Fun January Crafts! A Collection of Ideas You Can Make and Play With for 5-Year-Olds
The arts-and-crafts activities you include in January childcare are a perfect chance to share the fun of New Year’s traditions.
While exploring seasonal motifs like the lion dance, sacred Shinto ropes, and ema wishing plaques, it’s important to spark five-year-olds’ desire to “try it myself!” Here, we introduce ideas that stimulate children’s creativity—making snowmen with colorful cotton, creating waddling penguins from paper cups, and expressing a three-dimensional kagami mochi with whipped paint.
Enjoy the start of the new year together as you help children connect with tradition through hands-on projects! Since the children’s creations are treated as works of art, the term is written as “seisaku (制作)” in the text.
- Ideas for Winter-Themed Crafts and Bulletin Board Projects for 5-Year-Olds
- [For 5-year-olds] Let’s Make It! A Collection of Recommended Craft Ideas for February
- [Nursery/Kindergarten] New Year Craft Ideas: A Collection of Projects You Can Enjoy Even After Making Them
- For 4-Year-Olds: January Crafts! A Collection of Fun Ideas with Winter and New Year Themes
- [For 3-year-olds] Perfect January Winter & New Year Crafts! A Collection of Fun, Hands-On Ideas
- Recommended for 5-year-olds! Simple DIY toy ideas
- Have fun with one-year-olds! A collection of craft ideas featuring recommended January motifs
- [January] Enjoy with 2-year-olds! A collection of craft ideas that capture winter and the New Year
- [Childcare] Winter Projects You’ll Want to Try! Recommended Craft Ideas
- [For 4-year-olds] Enjoy February! A Collection of Craft Ideas
- For 5-Year-Olds: Let’s Make It! A Collection of Craft Ideas to Feel the Spring
- [January Crafts] Fun DIY Ideas for Kids: Perfect for Use in Childcare
- [Kindergartners (Older Group)] Folding is Fun! Recommended January Origami Idea Collection for Senior Kindergarteners
Fun January Crafts! A collection of make-and-play ideas for 5-year-olds (21–30)
Fluffy snowman made by threading yarn
While enjoying lacing, let’s make a snowman perfect for winter.
In this idea, you punch holes into a circular frame cut from white construction paper and thread yarn through the holes.
Once you’ve threaded yarn through all the holes, the snowman’s body is complete.
Then cut a slightly smaller circle from construction paper and glue it on as the head.
Finish by attaching a scarf, hat, arms, and facial features.
Some yarns come in colorful multicolors, so using one of those will give it a bright, festive look.
Daruma origami that even 3-year-olds can make!
Let me introduce an origami daruma that even a three-year-old can make.
It’s great as a New Year’s decoration, and carefully following the folding steps is beneficial for brain development, so I highly recommend it.
First, fold a red sheet of origami paper into a triangle.
Unfold it, then fold the corner on the creased side twice, and slightly fold the left and right sides.
Next, fold three corners toward the center.
Of those three corners, fold the middle edge upward, then flip the paper over and fold both corners into triangles.
Turn it face up, draw the daruma’s face on the white area, and you’re done.
Fun January Crafts! A Collection of Make-and-Play Ideas for 5-Year-Olds (31–40)
Easy! Snowflake Paper Cutouts
When you look at snowflakes up close, they have such delicate shapes, don’t they? Let’s make snowflakes that capture that delicacy using origami paper and aluminum foil.
Fold the origami paper, then make cuts with scissors.
When you unfold it, you’ll have a unique, intricate pattern like a snowflake.
It’s fun how the pattern changes depending on how you cut it.
Let the children cut it however they like.
Once the pattern is made, glue some crumpled aluminum foil to the back of the origami, and you’re done.
The aluminum foil will create the sparkle of a glittering snowflake.
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.
Fluffy Snow Bunny Wall Decor
Why not try making a cute snow-bunny wall decoration? The round, pure white bunny will bring a wintry touch to your room.
First, layer and roll up tissues to create the bunny’s body.
Next, attach red eyes made from round stickers and ears made from green origami paper.
Glue the bunny onto a colored cardstock base, then decorate the empty spaces with snowflakes punched out using a craft punch and flower accents created by combining round stickers.
You’ll have a lovely decoration that evokes winter memories just by placing it on display.
Make it with straw stamps! Snowman craft
Let’s make a snowman wall art with straw stamps.
First, an adult draws large and small circles on construction paper.
Using a plate as a guide is fun, too.
Then, draw a snowman’s hat on colored construction paper or origami paper.
Have the child cut it out.
Glue the cut-out pieces onto a darker-colored construction paper.
Once they’re glued, draw the snowman’s face with crayons.
For the straw stamp, cut slits into the end of a straw and spread them out so it forms a flower shape.
Dip it in white paint and dab it on—this creates lovely snowflake-like prints.
Winter oden shop pretend play
On cold days, some families might gather around a pot of oden.
So let’s make oden ingredients that look just like the real thing and have fun playing pretend shop.
By cleverly using materials like yarn, toilet paper rolls, and felt, you can create delicious-looking oden pieces.
The key is to add small touches, such as coloring them to look like the flavors have soaked in, or giving them a soft, fluffy finish.
Kids will likely enjoy dabbing on color with a sponge, too.
Put them in a toy pot, and when you lift the lid, you’ll have oden that looks good enough to eat.
The children are sure to be delighted by pretend play with such realistic oden ingredients.