[For Seniors] January Craft Ideas for Day Service Activities

Treasure Ship

Easy [New Year] Origami – How to Fold and Make a Treasure Ship | Easy Origami Tutorial: How to Make a Paper Treasure Ship – New Year

Origami treasure ships are both auspicious and practical.

A treasure ship is the vessel carrying the Seven Lucky Gods, and as the name suggests, it’s loaded with gold and silver treasures.

Because of that, displaying one is said to bring good fortune.

You can simply display it, but you can also use it as a small container or place other craft pieces on it.

If you change the paper material, it can even serve as a platter for sashimi.

By all means, make one and put it to use in various situations.

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yamamoto

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Winter greeting picture postcard

[Midwinter Greeting] What is a midwinter greeting? When do you send it? What do you write? Who do you send it to? The timing for sending midwinter greetings, how to write them, whom to address, and why you send them—explained while drawing a lemon 🍋 as an illustrated postcard. A handy guide to midwinter greetings.

The period for sending kanchū omimai (mid-winter greeting cards) is from early January until Setsubun in early February.

These are greeting letters sent during the harsh cold that follows the New Year holidays.

Many people send them as a New Year’s greeting in place of a nengajō (New Year’s card) or as a reply to one.

A simple message conveys your feelings, but illustrated postcards add a warm touch, don’t they? How about making illustrated postcards that convey the sentiment, “Let’s stay healthy and not be defeated by the cold,” as a recreation activity at a day-service center?

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yuri

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Rolling Snowman Made from Scrap Materials

[Preschool Craft] Winter Craft ♪ Cute Rolling Snowman | Snowman with Toilet Paper

A snowman made from toilet paper rolls sounds like it could turn out really cute! Since the materials are light, it’s easy to work with even for people whose hand strength has weakened.

Making the eyes, nose, and scarf with colored paper also seems fun.

Folding paper and using scissors involve lots of finger movement, which helps stimulate the brain.

It’s great to use recycled materials, too.

Once they’re finished, how about lining them up and displaying them together? It would make a wonderful winter memory for older adults.

Origami Camellia

[Origami] How to fold a camellia

Let’s try folding a camellia with a single sheet of origami paper! The steps are simple, but you’ll end up with a cute camellia.

You can also have fun customizing it by drawing patterns with pens or adding stickers.

Origami is said to stimulate and activate the brain through finger movements and thinking ahead to the next steps.

It’s also easy to do while chatting with others, which helps encourage social interaction.

Please make good use of origami camellias to create a wonderful time for older adults.

A spinning top made from a milk carton

"牛乳パックでこまをつくろう" → "Let's make spinning tops from milk cartons!"

How about making spinning tops using milk cartons? The steps are simple, but you can create your very own original top.

Poke a hole in the bottom of the milk carton and use a toothpick as the spindle.

You can have fun decorating the surface by drawing patterns with pens or adding masking tape and stickers.

The hands-on work of making the top with your fingertips is said to stimulate and activate the brain.

The finished tops are easy to take home, and it might be fun to hold a spinning top contest with everyone.

Please make good use of this activity to help create a wonderful time for older adults.

Bamboo wall display

New Year wall display 'Bamboo' by Kimie Gangi

Bamboo, which symbolizes prosperity for future generations, is the perfect plant for New Year’s celebrations.

How about making a bamboo wall decoration? Prepare light green construction paper cut into long, thin strips and fold each strip into thirds.

Then fold it lengthwise and cut it into a semicircle.

When you unfold it, you’ll have three bamboo leaves.

Using the offcuts, combine and glue three leaves together to create a cluster of three connected bamboo leaves.

You can display this as-is with other decorations, or make a bamboo stem from green paper and combine them—highly recommended.

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SAKI

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ema (votive wooden plaque)

[Good Luck] Ema-Making Recreation — The History of Ema

How about making ema (votive plaques) to write down everyone’s New Year’s resolutions and prayers? Staff can prepare the ema, but since it’s a special occasion, why not make them together with the participants and have everyone write their wishes on the ema they created themselves? Cut cardboard or thick paper into the shape of ema and decorate the edges cutely with masking tape.

Adding motifs like origami cranes or daruma will make them feel more like ema and capture the spirit of the New Year.

Try making them together while praying for everyone’s health in the coming year!

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utatane

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