Fun January Crafts! A Collection of Ideas You Can Make and Play With for 5-Year-Olds

Fluffy colorful sheep

A Preschool Teacher Explains How to Make a Sheep! An Easy Method Using Crayons and Cotton

Even energetic children probably feel the chill of the January wind sometimes, don’t they? So here’s a craft that lets you feel the warmth of a sheep’s fluffy wool.

First, make the sheep’s body out of construction paper, then start gluing on cotton.

You can use the cotton’s natural whiteness as is, but let’s add a little twist.

Rub the cotton onto areas of the construction paper that you’ve colored with crayons.

The cotton will pick up the crayon colors beautifully.

Once you glue this colored cotton onto the sheep’s body, you’ll have a colorful sheep.

Making them in lots of different colors will be fun for the kids, too.

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Nakajima Junko

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Daruma

[Origami New Year] “Bad-Luck-Clearing Daruma” New Year’s decoration, handmade wall decoration, origami, preschool craft, senior care recreation — How to make a Japanese Daruma

Here’s a fun idea for making daruma decorations for New Year’s.

First, flatten a toilet paper roll and make three cuts from one edge with scissors.

On the cut sections, attach thin strips of yellow, orange, and purple origami or colored paper.

Cover the remaining sections with red paper.

Wrap the papers all the way around.

Then reshape the toilet paper roll back into a cylinder.

You can leave the red area as is.

Next, make a daruma face from another piece of paper and stick it onto the red part, then add the daruma’s pattern below the face—and you’re done! Try making and displaying them in different colors!

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sasashina

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Plum Blossom Wreath

[Easy] Hinamatsuri ✨ How to Make a Pom-Pom Plum Blossom Wreath [No Sewing Needed] No glue required! Everything from the dollar store!

This is a New Year–style plum blossom wreath made with fluffy yarn and pom-poms you can find even at 100-yen shops.

Carefully wrap the fluffy yarn around the wreath base so there are no gaps.

To make each plum blossom, thread five pom-poms onto a wire and loop them together.

Cut the wire a bit long so you can insert it into the wreath later.

Create plum blossoms in various sizes, attach them to the prepared wreath, and embed a yellow pom-pom in the center of each flower.

You’ll have a bright, warm-looking wreath ready to celebrate the season!

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yuri

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Spinning snowflakes

【Handmade Spinning Top】Whirling Snowflakes【Winter Craft】

How about a snowflake you can spin like a little top? Cut six slits into a piece of thick paper, open them out like petals, then insert twine from the back and attach straws arranged into a hexagon.

After that, decorate the cardstock or straws however you like with chenille stems, holographic paper, beads, and more—and you’re done! You can spin it in your palm, or use it as part of a wall decoration.

Since there are some fine details, try making it together with teachers or guardians.

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SAKI

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buzzing top

Spins Great! Whirligig Made from a Milk Carton – Handmade New Year’s Toy [Daycare/Kindergarten]

Spinning tops are one of the traditional New Year’s games, aren’t they? It’s said that because a top spins smoothly, it came to be seen as a lucky charm symbolizing that things will go smoothly, and so playing with tops became a New Year custom.

This time, we’ll introduce the bunbun-goma, a top that spins by pulling a string.

A bunbun-goma is made by punching two holes in the center of the top, threading a string through, and pulling the string to make it spin.

For the base of the top, using an empty milk carton works well because it has just the right thickness and stiffness.

How about drawing January-themed illustrations like daruma dolls or the zodiac animal on the base? These buzzing, whirring tops are a craft that kids will really enjoy.

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Nakajima Junko

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Handmade karuta

[Kindergarten/Daycare] January New Year Handmade Karuta Art/Pottery

Handmade karuta is the perfect craft for children who are just starting to learn hiragana! When they make their own cards, they become more interested in hiragana during the process and can enjoy playing while experiencing the fun of being able to read letters.

Prepare card bases and pieces with hiragana characters on them, and let the children choose the characters they like.

After they stick their chosen characters onto the bases, have them draw a picture on a separate sheet that matches the hiragana they picked.

Once they paste on their finished drawings, their original karuta set is complete! With children’s rich imaginations, the result will surely be a set of cards with designs that adults would never think of.

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yuri

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cardboard

Fun to spin! A top made from cardboard

If you want to easily make a spinning top using materials you have at home, how about one made from cardboard? Just cut the cardboard into long, narrow strips, apply glue, roll it up tightly from one end, and insert a toothpick into the center—super simple to make! You can finish it by coloring the cardboard or decorating it with masking tape, which would look great.

Also, making lots of them to race, or competing in games like battling tops, could be a fun way for parents and children or friends to get excited together.

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miyabi

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