[Children’s Day] Let’s make a handmade samurai helmet! A collection of fun, easy crafting ideas
As Children’s Day approaches, you naturally want to prepare a cool helmet to celebrate your child’s growth.Store-bought ones are lovely, but handmade pieces have a special warmth.From items made with familiar materials like origami and felt to projects that follow more authentic crafting methods, there are actually many ways to make a kabuto by hand!Some are meant for display, while others can actually be worn—there’s a wide range of finishes.In this article, we’ll introduce handmade kabuto ideas that make use of various materials and techniques.There are also projects you can try together with your child, so be sure to use them as inspiration!
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[Children’s Day] Let’s make a handmade samurai helmet! A collection of fun-to-make ideas (21–30)
cloth helmet
Kabuto helmets can seem “cool but a little scary” to many kids, but if you make a cute one out of fabric, they might be happy to wear it.
Sew a solid-colored square of fabric and a patterned square right sides together to make a single piece of fabric.
Next, fold it into a triangle, then fold both ends up toward the top point, shaping it like a kabuto as if you were doing origami.
Hold it with clips and sew with a machine, and you’ll have a wearable fabric kabuto! Try making it to fit your child’s head size.
origami samurai helmet
Let’s make an origami samurai helmet (kabuto) and decorate it by pasting it onto construction paper! Fold a square sheet of origami paper in half into a triangle, then fold it in half again to make a crease.
Fold the two outer corners up to meet the top point.
Fold the corners gathered at the top back down toward the bottom point.
Flip it over, then open out the top section diagonally to the left and right.
Fold the top layer of the lower triangle upward to overlap the upper triangle, and tuck the bottom layer into the pocket.
Your origami kabuto is complete! It’s a great seasonal craft to make at home or in the classroom.
straw helmet
Happy to wear it! Here are some ideas for straw kabuto (samurai helmets).
When you display a cool kabuto, lots of kids will probably say, “I want to try it on!” Here are some ideas for straw kabuto you can actually make and find, perfect for those moments.
What you’ll need: an iron, a crochet hook, a tapestry needle, sewing pins, scissors, and craft yarn in the appropriate thickness.
The best part is that you can customize the color combinations and design however you like.
Kids who put on the finished kabuto are sure to feel excited, looking both cool and adorable.
A child wearing a helmet
Here’s an origami project perfect for Children’s Day: a child wearing a kabuto (samurai helmet).
You’ll need one sheet of origami paper for the helmet and one for the kuwagata (the decorative crest), plus eye stickers, cheek stickers, a pen, and glue.
If you don’t have stickers, you can draw them with a pen.
For the helmet, first fold corner to corner along the diagonal and crease, then mark the center point.
Fold to match the marks, and use those as guides for the next folds—this makes it easier.
The kuwagata involves some small, detailed folds, but if you show a sample, your child should be able to do it well.
Try making it in your favorite colors and have fun drawing different faces!
String art kabuto (samurai helmet)
We’re excited to share a string art kabuto idea that looks stylish and blends seamlessly with your interior.
It’s perfect for those who want to make a chic kabuto or find it hard to secure a place to display one.
Are you familiar with string art? It’s an art form where you hammer nails into a wooden board and wrap threads, cords in your favorite colors, or wires of your preferred thickness between them to create pictures or patterns.
The overall look changes depending on the color of the wood and the color and design of the nails, so try making one to suit your decor.
Pakupaku Kabuto
https://www.tiktok.com/@hitoshi0223/video/6957169397806992642A fun, playful kabuto (samurai helmet) decoration attached to a chomp-chomp origami toy.
Fold creases into a single sheet of origami paper to create four squares.
Make small cuts along the four edges so each square can be separated slightly.
Then, simply fold a kabuto on each of the four square sections.
Once you’ve made all four kabuto, use the initial creases as a guide to assemble it into the chomp-chomp shape, and you’re done! Try opening and closing it vertically and horizontally to play.
Porcelarts kabuto (samurai helmet made with Porcelarts)
Porcelarts is a craft where you create designs on plain white porcelain by applying transfer sheets or painting with overglaze colors commonly used for ceramics.
Using this technique, let’s make an elegant kabuto (samurai helmet)! Plain white porcelain kabuto pieces are available from online shops.
If you’re not confident about drawing cool patterns, you can finish it by applying pre-printed transfer sheets.
If you’d like to draw your own designs, try using ceramic pencils, which give a soft, colored-pencil-like finish, in addition to overglaze paints.
And if you want a touch of luxury, gold leaf or liquid gold is also recommended.
Leather helmet
How about making a cool kabuto (samurai helmet) out of leather? You can easily get leather fabric at 100-yen shops and the like.
You can shape it three-dimensionally like a hat, or cut it into several parts and make a flat piece—either works! If you want to connect parts, use hardware/metal fittings.
For flat pieces, combining them with a frame will give a stylish finish.
For three-dimensional pieces, displaying them as-is is great too.
It’ll be a creation that appeals not only to boys but also to girls.
Spring Roll Kabuto
How about making kabuto-shaped spring rolls for Children’s Day? Even if it’s hard to display a kabuto at home, you can make and eat these, so they don’t take up any space at all! Fold spring roll wrappers like origami to form the kabuto shape.
Put the spring roll filling into the “head” part of the kabuto, then deep-fry until done—ready to serve! For the filling, we recommend kid-friendly options like cheese or chikuwa, or anything your child likes and finds easy to eat.
They’re simple to make, so try making them together with your child as a fun activity.
Kabuto with a Demon Slayer-pattern design
In households with children who love Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, try making a kabuto (samurai helmet) using the haori patterns worn by the characters! Prepare fabric with a haori pattern and cut it into a square.
Fold it into the shape of a kabuto as you would with origami.
To keep the shape neat, press with an iron after each fold.
For the crest at the front of the helmet, attach gold fabric.
Use double-sided tape or fabric glue to secure any parts that seem likely to come undone after folding.
You can make it without needle and thread, so be sure to create one and celebrate Children’s Day with this kabuto!