[For Seniors] Liven Up Setsubun Crafts! Handmade Ideas Using a Variety of Materials
As Setsubun approaches, memories of childhood filled with bean-throwing and ogre masks come flooding back.
If you enjoy crafts together with older adults, nostalgic stories will blossom and smiles will naturally appear.
Using familiar materials like paper plates, origami paper, and Yakult containers, why not handcraft Setsubun-themed items such as ogre masks, ehomaki, and bean-throwing cups? With a little creativity, the ways to enjoy it are endless.
Spending time savoring the seasonal tradition while working with your hands will warm everyone’s hearts.
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[For Seniors] Get Excited with Setsubun Crafts! Handmade Ideas Using Various Materials (61–70)
An ogre ornament made from a paper tube core
The cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls are something you’ll find in any household.
We tend to throw them away, but they actually have some unexpected uses.
So here’s an idea: a little oni (demon) figurine made from a tube.
First, cut a piece of thick paper to the same diameter as the tube to make a lid.
Then treat the whole tube as the oni’s body: create horns and hair for the top, and add facial features below using yarn and felt.
Finally, wrap yarn around the lower part of the tube to make pants, and you’re done.
Handmade pachinko oni-slaying game
Defeat the ogre with a handmade slingshot made from chopsticks and rubber bands! Cross the colored chopsticks and secure them with rubber bands.
Next, thread a rubber band through a small, hole-punched piece cut from a milk carton and connect it to the chopsticks to complete the slingshot part.
For the target, make an ogre using a toilet paper roll.
Even after Setsubun, you can swap out the target and enjoy the game year-round.
Since you can’t predict where the ball will fly, be sure to use safe, soft projectiles like kneaded erasers or ping-pong balls!
Ehomaki made of paper
Speaking of Setsubun, it’s all about ehomaki! Making real ones can be difficult due to hygiene concerns, but paper ehomaki are great fun to make as a recreational activity.
Cut yellow, green, red, and other origami papers (for the fillings) in half, and roll each one so it gets crinkled.
Do the same with a sheet of kitchen paper to represent the vinegared rice.
Open one piece of the filling origami, roll it up tightly, and tape the edge to secure it.
Then open the kitchen paper, wrap it around the rolled fillings, and finally roll everything with black paper to look like seaweed—done!
Oni and Setsubun decorations made with paper bowls
Create three-dimensional Oni and Otafuku figures using paper bowls.
Paper bowls sold at 100-yen shops work perfectly.
Cut the bowls for the Oni and Otafuku, and use crumpled origami paper to form their faces and hair.
You can also make the Oni’s distinctive, permed-looking rounded hair by crumpling origami paper.
Yarn or thinly cut strips of origami paper can also be glued on as hair.
Because this craft involves crumpling and squeezing paper, it uses the hands a lot.
It’s said that “the hands are a second brain,” with many nerves connecting the fingertips to the brain.
Using the hands and fingers helps activate the brain and can aid in dementia prevention.
Enjoy this brain-training craft activity and create wonderful pieces!
bean-throwing box
Before you start throwing beans, why not try making a handmade bean holder too? Prepare a milk carton, leave one side to serve as a lid, and cut the rest to a depth that makes it easy to take the beans out.
Attach hook-and-loop tape (Velcro) to the part you left so the lid closes securely.
Thread a plastic string through holes punched on both sides so it can hang from the neck, then make and paste paper parts for the ogre’s face, hair, and horns—and you’re done! Having a special case just for bean-throwing will make Setsubun even more fun.