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 Ideas (41–50) You Can Make and Play With 5-Year-Olds
Fun with black construction paper! Making snowmen
@hekimen_25 Winter craft: We made snowmen using crayons and paint! ⛄️❄️🎵#Childcare Crafting#Wall CreationNursery teacher / Childcare workerI tried making itSnowman
♬ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – neozilla
Here’s a craft idea: paint a snowman with white paint on black construction paper, then finish by adding a paper bucket and mittens, plus face stickers.
For the snowman, draw a circular outline and fill it in with paint.
Because it’s surprisingly hard not to paint outside the lines, if infants are doing this activity, it’s better to either prepare pre-painted pieces or have an adult cut a snowman shape from the child’s white-painted paper and glue it onto the background.
If you put double-sided tape on the back of the bucket and mittens, kids can use them like stickers, making them easier for little hands to handle.
Once the snowman is done, use cotton swab stamping to add a snowy landscape in the empty space to complete the project.
Fun January Crafts! A collection of make-and-play ideas with 5-year-olds (51–60)
Recommended in January! Make feathers and hagoita (battledores)

Speaking of games famous for the New Year, it has to be the traditional hagoita (battledore) game.
Let’s prepare milk cartons, bottle caps, raffia tape (suzuran tape), construction paper, scissors, and glue, and make one together.
For the paddle part, cut the milk carton into the shape of a hagoita and double it up to increase strength.
If you make the handle even sturdier, it will be easier to use.
For decorations, it’s recommended to cut shapes from construction paper or origami paper.
For the shuttlecock, place two bottle caps together and insert shredded raffia tape between them, then secure it firmly with tape.
Once it’s finished, try playing with your friends and have fun.
Fukuwarai from a one-year-old!

Here are some craft ideas for making Fukuwarai with construction paper.
Just cut out the parts from the paper, glue them together, and draw patterns with a pen to finish.
With a bit of adult help—such as pre-cutting the pieces—even young children can take part.
Put double-sided tape on the facial features and let the kids enjoy sticking them on while playing Fukuwarai.
The classics are Hyottoko and Okame, but a daruma or the zodiac animal of the year also make great motifs.
Enjoy a winter craft session to your heart’s content, with a playful spirit.
A craft spinning top that 1-year-olds can enjoy!

Here’s an idea for making a spinning top that even infants can enjoy.
You’ll need a milk carton, a plastic bottle cap, and round stickers.
First, snip the four corners and open the milk carton into a cross shape.
From the edge of the square base, measure 11 cm and cut all four opened sides at that line.
Next, round off the corners and use a craft knife to make round holes near the top of each side.
Decorate with stickers, then glue a plastic bottle cap to the center, and you’re done! If it’s hard to spin using the cap, try hooking a finger through one of the side holes to spin it.
Easy and cute! Shimenawa wreath

Something to make for New Year’s! Let’s decorate the room with a fluffy-looking origami shimenawa.
You’ll need ten 7.5 cm square sheets of origami paper and glue or double-sided tape.
Since you first make parts from the ten sheets and then assemble them, it seems like a great way to develop children’s thinking and spatial awareness.
If you attach flowers, the twelve zodiac animals, or other New Year’s ornaments to the shimenawa, it will look even more festive.
Recommended for preschoolers in the middle to senior age range! Give it a try.
Easy and cute! Origami snow rabbit daruma

This is a rabbit snowman made with two sheets of origami paper! First, we’ll make the head: fold the paper twice to make a small triangle.
Then unfold one fold so it’s folded only once, and roll-fold the base of the triangle about 1 cm.
Next, leave a small gap in the center and fold both corners straight up.
These will be the rabbit’s ears, so fold the top corners into small triangles to round them off.
Fold the left, right, and bottom corners inward to tidy the outline, then flip the paper over.
Fold the corner at the base of the ears to the back to finish the head.
For the body, do a cushion fold (zabuton fold), flip the paper over, and do another cushion fold.
Finally, fold the square into a triangle and you’re done! Glue the two parts together and draw the face to finish.
Easy to make! 3 New Year decorations

Here are three New Year decoration ideas: “Shishimai (lion dance),” “Daruma,” and “Ema (votive plaque).” For the shishimai, cut out parts from construction paper, glue them together, and use a toilet paper roll as a stamp to create the body’s pattern.
For the daruma, draw a face on a paper plate and stick torn pieces of red and yellow origami paper around it.
Use yellow for the decorative patterns, tearing it into long, thin strips.
Lastly, for the ema, first cut cardboard into the shape of an ema to make the base, then cover the surface with gold origami paper.
Glue a slightly smaller piece of white construction paper on top, write your wish, and add patterns with stickers or pens to finish it off brightly.
When you want to display them, attach a ribbon or string to each one.



