[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] Small craft ideas: for yourself and as gifts!
[For Seniors] Make the Most of the Hot Summer! A Collection of Easy Craft Ideas (11–20)
Sea photo frame
Since mobile phones and smartphones have become widespread, we’ve had more opportunities to take photos.
Summer is also a season when we go out more often with our grandchildren and families.
Why not make those memory-filled photos even more special with a sea-themed photo frame you make yourself? What you’ll need: a wooden frame as the base (a ready-made photo frame is fine), paper clay, paints, seashells and sea glass, plus optional decorations like glass marbles and glitter powder.
How to make it: press the colored paper clay onto the wooden frame, then arrange the shells and sea glass before the clay dries.
If you make them with classmates at the daycare or everyone at the day service, it will spark lots of conversations about your memories.
And if you use shells and sea glass you collected yourself, it will feel all the more meaningful!
gel candle
Let’s try making a gel candle with a wonderfully cool look! Prepare a heat-resistant glass and first secure the candle wick to the bottom.
Next, layer a few colors of colored sand around it.
Once you’ve filled about one-third of the glass with sand, add decorative items like shells.
In a separate heat-resistant container, warm and melt the gel candle, then pour it over the sand and shells in the heat-resistant glass.
It’s recommended to mix about two colors of gel as well.
Once the gel sets, you’re done! It’s very easy because you’re simply adding the materials step by step.
Mini Aquarium
Even if you’re not that interested in aquariums, you can probably name quite a few: Sunshine Aquarium, Shinagawa Aquarium, Kyoto Aquarium, and Osaka’s Kaiyukan.
Do Japanese people really like aquariums? With that in mind, why not try getting through the hot summer by making your own mini aquarium? Some people even create lovely aquariums using only materials from 100-yen shops.
You can make one using items like UV resin, dried moss, and stickers for herbariums.
Some of these might sound unfamiliar, but it could be fun to give it a try as a summer craft project.
It’s also enjoyable to divide up the tasks and make one together!
Morning glory leaves and vines made with origami
This project combines not only morning glory flowers, but also leaves and vines.
By carefully layering parts like flowers and leaves that are crafted with clever folds, aim for a three-dimensional, soft appearance.
While the flowers and leaves tend to stand out, paying close attention to the length and shape of the vines will enhance the overall beauty of the morning glories.
Create the flowers and leaves in a three-dimensional way using reverse folds, then decorate with vines made by twisting thinly cut strips of origami paper in a simple process.
It’s also recommended to consider how the vines overlap and finish them as if they’re twining around other decorations.
Paper cup fireworks
Fireworks made with paper cups are a classic summer craft that even older adults can easily enjoy.
Cut several vertical slits along the side of the cup and gently flare them outward to create the look of an opening firework.
Draw patterns on the bottom of the cup with colored pencils or crayons to give it your own original firework design.
You can glue the finished firework onto black construction paper to depict it bursting in the night sky.
By changing the angles of the slits and the colors you use, you can create a variety of fireworks, which broadens the scope for creativity.
The hands-on process of planning colors and shapes helps stimulate the brain, and once completed, the craft also works well as a seasonal wall decoration.
It’s a recommended activity that lets you easily enjoy a hallmark of summer indoors.
Fireworks mobile
A type of “moving sculpture,” mobiles can be easily made using paper or plastic.
The process is simple, but because it uses fine motor skills, it may also work well as a recreational activity for older adults.
If you use paper to create flower shapes, they can decorate your room like fireworks, and especially in summer, the air conditioner’s breeze lets you enjoy the mobile’s dreamy swaying.
It’s a summery craft that’s fun both while making it and after it’s done, and recommended for everyone from children to seniors.
[For Seniors] Make the Most of the Hot Summer! A Collection of Easy Craft Ideas (21–30)
goldfish ornament
Here’s an idea for a summer take-home craft to make at day services: “Goldfish Decorations.” Shaping goldfish from red or orange tissue paper is great for finger movement and rehabilitation.
Place the finished pieces in clear wrapping bags and use blue or light blue cellophane to represent water for a cool, seasonal look.
Display them by a window to let the light create a summery atmosphere—your families will love them.
It’s a fun, soothing project.
Give it a try!
