar feel using glass paint you can even buy at a 100-yen shop! If you’re looking to include it in an autumn craft activity, how about a stained-glass-style wall decoration with a maple leaf motif? Draw the outline on a clear plastic sheet using a black glass pen, then color the sections you want in the same way with glass pens.
Arrange the colors however you like! Stained glass generally looks best with combinations of deep colors, so that’s recommended.
Since we’re not using actual glass as the base, it’s a safe project for older adults to enjoy making!
Maple leaf string art
Incorporating activities that people can’t usually experience into day-service craft sessions is highly recommended because it stimulates older adults! While it may not be very common in Japan, let’s try making a maple leaf with string art, which uses nails and thread to create motifs.
After hammering nails into a board in the shape of a maple leaf, you loop the thread around the tips of the leaf.
You can add your own flair depending on how you string the thread and the colors you choose, so have fun making it! It would also make a stylish interior piece and a gift that’s sure to please.