[For Seniors] January Craft Ideas for Day Service Activities
In January, we have the longstanding Japanese traditional event, the New Year’s celebration.
Many day service centers and welfare facilities likely put a lot of effort into decorations themed around January, the start of a new year.
So this time, we’ll introduce January crafts recommended for day service programs.
It’s still quite chilly, so let’s enjoy craft activities you can do indoors!
Even after the New Year’s holidays, winter-themed decorations like snow motifs and plum blossoms can stay up and be enjoyed as they are.
In addition to decorations, we’ve assembled many works that are perfect for January.
There are lots of ideas, including auspicious items, practical pieces, and projects that incorporate creative twists in the materials.
By all means, use these January craft ideas as a reference.
- [For Seniors] January Craft Ideas: Boost Your Luck with New Year Decorations and Good-Luck Charms
- [For Seniors] Recommended Wall Decorations and Crafts for January
- For Seniors: Auspicious Handmade Zodiac Ornament Craft Ideas
- [For Seniors] Let’s Make New Year Decorations by Hand! A Collection of Easy Ideas Using Everyday Materials
- [For Seniors] Recommended for day services! Simple and cute small craft ideas
- [For Seniors] Recommended Origami for January
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Simple, Recommended Crafts
- Lucky Daruma: Craft ideas for decorating January wall displays for seniors
- For seniors: Snowman crafts to brighten January wall displays—fun ideas using origami, paper plates, and papercutting.
- [For Seniors] January Activities and Recreation Games
- [For Seniors] Craft Ideas Recommended for New Year’s and the New Year
- [For Seniors] Perfect for winter events! Easy craft ideas
- [For Seniors] Decorate your January wall with rabbits! Packed with ideas like snowball fights, New Year’s festivities, and rice cake pounding
[For Seniors] January Craft Ideas to Make at Day Service (91–100)
God of Good Fortune in Paper Clay
If you like kyogen, the play “Fuku no Kami” might be the first thing that comes to mind.
But how about stepping away from kyogen for a moment and making a God of Good Fortune out of paper clay? The fluffy feel of paper clay even has a touch of nostalgia.
When we think of gods of good fortune, there are many, like Otafuku and the Seven Lucky Gods.
It’s fine to make your personal favorite, but it could be fun to have everyone complete the Seven Lucky Gods together—“I’ll make Daikokuten,” “I’ll do Bishamonten,” and so on.
You could divide into groups of seven and create lots of sets of the Seven Lucky Gods; with a bit of creativity, it becomes a good-luck recreational activity for the spring.
A life-sized ema made from A4 copy paper
This is an easy-to-make ema (votive plaque) using A4 copier paper that doesn’t even require scissors.
You trim both ends of a rectangle into roof-like shapes, fold it in half, and tuck it in, resulting in smooth finishes on both sides.
You will need small creases as guides for shaping, but to keep the final product looking neat, it’s best to make these guide creases as inconspicuous as possible.
If you insert a piece of cardstock while shaping, it will turn out sturdier and should also make it easier to write your wish.
[For Seniors] January Craft Ideas to Make at Day Service (101–110)
Bunny Wreath
One animal that suits winter well might be the rabbit.
Its fluffy white fur is like snow and matches the season perfectly.
How about making a rabbit wreath using pom-poms made from yarn? Use a pom-pom maker sold at 100-yen shops to wrap the yarn and create fluffy balls.
Since wrapping the yarn uses fine motor skills, it’s also great for rehabilitation.
Once the balls are ready, attach ears made from precut fabric and felt.
Finish by gluing on ten rabbit heads with a hot glue gun.
Fukuwarai wall decoration of a rabbit daruma
We’d love to make a rabbit daruma “fukuwarai” to wish for a year full of smiles.
Fukuwarai is a New Year’s game—some of you might have played it as children.
The goofy faces that result from placing parts while blindfolded always get a laugh.
This wall decoration is a fukuwarai-themed rabbit daruma.
Crafting the rabbit’s parts out of construction paper takes a bit of delicate work.
Since rabbits have such a cute image, you’ll probably find yourself smiling as you make it.
It’s recommended to display it in your room or by the entrance as a charm for good luck.
Rabbit ema (a wooden Shinto votive tablet featuring a rabbit)
Let’s try making an ema plaque featuring the zodiac using a kit.
Many facilities probably create New Year’s crafts around the year-end and New Year holidays.
Using a kit makes preparation easy and allows you to create lovely pieces.
Cut out the parts with scissors and attach them to the ema plaque that serves as the base.
The process of applying glue to the small parts and sticking them onto the plaque seems like something you can really focus on.
There are reports suggesting that, for dementia prevention, concentrating on new tasks is more beneficial than doing familiar ones.
By using a kit to create a beautiful piece, you can also expect brain-training benefits.
Easy DIY: Ema with Traditional Japanese Patterns
This craft strongly conveys that ema are part of Japanese culture by using thick paper as a base and decorating the edges with Japanese-patterned origami.
Cut the thick paper into the shape of an ema, then wrap and paste Japanese-patterned origami around the border.
Leave the center white to write a wish, and finish by attaching illustrations—such as the zodiac animals—prepared separately from the backing.
In addition to origami, it’s recommended to prepare various Japanese-style patterns using masking tape and more, so participants can enjoy choosing their favorite combinations.
New Year’s origami
Let’s try folding a daruma doll using a single sheet of origami paper! The steps are simple, but you’ll end up with a cute daruma.
Once it’s done, draw the face with a pen or use round stickers—try different expressions and enjoy customizing it! Origami is said to stimulate and activate the brain by using your fingertips and thinking through the next steps.
It’s also easy to do while chatting with others, which helps spark social interaction.
Please make use of origami daruma to create a delightful time for older adults.