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

Great for New Year’s cards too! Easy-to-use stamps

[New Year’s Cards 2024] Perfect for New Year’s cards too! Easy stamp-making 🎍 #preschoolcrafts #nurseryteacher #childcareideas #traineeNurseryTeacher #nurseryTeacherLife #withKids #tamponStamp #stampPlay #NewYearsCard #NewYearCraft

This is a New Year’s card featuring Mount Fuji made with construction paper and stamping.

It’s an easy project that kids can enjoy.

First, cut out the base of Mount Fuji from blue construction paper.

Cut it to postcard size, imagining a trapezoid shape.

Once cut, dab white paint onto a sponge dauber and stamp the upper area.

This creates the look of snow-capped Mount Fuji.

After the paint dries, glue it onto the postcard and draw the sun in the blank space to represent the first sunrise of the year.

Finally, write the year in Western numerals, and you’re done!

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sasashina

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For New Year’s cards! Cushion sheet printmaking

[Anywhere Art] [Easy] Cushion Sheet Printmaking [New Year's Card]

Here’s an easy way to make beautiful New Year’s postcards using cushion foam sheets.

First, take an A4-size clear file, cut off the edge, then cut it in half twice down the middle.

Trim the pieces into postcard shapes.

Next, cut the cushion foam sheet into zodiac shapes, letters, etc., and sketch your design on the backing paper with a permanent marker.

After sticking on the cushion foam pieces, color them with a water-based pen.

Dampen the postcard with a cloth, stamp it, and you’re done! You can usually stamp about three in a row.

Because cushion foam sheets can be repositioned, give it a try!

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kepiko

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Let’s make postcards with vegetable stamps!

Don’t waste them—let’s make postcards with vegetable stamps!

There are parts of vegetables that we cut off and don’t use in cooking, right? Let’s try turning those usually discarded parts into stamps and make New Year’s cards! You can use any vegetables you like—onions, green peppers, carrots, lotus root, spinach, and so on.

Prepare several vegetable stamps with different shapes.

Once you’ve got your veggies ready, dip them in paint or ink and start stamping.

They might look like flowers or animal faces—your imagination will surely expand.

Try expressing the design side of the postcard with your stamped artwork.

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sasashina

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Also great for January birthday parties! A fun panel theater

@aoringo.shop

Panda’s New Year Shop – Panel Theater. Perfect for New Year performances and January birthday parties! Includes interactive mechanisms.New YearThe Twelve Zodiac SignsJanuarytranslationHappy New YearHappy New YearNursery teacher / Childcare workerChildcare#KindergartenBirthday partyPerformance / ShowPanel TheaterAoringo Shop#GreenApple Panel Theater

3:03 PM – Sharou

This panel theater is performed using a shop called “Oshōgatsu-ya” (New Year’s Shop) and various New Year-related items.

When you say “Akemashite omedetō” (Happy New Year), the shop’s doors open and the items appear.

It’s a play on words between akemashite (Happy New Year) and akemashite (to open)! You can use any items you like—mochi, a battledore, New Year’s money envelopes, osechi, and so on.

Clearly explain what each item is so the children can understand and get a feel for New Year’s traditions.

If there’s a birthday child, adding a cake will likely delight them!

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sasashina

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New Year hand game! The Osechi box song

The classic fingerplay song “Obentō-bako no Uta” has been turned into a New Year’s osechi version called “Osechi-bako no Uta.” In it, the word “obentō-bako” (lunch box) is swapped for “osechi-bako,” and the foods put inside are also changed to osechi staples like kuri kinton (sweet chestnut paste), kuromame (sweet black soybeans), datemaki (sweet rolled omelet), and shrimp.

The dishes chosen are ones that are especially easy for children to eat, so it’s likely easier for them to imagine the flavors.

Kids who haven’t tried osechi yet might hear this fingerplay song and think, “I want to try osechi.”

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sasashina

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Challenge in childcare! First calligraphy play

@miraistep.hoikuen

New Year – January Crafts#Nursery schoolNursery teacher / Childcare workerSaitama PrefectureSaitama CityMirai StepNew YearFirst calligraphy of the year#Nursery School Craft#Year of the Snake

♫ Original Song – Mirai Step Co., Ltd. – Mirai Step Co., Ltd.

Kakizome is the first calligraphy of the year, in which people write down their New Year’s resolutions and wishes with the hope of improving their handwriting.

Although it’s an event that assumes you can write characters, it’s the New Year—so why not let children from infants to preschoolers enjoy their own style of kakizome? For older preschoolers who are practicing letters in preparation for school, it’s a good idea to write that year’s zodiac animal in hiragana.

For infants, writing characters is a high hurdle, so encourage them to try it as a drawing activity while letting them feel the texture of the brush and washi paper.

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sasashina

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New Year Panel Theater

[New Year / Panel Theater] I’m gonna open all sorts of things! [Live Performance]

How about celebrating the New Year with a panel theater themed around Oshōgatsu? In this show, set to music and song, you open various places and say “Happy New Year.” You greet all sorts of things—like the sun you see when you open a window, the rice inside a rice cooker, and the milk in the refrigerator.

Children will be excited to find out what appears next, and they’ll naturally learn the important New Year’s greeting.

Perfect for New Year’s events and recreational activities.

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sasashina

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