[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] Make the Most of the Hot Summer! A Collection of Easy Craft Ideas (191–200)
small accessory case
Ice cream sticks are made of wood, so if you use them well, you can make proper items.
Here is a small accessory box made from ice cream sticks.
If it’s hard to collect a large number of popsicle sticks, you can buy them at 100-yen shops.
Lay the sticks flat like lumber and glue them together with a hot glue gun or adhesive.
For the side panels, glue them in an alternating pattern like a log cabin.
Once assembled, decorate it with lace and other embellishments.
Your very own accessory box is complete.
bow
Let’s make a cool bow out of popsicle sticks and have some fun! Use about five sticks to form the shape of the bow, and use rubber bands for the bowstring.
Make the arrows using items like straws, and shape them with vinyl tape.
If the targets are light, they’ll be easy to knock down—try shooting at stacked paper cups or empty plastic bottles! As a group activity, enjoy a target practice game with friends, or compete to see whose arrow can fly the farthest.
Of course, it also makes a great gift for your grandchild.
A star-shaped ornament whose shadow is cute
Let’s make a craft you can stick on a window and enjoy both the decoration itself and the shadows it casts.
Cut black construction paper into star shapes with a Tanabata feel, and hollow out the center a little.
Cover the cut-out area with clear packing tape (the kind used for shipping).
Then randomly stick on small pieces of colored cellophane.
It looks beautiful if you combine various colors.
Once you’ve finished sticking them on, place another layer of clear tape over the cellophane and trim off the excess.
Attach strips of colored cellophane beneath the star like Tanabata tanzaku, and you’re done! Instead of sticking it flat against the window or wall, leave it slightly free to sway—you’ll see vivid, colored shadows projected onto the window or wall.
Origami tropical fish
Here’s a decoration idea that makes it look as if colorful tropical fish are swimming across the wall.
It could let seniors who can’t go out enjoy an underwater or aquarium-like atmosphere while staying indoors.
Draw patterns on origami paper with crayons, fold it accordion-style, then fold it in half and apply double-sided tape.
Next, take a smaller sheet of origami, fold it accordion-style, fold it in half in the same way, and attach it so it becomes the tail fin of the tropical fish body you made first.
Make lots of them with colorful paper and brighten up your walls!
Origami Morning Glory Kusudama
Why not combine morning glory origami to make a cute “kusudama”? When you think of an origami kusudama, you probably imagine a beautiful ball shape.
Some people might feel it looks difficult to make because of the shape.
But you can do it simply by using two sheets of origami paper, folding two different parts, and assembling them into a ball.
If older adults are making it during a recreational activity and find some of the folds difficult, please try creating it together with the staff.
A morning glory-themed kusudama with its gentle feel can give you a sense of fulfillment when you make it yourself! It’s also a piece that staff can make and present as a gift to older adults, which they’re likely to appreciate.
[For Seniors] Make the Most of the Hot Summer! Easy Craft Idea Collection (201–210)
Phone stand
These days, many older adults also have smartphones.
Having a stand to place a smartphone on is convenient and prevents you from misplacing it.
Let’s make a smartphone stand using popsicle sticks.
Assemble it in the shape of a chair; using a hot glue gun is handy because it bonds quickly.
Be careful when handling it, as the tip gets hot.
Adding bright colors will give it a cute finish.
Even if you accidentally cut a piece, you can easily fix it by gluing it back together with the hot glue gun.
Morning-after frame
We all want seniors who find it difficult to go out to be able to enjoy beautiful flowers, don’t we? This time, we’re introducing a frame decorated with origami morning glories.
It’s a simple craft: just attach origami morning glories to an origami frame.
We hope this lovely piece will give viewers the feeling of having admired real flowers! Morning glories are often associated with “summer,” but they bloom from the rainy season through around November.
Through this activity, even seniors who find it hard to sense the changing seasons may be able to feel them—and the conversation about their blooming period is sure to be lively.