[For 3-year-olds] Perfect January Winter & New Year Crafts! A Collection of Fun, Hands-On Ideas
Do you find yourself wondering every year what to make with the children in January’s childcare activities? It can be surprisingly hard to find crafts that three-year-olds will enjoy while taking in New Year’s motifs and the feeling of winter.
In this guide, we’ll share ideas you can enjoy together with three-year-olds—from New Year-perfect projects like paper plate spinning tops, kagami mochi, and shishimai (lion dance), to wintery crafts like fluffy sheep and snowmen.
Activities that use hands and fingertips, such as finger stamping, finger painting, and origami, will spark children’s curiosity.
Some of the things you make can also be played with afterward, so please use these ideas for inspiration! Because the children’s creations are treated as artworks, we use the term “seisaku” (production/artwork) in the text.
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[For 3-year-olds] Perfect winter and New Year crafts for January! A collection of fun, hands-on ideas (1–10)
Make It with Resist Painting! Gloves and Hat
Are you familiar with the crayon-resist technique? It’s a method where you paint watercolor over a drawing made with white crayon, and the paint is repelled by the crayon so the drawing emerges.
Because you can barely see what you’ve drawn in white crayon, applying the paint can lead to surprisingly delightful results.
Try drawing on colored construction paper cut into winter-themed shapes like scarves, hats, and gloves.
If you plan to display the artwork, you can mount it on a backing board afterward.
Three homemade kites!
Let’s make kites that are perfect for New Year’s.
It’s also a lot of fun to go out and fly the ones you’ve made.
I’ll introduce three types of kites.
The first is a twirly, spiral kite.
It’s great because you can practice cutting curves while making it.
The next kite is made by stapling construction paper into a paper-airplane-like shape.
You only need a stapler and a hole punch for this one.
The third kite uses a plastic shopping bag.
First, fold an A4 sheet of paper and draw lines to make a template.
Then cut the plastic bag based on that template.
If you draw a picture on it before assembling, you can create a one-of-a-kind kite.
Let’s try playing Fukuwarai!
Why not try making a fukuwarai using crayons, scissors, and construction paper? Fukuwarai is a traditional Japanese game said to date back to the mid-Edo period.
First, draw parts like eyes, nose, and mouth on construction paper and cut around each piece.
Then make a base.
For the base, you can either cut pale orange construction paper into a face shape and glue it down, or draw the face with crayons.
Once everything is ready, start arranging the parts.
You can express different emotions—like a smiling face or a sad face—depending on how you place the pieces.
It’s also fun to arrange the parts while blindfolded.
[For 3-year-olds] Perfect winter and New Year crafts for January! A collection of fun, hands-on ideas (11–20)
For winter childcare! Origami oden
Let’s make oden out of origami, with three items—konnyaku, daikon, and chikuwa—skewered on a stick.
First, fold a gray sheet of origami paper twice to make a small triangle, draw a pattern, and you’ll have the konnyaku.
Next, fold a yellow sheet using the “cushion fold,” then fold all four corners inward to round it out; draw a cross-shaped slit to finish the daikon.
For the chikuwa, draw a pattern on brown origami paper and roll it into a tube shape.
Finally, fold another sheet into a long, thin skewer and attach the three pieces you made.
Your oden is complete!
Easy way to make oden
@hoikusi1 Oden Craft Project: A Preschool Teacher Explains a Method That Can Also Be Used as a Wall Display (Ages 2+) A preschool teacher will show you the steps for making an oden craft. It’s an easy method that can also serve as a wall decoration. Target Age: 2 years and upChildcareNursery teacher / Childcare worker#NurseryTeacher#FirstYearNurseryTeacher#Childcare Crafting#Nursery School Craft#Making PlayorigamiOrigamiOrigami playEarly childhood education materials#Childcare topicAspiring childcare workersolidworkTranslationwall surfaceWinter#Oden
♪ Original Song – Manual for First-Year Nursery Teachers – Manual for First-Year Nursery Teachers
Let’s add oden ingredients to a paper pot filled with soup! For children old enough to use scissors, draw only guide lines on construction paper and have them cut out the ingredient shapes themselves.
Then they can glue the pieces onto the soup and draw patterns or details.
For younger children who can’t use scissors yet, prepare the ingredient parts in advance and stick double-sided tape on the back so they can enjoy placing them like stickers.
In addition to classics like daikon radish, konnyaku, eggs, and mochi pouches, it’s also fun to think about what other ingredients to include.
Fun in winter! Let’s play Oden shop
@taisougakuen_osaka_ikuno Sora Class (middle preschoolers) made oden! 🍢 They snipped away, making as many oden ingredients as they liked and put them into the pot. 🍲 Looks delicious! 😍 They captured the characteristics perfectly, with great shapes and use of color. 💮Gymnastics#Nursery school#Excellent Unlicensed Nursery SchoolI love gymnastics.#IkunoIkuno Ward, Osaka CityFun childcareUnique childcareI want to connect with people who like gymnastics.#Eins Gymnastics Club#fypMiddle-year kindergarten studentProduction#Oden
♬ Maido Happy – Ulfuls
Here’s a humorous craft idea where children transform into oden shop owners.
The oden ingredients are made by cutting and pasting construction paper and drawing patterns with pens.
Stick those into a paper pot you’ve made.
Glue the pot near the bottom of a large backing sheet, and above it, attach photos of the children with twisted headbands and their arms folded.
Finally, hang a noren curtain at the top of the backing sheet to finish! The children also write the characters on the noren, and each one gives the shop its own unique vibe.
Oden that can also become a wall!
Here’s a craft project for making oden that even toddlers can do, and it can also be used for wall displays! First, let’s make the oden shop.
Cut colored construction paper into a face shape, then draw or glue on the oden shopkeeper’s facial features.
For very young children, prepare the face parts in advance.
Apply glue to the head area and stick on yarn hair piece by piece.
It’ll be fun to have yarn in various colors.
Next, let’s make the oden ingredients.
Stamp the konnyaku pattern using a cotton swab, make lots of your favorite ingredients, and then glue them onto colored construction paper of your choice to finish!
