[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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[Age 3] Perfect Winter and New Year Crafts for January! A Collection of Fun-to-Make Ideas (21–30)
Twisted paper streamer made of decorative tissue paper
@hoiku.labo Perfect for New Year’s: a twisted shimenawa made with flower paper 🎶 ⭐️Detailed steps and tips are in the comments⭐️ChildcareNursery teacher / Childcare workerKindergarten TeacherCertified Childcare and Education Teacher#Nursery school#Kindergarten#Kodomoen#NurseryTeacherThings#IWantToConnectWithChildcareWorkersLife with childrenJanuary#Shimenawa#ShimenawaDecorationNew YearNew Yeartissue paperNew Year’s craft
♬ Are You Ready – Deejay Meddy
A perfect New Year’s craft activity where you can make an authentic shimenawa just by twisting tissue paper.
The steps are simple: roll two colors of tissue paper into thin strands, twist them together, make two of the same, and form a ring.
The twisting process is great fine-motor practice as kids learn to control their strength, and they’ll also enjoy choosing the colors.
Showing a real shimenawa or a photo beforehand helps them visualize the result and complete the project smoothly.
Add New Year-themed decorations like pine or snakes at the end to instantly create a festive, eye-catching shimenawa.
It’s easy yet full of seasonal charm—highly recommended for parents and children to enjoy together over the New Year.
Perfect for New Year! Cute origami osechi
Let’s make osechi ryori—New Year’s dishes that taste great when everyone eats together—using origami.
Using black origami paper, make four folded box parts for the outer box and glue them together in a box shape.
Attach them while checking the balance.
Next, make four inner boxes.
Once you set the inner boxes into the outer box, the base is complete.
For the contents, fold shrimp, nori (seaweed), kamaboko (fish cake), kelp rolls, and kampyo (dried gourd strips), making firm creases as you go.
Before you start, reading a picture book about the New Year to learn about its origins and meanings will help you enjoy making them even more.
[For 3-year-olds] Perfect winter and New Year crafts for January! A collection of fun, make-and-enjoy ideas (31–40)
How to Make a Kite You Can Enjoy Playing With on New Year’s
Here’s an idea for making spinning tops with acorns—very popular as an autumn craft.
You can buy acorns online, but since they’re often found on the ground in season, it’s great to use ones you’ve collected.
If you do, be sure to wash them and disinfect them with boiling water to prevent bugs before using.
The method is very simple: just make a hole in the acorn and insert a toothpick.
If the acorn is hard and difficult to pierce, have an adult help.
Drawing faces or patterns with a pen makes them extra cute!
New Year’s fun with traditional games! A milk carton bamboo-copter (taketombo)
A bamboo-copter is tricky to fly at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s lots of fun.
Here’s an idea for making one using a milk carton and a straw.
First, cut out one side of the milk carton, then cut it into a strip that’s about one-third the width.
Next, fold the strip in half, and about 5 mm from the valley fold, make mountain folds on both sides.
This completes the wing.
Then, cut a slit into one end of the straw and attach it to the wing as a handle.
If you color the white side of the milk carton with markers, it will look pretty when you fly it.
Make and Play! New Year Hagoita (Battledore)
Hagoita paddles that can be simply made with paper plates are easy for kids to create.
Prepare paper plates, wooden chopsticks, cellophane tape, and origami, and let’s get started.
Fold the left and right sides of the paper plate so they form an even shape.
Insert a chopstick inside to make a handle, then secure everything in place by taping it all around with cellophane tape.
Make sure to fasten it firmly so it doesn’t come apart easily.
Once you stick flower decorations on the surface, it’s complete.
Playing with a hagoita you made yourself can be fun and full of discoveries and new insights.
paper-clay kagami mochi
Let’s make a handmade kagami mochi that brings warmth and a sense of the season—perfect for New Year’s decor.
Prepare clay, a clay board, paints, brushes, and a clay spatula.
Divide the clay into three equal parts and designate them as large, medium, and small.
For the mandarin orange part and the leaf part, knead the appropriate paint colors into the clay.
Shape the large and medium portions into the two tiers of the kagami mochi.
Place the mandarin on top, refine the overall shape, and your kagami mochi is complete.
Let it dry thoroughly before displaying it, and welcome a wonderful New Year.
Lovely translucence! Easy New Year’s decoration
This is a beautiful seasonal craft that showcases the glossy shine and clarity unique to resin.
The video carefully demonstrates the process of tinting resin and pouring it into plum blossom shapes, and it also discusses tips for coloring and suggestions for substitute materials, making it approachable even for beginners.
As an educational element, it introduces how mixing colors nurtures color sense and how fine finger movements can promote brain development—resulting in a project that’s “fun to make and delightful to display.” A cute New Year’s craft with a satisfying sense of accomplishment.