From New Year’s games to winter crafts! A roundup of January recreation activities to enjoy in childcare

Festive! Cute origami sea bream

[New Year Origami] Easy and Cute Sea Bream Folding / Origami Fish Tai — Origami Sea Bream

Let’s make a lively sea bream that looks ready to swim away any moment! Sea bream are known to live long among fish, so they’re often eaten at celebrations and events as a wish for longevity.

What’s more, because the word “omedetai” (congratulatory) contains the sound “tai,” sea bream are considered lucky and are sometimes displayed for New Year’s as well.

This time, let’s make a sea bream out of origami and start a wonderful year! You’ll need one 15-cm square of red origami paper, one 7.5-cm square, round stickers or eye-shaped cutouts, scissors, glue, and a pen.

Some steps are a bit complex, so take your time and finish it carefully!

Easy to make! 3 New Year decorations

Crafts: Easy New Year’s Projects [Daycare/Kindergarten]

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.

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Easy! Long-tailed Tit Origami

[Origami] Easy!! Long-tailed Tit ✨ How to make a Long-tailed Tit #bird #tori #bird #snow_spirit #Hokkaido #sae #niao #winter #animal #enaga #bird #white #how_to_fold #origami #paper #DIY

Adorably round! The long-tailed tit known as the Shima-enaga, a wild bird native to Hokkaido.

In recent years, we often see goods and items featuring its cute appearance as a motif.

Here’s an idea to make a Shima-enaga using a single sheet of origami paper, plus a pen and glue.

Once you’ve folded the creases, the base is done.

Making the wings and tail seems like something you could enjoy while teaching and learning together with friends or teachers! It could be fun to give it a smiling expression, too.

If you display the finished pieces lined up on a branch, like real Shima-enaga keeping warm together, both kids and adults are sure to feel soothed.

Easy! Mount Fuji Origami

New Year’s origami: Easy Mount Fuji origami [with audio commentary]

Let’s make Mount Fuji—the tallest mountain in Japan and considered lucky if it appears in your first dream of the year—using simple steps! All you need is a single sheet of blue origami paper.

There are no complicated steps, and if you focus on making straight, crisp folds, you’ll end up with a beautiful result.

It could be enjoyed not only by preschool classes but also with two-year-olds together with teachers or parents.

Display the finished piece alongside an illustration of the first sunrise of the year to make it even more festive.

Origami Plum Blossoms Kids Can Enjoy—Perfect for New Year’s Too!

Childcare Ideas for New Year and Winter Origami: Easy Ume (Plum Blossom) Flower Origami (Kids Can Make It Themselves!) · Origami Flower Ume – Easy

Free-thinking sparks children’s creativity! It’s a great idea that lets kids enjoy both the focus of folding origami along lines and corners, and the excitement of tearing it dynamically.

Use the torn origami as beautiful branches, then stick on carefully folded plum blossoms to create your very own plum tree.

Drawing the pistils and stamens with crayons or colored pencils will help capture the distinctive features of plum flowers even more.

Take this opportunity to give it a try!

Handmade toys you can play with during the New Year

[Production] Handmade toys you can play with at New Year (spinning tops/kite flying/hanetsuki)

Try making New Year’s crafts that you can enjoy and play with even after they’re finished, together as a parent-child activity.

You’ll make a spinning top, a kite, and a hanetsuki set (paddle and shuttlecock).

For the top, draw pictures on the sides of a paper cup, cut four evenly spaced slits and flare them open, then attach a plastic bottle cap as the handle.

For the kite, slightly offset and layer two sheets of origami paper and glue them together; attach sparkly tape as the tails to complete the body, then add a lactic-acid drink bottle as the handle and tie on kite string.

For the hanetsuki paddle, use cardboard and disposable chopsticks: cut two paddle-shaped pieces from cardboard, sandwich the chopsticks between them, and glue.

For the shuttlecock, tie a knot in the middle of some raffia (suzuran) tape, press a small ball of tissue onto the knot, and wrap it with origami paper.

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Cute Daruma origami

[ New Year Origami ] Easy and Cute Daruma Folding Method | Origami Daruma

Auspicious! Making colorful daruma with the children and lining them up as decorations would instantly brighten up the room, wouldn’t it? Daruma are often displayed as New Year’s ornaments, and it’s said their origin as lucky charms comes from their characteristic of getting back up even after they fall.

It’s also lovely to make them with origami in the children’s favorite colors.

However, since the colors of daruma each carry meaning, it can be a great time to deepen learning while crafting.

This is a recommended idea for preschool classes, so be sure to give it a try.