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

Winter craft! Rolling snowman

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

Snowmen made from toilet paper rolls are round and adorable.

Cut a toilet paper roll in half, then glue colored origami paper on top.

Glue the two prepared roll pieces together to form a snowman shape.

Attach a triangle hat made from construction paper, draw the face with colored pens, and your snowman is complete.

Since cutting the round toilet paper rolls can be difficult for children, it’s a good idea to prepare pre-cut pieces in advance.

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Also great for walls! Paper plate spinning top

[Childcare Craft] Perfect for New Year's wall decorations! Spinning tops made from paper plates | Frames made from paper plates

Let’s make a festive spinning top that you’ll want to display on the wall.

First, cut a paper plate in half.

Then, attach a strip of construction paper along the straight edge of the plate and decorate it with round stickers on top.

Use crayons to draw patterns for the top on the remaining white part of the plate.

Finally, attach the axle piece made from construction paper to the back of the plate, and you’re done.

Spinning tops are a New Year’s classic, and even little ones might look at this wall display—or watch older kids playing with tops—and feel inspired to try it themselves.

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Great for walls too! Recommended origami for January

[New Year/January] Origami instructions you can also use for wall displays [Daycare/Kindergarten]

Let’s make New Year–themed items using washi-patterned origami and chiyogami.

The video features hagoita paddles, spinning tops (koma), kagami mochi, daruma dolls, and shuttlecocks (hane).

The ideas are full of exciting touches for kids—like customizing the daruma’s face to match the zodiac animal or freely choosing origami colors for the shuttlecocks.

When decorating indoors, you can get creative by mounting them on construction paper or stringing them together like a garland!

On the walls too! Cute winter crafts

Cute winter crafts (also great for wall decorations!)

When you open it, a cute wall display featuring fir trees and snowmen appears.

Gather washi paper, water-based markers, scissors, water, a brush, and a pencil to get started.

Fold the washi paper in half twice and draw your guide lines.

It’s easier to cut if you follow the guide lines as you cut toward the tip.

Color the fir tree and snowman areas with water-based markers, then blur them with water on your brush and let them dry thoroughly.

Finally, gently open the washi paper, paste it onto construction paper, and you’re done.

Try changing the colors or the expressions to create your own original wall decoration.

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Perfect for wall displays! Cute Shishimai (lion dance)

Preschool Craft: Make a Cute Shishimai (Lion Dance) for a January Bulletin Board

The shishimai (lion dance) has long been cherished as a New Year’s good-luck charm that brings fortune.

The method is simple: cut vertically down the center of a toilet paper tube with scissors, roll it, secure it with a rubber band, and stamp on the shishimai patterns.

Then attach the lion’s eyes, nose, mouth, mane, and ears.

Adjusting the amount of glue while sticking the parts helps children learn how to use glue properly.

Glue the body, face, and legs of the shishimai onto a backing sheet, then finish by pasting torn pieces of origami paper around it.

Using finger stamps or crayons to draw New Year–themed pictures is also recommended to give it a seasonal feel.

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Cute with origami! Kadomatsu made of origami

[One sheet of origami] Easy Kadomatsu tutorial 🎍 How to make a paper Kadomatsu #Seollal #NewYear #NewYear’sDay #PlumBlossom #NewYear’sMorning #Nandina #HappyNewYear #Craft #FoldingMethod #Origami #Origami (Chinese) #Paper #PaperFolding (Korean)

Recommended for those who want to make simple New Year’s decorations! Kadomatsu are New Year decorations made with pine and bamboo that are set up at entrances during the holiday, right? Many children have probably seen them while out on walks or outings.

This time, let’s finish it using just one sheet of green origami paper.

The key points are to make firm creases along the lines and to align the corners.

There are many steps where you create a crease and then use it to form the next one, so it would be great to enjoy making it while keeping these points in mind.

You can make it with origami! Kagami mochi origami

[New Year Origami] Easy and Cute Kagami Mochi Origami / Origami Kagami-mochi

Kagami mochi is characterized by stacked rice cakes and a bitter orange on top.

It looks lovely whether you stick it onto a surface or let it stand on its own, and it’s great for preschool craft projects! You’ll need white origami paper, light yellow origami paper, orange origami paper, green origami paper, colored pens, glue, and so on.

It’s exciting to make each part—the mochi, the daidai (bitter orange), and the sanpō (the wooden stand)—separately and then assemble them.

Since the origami sizes differ for each part, please follow the video to check the sizes as you make it!