From New Year’s games to winter crafts! A roundup of January recreation activities to enjoy in childcare
January is a season filled with excitement, wrapped in the special atmosphere of the New Year! There are plenty of ideas you can enjoy with children, from traditional New Year’s games to crafts that let you feel the winter season.
Here, you can savor the fun of writing letters by playing post office, or try spinning a buzzing top.
From lively indoor events to seasonal crafts, we’ll introduce activities that will make children’s eyes sparkle.
Enjoy memorable experiences with the kids—perfect for the start of a brand-new year!
From New Year's Games to Winter Crafts! January Preschool Recreation Activities (1–10)
Scratch-off New Year’s card
https://www.tiktok.com/@soeasy.hacks/video/7176931881127087361Scratch-off cards you scrape with a coin make your heart pound with excitement as you wonder what’s written underneath, don’t they? How about incorporating that scratch-off idea into your New Year’s cards? You can easily make the scratch-off layer by simply mixing acrylic paint with dish soap.
Kids can enjoy it like a craft project, too.
As a New Year’s lucky draw, definitely try adding a scratch-off to your card designs.
Instead of painting the scratch layer directly, apply wax to the parts you want to hide first, then paint over it.
Once it’s fully dry, it will scrape off nicely.
New Year’s cards made with stencils
https://www.tiktok.com/@n.annlee321/video/7314600689370402049If you’re not good at drawing, try using stencils! With stencils, you just dab ink over a stencil sheet with a sponge, so even kids can easily create illustrations.
You can buy stencil sheets, but you can also make your own by punching shapes out of a clear file with a craft punch.
Think about the kind of illustration you want as you design with your stencil sheet.
Adding patterns or drawing faces on top with a pen will give your illustration a more polished, next-level finish.
Shishimai (lion dance) made with cardboard stamps
https://www.tiktok.com/@job_it/video/7444488296870284545Roll up a strip of cardboard, dip it in ink, and stamp it! It creates a pattern that looks like a shishimai (lion dance) design.
Stamp several times on green construction paper to make the pattern, and once the ink dries, cut it into the shape of an ema plaque.
Then, glue on facial parts made from construction paper.
After the shishimai is finished, paste it onto a postcard to complete your New Year’s card! When making the face, choose steps that suit the child’s age, like drawing the eyes and teeth with crayons.
If there’s blank space on the postcard, try adding New Year-themed stickers or drawing some pictures.
Zodiac illustrations using tape cores
https://www.tiktok.com/@hoikushi_bank/video/7457445088298323207It’s an idea where you use the core of a tape roll to draw a face outline and then turn it into various animals.
It’s really fun to watch a single round shape transform into illustrations of different animals like a horse, sheep, monkey, and chicken.
You can use the circle as the full outline, or just use part of it.
Since you can’t erase unwanted lines if you start with a pen, begin by sketching in pencil and then trace over it with a pen afterward.
Cute for New Year’s cards too! Daruma-chan
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDmRvRlTwSX/Here’s an idea for New Year’s decorations, and since daruma dolls are also a common motif for New Year’s cards, why not use this idea to make a daruma-themed New Year’s card? Make a daruma out of construction paper and attach it to gold design paper along with some flowers.
Simply sticking that onto the front of the card will give it a festive feel.
However, if you’re attaching it to a New Year’s card, be sure to make the daruma as a flat piece.
Create the face with any expression you like, using stickers or pens.
Daruma-chan art with a brush pen
https://www.tiktok.com/@asamin_fude/video/7315727436308663553The appeal of brush pens is, after all, that with a single pen you can create both thick and thin lines and end up with lettering full of character.
They’re tricky to handle until you get used to them, but once you can use them, they’re very handy tools that work in all sorts of situations.
In this idea, the “0” in the year is depicted as a daruma doll.
The daruma’s pattern is done with a colored brush pen, and a finer pen is used for the face.
It’s simple yet results in a highly designed illustration, so feel free to try copying it and drawing your own.
Origami horse you can make with a single sheet
Perfect for the Year of the Horse! Here’s an idea for making a horse’s face out of origami.
New Year’s cards are often associated with illustrations and drawings, but if you create one by attaching an origami piece, it adds depth and turns it into a very special card.
This design uses a simple series of folds along the creases and can be made with just one sheet of origami paper.
You’ll need a craft knife to make the mane, so have it ready before you start.
Use black round stickers for the eyes and draw the nostrils with a pen.