[For Day Service Centers] February Craft Ideas: Decorations for Setsubun, Valentine’s Day, and the Feeling of Spring
February is a month when you can feel the arrival of spring even amid the cold.
For crafts at the day service, let’s choose activities that engage the hands while reflecting the changing seasons.
Seasonal crafts may make you look forward to spring and spark lively conversations.
February’s unique motifs—Setsubun ogres and ehomaki rolls, camellias and daffodils that bloom beautifully despite the cold, and Valentine’s heart decorations—are all heartwarming.
Crafts made with familiar materials like origami paper, Yakult containers, and felt are easy for anyone to try and bring great joy when completed.
Shall we enjoy creating warm pieces together that help us forget the winter chill?
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[For Day-Service Facilities] February Craft Ideas: Decorations for Setsubun, Valentine’s Day, and the Feeling of Spring (91–100)
Heart clip
This craft involves attaching heart motifs to wooden clips.
Since it’s about folding origami into heart shapes and sticking them on, you can use them not only on clips but also as decorations in many places.
The heart-folding method uses triangular creases as guides to fold the whole shape, making good use of reverse folds so that color appears on both the front and back.
Finally, tuck in the corners to create a rounded look and you’re done.
Choosing the colors is another way to add your own originality.
Letter of the Heart
This is a cute envelope decorated with a small heart motif.
It’s made from a single sheet of origami paper, so the unified color throughout is a beautiful touch.
Fold the two ends of the large triangle inward, then fold back the corner of the top layer on the front to shape it into a heart.
The small gap at the top of the heart is another key point—by tucking the flap into this gap, the envelope stays neatly closed.
It’s recommended to choose a color that highlights the contents you’ll place inside the envelope.
Heart mini bag
This is a small heart-shaped bag made with origami that can hold a gift inside.
You make two hearts of the same shape from two sheets of origami paper, then stick them together to create space for the gift.
As you fold the hearts, it’s important to create a slit where one side can be inserted and to leave areas for gluing.
Finally, attach two pipe cleaners to the edges to complete the bag.
Try to balance the look between the origami and the pipe cleaners as you make it.
Hartleys
Let me introduce an origami Heart Wreath that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day decorations! You’ll make several heart-shaped parts out of origami paper and connect them together.
Some of the steps for folding the heart shape require fine work and may seem difficult, but since you repeat the same heart shape, once you learn how to fold it, it becomes easy.
Enjoy folding together with older adults.
You can display the finished wreath on the facility wall, or take it home to decorate your room—it will look lovely either way.
It’s a cute wreath, so be sure to give it a try!
Heart-shaped paper gift box
How about handcrafting a heart-shaped paper gift box that’s perfect for Christmas or Valentine’s events? A great point is that you can size it to fit your present! First, cut thick paper into a heart shape to make the base, then create the sides and the lid.
You can change the look by applying your favorite wrapping paper, and decorating with ribbons or cords would be lovely, too! It’s also a charming craft because you can adjust the design to suit the recipient’s image.
If this piques your interest, why not give it a try?
Sushi rolls made of felt
Ehomaki, a food essential for Setsubun, was originally a tradition beloved mainly in the Kansai region, but it spread nationwide after being promoted by convenience stores.
Let’s make a colorful mascot inspired by ehomaki using felt.
Cut felt sheets of various colors to the same width; for the ingredient pieces, use fabric double-sided tape to make narrow strips, and make the rice and nori pieces wide enough to wrap around the ingredients.
Then simply roll the ingredients with the nori and rice to finish.
It’s also recommended to use Velcro or similar to keep it fastened.
The arrangement of the fillings and the way you roll it are great points where your individuality can really shine.
Recommended for class activities! Draw your favorite demon
When we think of events in February, Setsubun comes to mind.
And when we think of Setsubun, we think of oni (demons).
How about making uniquely styled oni crafts as a recreational activity? Staff can prepare the basics in advance, such as the oni’s face, horns, and hair.
Then, older adults can draw the rest, resulting in oni filled with each person’s creativity.
Some oni might have one horn, others two; some might be one-eyed—each one unique and handmade.
If those oni are displayed on the facility’s walls and brighten up the rooms, some residents may feel a sense of the season and grow attached to them.
It’s a fun project that boosts the Setsubun spirit.