[For Seniors] Enjoy the Hot Summer to the Fullest! A Collection of Easy Craft Ideas
Summer is the season when we start to sweat more and more.
Even indoors, you may sometimes feel the heat.
However, some older adults seem to have a harder time sensing heat.
This time, we’ll introduce some simple, recommended crafts you can do indoors during the hot season, when outdoor activities tend to decrease.
By creating summer-themed pieces, you can help people feel the season, even if it’s become harder to sense it.
After making them, you can take them home or display them at a facility, which can also give a sense of accomplishment!
Crafting involves fine motor movements of the fingertips and thinking through the steps in your head, stimulating the brain and serving as brain training.
Please enjoy making them at your own pace.
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- For Seniors: Simple and Lovely Crafts – A Collection of Take-Home Project Ideas for Day Service
- [Day Service] August Craft Ideas That Seniors Will Enjoy
- [For Seniors] Introducing Fun Crafts Made with Plastic Bottle Caps
- [For Seniors] Sunflower Crafts: A Collection of Ideas to Brighten Up Your Indoor Space
- [For Care Facilities] Let’s Enjoy the Summer! A Collection of Wall Decoration Ideas
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun! Tsumami Zaiku Craft Ideas
- [For Seniors] Styrofoam Craft Ideas: Simple and Recommended
- [For Senior Daycare Centers] Ideas for Summer Take-Home Crafts
- [For Seniors] Easy Craft Ideas to Make at Day Service in July
- [For Seniors] August Wall Decoration Idea Collection
- [For Seniors] Small craft ideas: for yourself and as gifts!
[For Seniors] Make the Most of the Hot Summer! A Collection of Easy Craft Ideas (91–100)
swim ring

We get more chances to go to the pool or the beach in summer, don’t we? Watching people bob around in the water with floaties under the blazing sun makes you feel cool just looking at them.
So let’s make a swim ring out of origami.
The size of the ring will change depending on the size of the paper you use.
If you make it in a larger size, you can even create a base for a wreath shaped like a swim ring.
Make the parts of the ring using both the colored side and the white side of the paper.
Some parts require fine folds, but since you’ll be making several identical pieces, it becomes easy once you learn the steps.
Insert the parts into each other to complete the swim ring.
If you add origami animals or children to the ring, it will turn out super cute.
pinwheel

On hot summer days, there are things that make you feel cool, aren’t there? The sound of wind chimes, sprinkling water, and tokoroten jelly are just a few.
A pinwheel might be one of those cool-feeling items too, don’t you think? A pinwheel that spins in a light summer breeze or with a gentle puff of air—watching it whirl around somehow makes you feel cooler and more at ease.
Cut slits in four places on a piece of origami paper and fold the corners toward the center.
The key is to bring the corners to the center without making creases—more like folding them over gently.
Fix the pinwheel with a toothpick and attach it to a straw to finish.
It’s the kind of craft that might even bring back memories for older adults of playing with pinwheels when they were young.
dolphin
We’d like to introduce an origami piece that looks like a dolphin leaping and swimming through the sea.
Start by making crease lines on the paper, then continue folding step by step.
As you go, it gradually takes on the shape of a dolphin, so older adults can enjoy making it as well.
The dolphin’s mouth and tail fin are also made from a single sheet of paper.
Because of that, there are some steps with finer, more detailed folds.
If the older adult is skilled at origami, they’ll likely enjoy the process.
Once finished, you can arrange it in different ways, such as turning it into a wreath or attaching it to a calendar.
hibiscus

Hibiscus under the hot summer sun.
Wouldn’t it be perfect for an August origami project? Here’s a hibiscus origami craft that almost makes you hear a cheerful “Aloha!” The hibiscus is known for its large, fluttering petals.
You can express this by adding long, narrow creases to the origami when folding the petal sections.
Since it uses a lot of finger movement, it’s also great for brain training and finger dexterity.
Cut the tip of the origami into a curved, petal-like shape.
Create the stamens and pistil in the center, as well as the leaves and stem, attach them to the petals, and you’re done.
It’s a lovely, three-dimensional hibiscus piece.
boat

For August indoor decorations and wall displays, you might choose an ocean theme.
In that case, let’s try making ships that sail across the vast sea using origami.
You can fold simple ships with easy steps, such as folding a triangular-cut piece of origami paper just once or using designs with few complex folds.
Try using double-sided colored or patterned paper, draw windows and other details on the folded ships with a pen, or add your favorite stickers.
With a bit of creativity, you’ll end up with even more charming ships.
Make and display various ships out of origami, and you’ll have lively, fun summer ocean decorations.
Super Easy! Cicada

When it comes to classic summer insects, many people probably think of cicadas.
Their buzzing also accentuates the heat of summer.
That’s why folding a cicada in origami in July can immediately evoke a sense of summer, even for older adults.
Let’s try a simple cicada origami.
Even with a design that has few complicated steps, using the fingertips helps stimulate the brain.
By making fine folds around the abdomen, you can create a realistic cicada shape.
As you fold cicada origami together, you might find yourselves chatting with seniors about memorable summer stories from the past.
Orihime and Hikoboshi
These are Orihime and Hikoboshi made with three sheets of origami paper.
You fold them in three separate parts and then assemble them.
The head uses black origami paper, and the face is made from the white reverse side.
The other two parts are the upper garment and the lower garment.
Since the folds are the same as the balloon model up to a certain step, it shouldn’t be too confusing.
Insert the lower garment from underneath the upper garment.
Finally, glue on the face piece to finish.
Feel free to draw the facial expressions however you like.
Your very own original Orihime and Hikoboshi will surely turn out adorable.



