[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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- [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 (161–170)
It spins so well! A morning-glory top.
This is a craft where you attach an axle to a morning glory shape made from origami so you can spin it and play.
When it’s not spinning, it has an angular form with a star pattern in the center, giving the impression that it could be seen as a morning glory, but the fun part is that when you rotate it, it clearly looks like one.
You combine five origami-made parts to create the morning glory shape, and by inserting each piece firmly, it becomes sturdy.
After that, just fix the parts in place, attach the axle, and it’s complete.
It ends up slightly concave toward the center, which also makes it easier to spin.
Accessory stand
Ice-pop sticks might seem easy to collect in large quantities during summer, but if you can’t gather many at once or are concerned about hygiene, you can also buy them at 100-yen shops.
Let’s make an accessory stand using these sticks.
For the part where you display the accessories, neatly apply masking tape to the sticks in advance.
It’s fun to create various designs to match the amount of accessories you have.
Since it’s a hands-on activity, it’s also great for brain training.
waterbed
A perfect place for the hot summer might just be on a water bed.
That soft, bouncy bed can even remind you of being in your mother’s womb.
Why not try making a water bed yourself? You’ll need a vacuum storage bag, water and blue paint, plus decorations to put inside the bed.
It could be fun to make little fish or mermaid trinkets out of plastic sheets, too.
It’s easy to make: just add the paint and water to the storage bag and put in the decorations you prepared.
Be sure to tape the seal firmly so no water leaks out.
If you use a large storage bag, you could make one big enough for someone to lie down on—just imagining it is exciting!
[For Seniors] Make the Most of the Hot Summer! A Collection of Easy Craft Ideas (171–180)
Colorful folding fan
If you look closely, popsicle sticks resemble the ribs of a folding fan, don’t they? Let’s make a fan using origami and popsicle sticks.
It’ll look nice as a home decoration and would likely make a delightful gift, too.
This fan is the circular type.
Fold origami paper in an accordion pattern, then fold it in half; make four of these pieces.
Connect the four parts with double-sided tape, attach popsicle sticks to both ends, then flip it around and spread it open the other way to finish.
Glass tile coaster
With clear blue skies and breezes passing through, summer evokes a refreshing image, doesn’t it? How about making coasters that emphasize that fresh feeling by using translucent glass tiles? It might make staying hydrated—a must in summer—feel more fun and accessible.
Since glass tiles are often square, we recommend arranging them on square-cut cork sheets.
It could also be interesting to experiment with color combinations and see how the overall impression changes.
Sparkly toilet paper roll fireworks
Why not reuse toilet paper rolls to make fireworks decorations? You’ll end up with high-quality fireworks that you’d never guess were made from toilet paper cores! Accordion-fold your favorite origami or chiyogami paper, then attach it as you wrap it around the roll.
Cut along the fold lines and fan it out.
For the finishing touch, use a chopstick or similar stick to curl the tips—and you’re done.
Make several and layer them for extra volume! If you’re decorating a wall, arranging a mix of large and small sizes will create a bright, festive look.
Wind chime decoration you can make with a clear cup
Wind chimes are said to have originated from “senfūtaku,” a practice of divination that interpreted good or bad omens based on the sound and direction of bells hung in bamboo groves.
Today, they’re a quintessential symbol of summer.
So how about making wind chimes using clear plastic cups? You’ll need a clear cup, a small bell, string, and a tanzaku (a narrow slip of paper).
First, decorate the clear cup with summery designs.
Shaved ice, watermelon, and fireworks are classics—feel free to use felt-tip pens or colored paper as you like.
After that, just thread the string through the cup and attach the bell and tanzaku.
Writing a summer haiku on the tanzaku is also recommended.
Lining up many wind chimes creates an atmosphere full of coolness and charm!