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!
- [January Childcare] Traditional New Year’s Games! A Collection of Ideas to Enjoy with Children
- Ideas for Childcare Quizzes to Enjoy in January
- [January] Enjoy with 2-year-olds! A collection of craft ideas that capture winter and the New Year
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
- [Kindergarten/Daycare] Games and Performances for Fun Events
- Fun January Crafts! A Collection of Ideas You Can Make and Play With for 5-Year-Olds
- Have fun in childcare! A collection of play ideas to liven up cold days in January
- Useful for childcare! Today’s recommended recreational activities, including fingerplay and games!
- [For Kids] Indoor Fun! Large-Group Recreational Activities and Games
- [Parent-Child Rec] Recreational activities and games for parents and children to enjoy together—also great for sports days.
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- [For 3-year-olds] Perfect January Winter & New Year Crafts! A Collection of Fun, Hands-On Ideas
- [Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
From New Year’s games to winter crafts! January childcare recreation ideas (41–50)
Fluffy Snow Bunny Wall Decor
Why not try making a cute snow-bunny wall decoration? The round, pure white bunny will bring a wintry touch to your room.
First, layer and roll up tissues to create the bunny’s body.
Next, attach red eyes made from round stickers and ears made from green origami paper.
Glue the bunny onto a colored cardstock base, then decorate the empty spaces with snowflakes punched out using a craft punch and flower accents created by combining round stickers.
You’ll have a lovely decoration that evokes winter memories just by placing it on display.
Make it with straw stamps! Snowman craft
Let’s make a snowman wall art with straw stamps.
First, an adult draws large and small circles on construction paper.
Using a plate as a guide is fun, too.
Then, draw a snowman’s hat on colored construction paper or origami paper.
Have the child cut it out.
Glue the cut-out pieces onto a darker-colored construction paper.
Once they’re glued, draw the snowman’s face with crayons.
For the straw stamp, cut slits into the end of a straw and spread them out so it forms a flower shape.
Dip it in white paint and dab it on—this creates lovely snowflake-like prints.
From infants and toddlers! Traditional games everyone can enjoy together
Since it’s the New Year, a traditional Japanese holiday, it’s a great time to try out various classic games.
Kagome Kagome remains a popular game even today.
It’s fun to sing the song with its unique atmosphere, and guessing who is sitting directly behind you is thrilling and exciting.
Hanai-chimonme is also enjoyable, with the hand-holding, leg-lifting poses and the song.
And with soap bubbles, take your time to watch them gently float and drift far away.
Let’s make and play! New Year’s Hanetsuki
Let’s make a handmade hagoita (traditional Japanese paddle) and enjoy New Year’s games.
Prepare a milk carton, wooden chopsticks, vinyl tape, origami paper, glue, and scissors.
Open up the milk carton, draw fold lines for the hagoita, and shape it into the paddle.
By sandwiching a chopstick along the central axis, you can reinforce the core and keep it sturdy.
After applying vinyl tape to the handle and the top part of the paddle, glue origami paper onto the paddle face to finish.
Give it a try!
Winter oden shop pretend play
On cold days, some families might gather around a pot of oden.
So let’s make oden ingredients that look just like the real thing and have fun playing pretend shop.
By cleverly using materials like yarn, toilet paper rolls, and felt, you can create delicious-looking oden pieces.
The key is to add small touches, such as coloring them to look like the flavors have soaked in, or giving them a soft, fluffy finish.
Kids will likely enjoy dabbing on color with a sponge, too.
Put them in a toy pot, and when you lift the lid, you’ll have oden that looks good enough to eat.
The children are sure to be delighted by pretend play with such realistic oden ingredients.
Three homemade kites!
Let’s make kites that are perfect for New Year’s.
It’s also a lot of fun to go out and fly the ones you’ve made.
I’ll introduce three types of kites.
The first is a twirly, spiral kite.
It’s great because you can practice cutting curves while making it.
The next kite is made by stapling construction paper into a paper-airplane-like shape.
You only need a stapler and a hole punch for this one.
The third kite uses a plastic shopping bag.
First, fold an A4 sheet of paper and draw lines to make a template.
Then cut the plastic bag based on that template.
If you draw a picture on it before assembling, you can create a one-of-a-kind kite.
Fukuwarai made with origami
Fukuwarai is a game where a blindfolded person places eyes, a nose, and other facial parts onto a picture that only shows the outline of a face.
It used to be a New Year’s pastime, but it seems chances to play it have been decreasing recently.
A Fukuwarai set featuring an Okame face made from origami might be a more casual way to enjoy it.
Use black origami paper, crease it first, and then fold the Okame.
The black side of the origami becomes Okame’s hair, and the white side is the face.
Have the children freely draw the facial features with pens or other tools.
Of course, making separate facial parts and gluing them on will also look great.