[January Crafts] Fun DIY Ideas for Kids: Perfect for Use in Childcare

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked for 10 years as a kindergarten teacher and for 7 years as an after-school childcare instructor, then took a post as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I also engaged in activities that shared Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational play, working with many children. Afterwards, through freelance writing, planning, and editing work at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and conveying ideas. Leveraging the perspective cultivated in educational settings and my experience as an editor, I aim to deliver practical information—focusing on fields related to music and children—that values both input and output. Hobbies include instruments, singing, handcrafts, toys, drawing, traditional play, the outdoors, books, DIY, and crafts. Special skill: spinning-top tricks.
20 years of experience as a nursery teacher / kindergarten teacherhiyoko sensei
I’m Hiyoko-sensei, a former nursery school teacher from Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since I was five, my dream was to become a childcare worker, and before I knew it, 20 years had passed since I achieved that dream. Through singing and playing with the children, I kept working with the spirit of someone in their twenties, even as I increasingly felt my physical limits year by year (haha). From here on, I’d like to share helpful information carefully and thoughtfully, drawing on my on-site experience.

January, when we welcome the New Year, is a perfect time for children to experience traditional Japanese culture.

New Year–themed crafts—like origami hair ornaments, kagami mochi made with shaving foam, and hagoita paddles made from milk cartons—spark kids’ creativity.

Many ideas can be played with after making them, and through the process, children can also learn the meanings of auspicious items.

Why not use familiar materials to create festive, New Year-style pieces? Here, we introduce January craft ideas that nursery and kindergarteners, elementary school students, and even adults can enjoy.

Bring in these fun January projects to celebrate the start of the New Year!

January Crafts: Fun Handmade Ideas for Kids That You Can Use in Childcare (1–10)

Cute! How to draw a horse

https://www.tiktok.com/@uka_0618/video/7160985524067503361

Among animals, many people find horses particularly difficult to depict in illustrations.

Unlike dogs or cats, they aren’t animals we see up close every day, and drawing just the face—let alone the whole body—raises the difficulty quite a bit.

So here, we’ll introduce an easy way to draw a horse! Surprisingly, you start with the ears.

Draw two ears, connect the space between them, and then sketch a longer outline for the head.

The key to making it look like a horse is to add the mane and pay attention to how you draw the nose.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

Scratch-off New Year’s card

@soeasy.hacks
You can make it yourself!? Fun to scratch! Scratch-off New Year’s cards [If you like it, let me know with a comment “👍” 😆]#New Year's card Handmade Translation Postcard year-end and New Year holidays New Year's card design Handmade #soeasy Recommendation #TikTok Classroom Lifehack New Year’s card creation
♫ Original song – soeasy [Official] Life Hack Video – soeasy | A life-hack media outlet with a total of about 1 million followers

Scratch-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.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

Shishimai (lion dance) made with cardboard stamps

@job_it
Good evening! This is the Childcare Sommelier 🎀 Collaborative craft with 🦁 @Lion-sensei! This time, we’re creating New Year’s-style patterns from familiar items... 🎍 Items to prepare: • Construction paper • Paint • Cardboard Please give it a try! #ChildcareSommelier #PreschoolTeacherJobChangeThere is a nursery teacher.Typical things about nursery teachers/kindergarten teachers and kindergartensIntent SurveyI want to quit the nursery school #PrincipalJob change activities Career change consultation Career Advisor#JobChangeThings#JobChange # January production New Year #IWantToConnectWithChildcareWorkers #NurseryTeacherDailyLife Production
♬ New Year’s classic song “New Year” loose and weak(1140585) – tomopoly

Roll 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.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

[January Crafts] For Kids! A Collection of Fun Handmade Ideas Useful in Childcare (11–20)

Zodiac illustrations using tape cores

@hoikushi_bank
Zodiac illustrations using tape cores#Illustration Simple illustration Zodiac (Chinese zodiac)Zodiac Animal Illustrations #New Year's card New Year’s greeting card illustration
♪ Yes, gladly — Kent from this side

It’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.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

Cute for New Year’s cards too! Daruma-chan

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.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

Handmade crafts for New Year’s games

@hoiku.labo
[Playable Craft!] New Year’s games with milk cartons 🥛✨ ⭐️Detailed steps and tips are in the comments⭐️Childcare Nursery teacher / Childcare worker Kindergarten Teacher #Nursery school #Kindergarten #Kodomoen #NurseryTeacherThings #IWantToConnectWithChildcareWorkers Life with children New Year New Year With wings Battledore Traditional children's games Traditional games Childcare Job Lab
♬ FEEL THE GROOVE – Queens Road, Fabian Graetz

Let me show you how to make a battledore and shuttlecock for the classic New Year’s game hanetsuki.

You’ll make the battledore from a milk carton and a pair of chopsticks, and the shuttlecock from tissue paper and aluminum foil.

First, cut off the bottom of the milk carton to make it a rectangle, then cut a strip about 2 cm wide along the side near the former bottom.

Using the creases on both sides, fold the milk carton flat and secure it with tape.

Trim off both corners on the drinking-spout side to create the striking surface.

Next, fold the 2 cm strip you cut earlier in half, sandwich the chopsticks inside, and attach it as a handle.

For the shuttlecock, stack several sheets of tissue paper, shape them into a rectangle, twist one end to form the base, and shape the rest into feathers.

Make three of these, then wrap the twisted bases together with aluminum foil to finish.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

For New Year decorations! Mini kadomatsu

@soramame.sensei
Childcare Let's play at home Nursery teacher / Childcare worker Production Translation New Year’s decoration for January New Year #New Year's card Winter Break #WinterBreakProject　#StayHomeTime Translation #diy
♬ Oshogatsu Pico Pico Chiptune Version(1376601) – STUDIO incho3

Let me share a handmade idea for a mini kadomatsu you can make with simple steps.

In this idea, you’ll make a kadomatsu, a folding fan, plum blossoms, and red-and-white gohei from origami or construction paper, attach them to bamboo skewers, and create decorative parts.

Then place floral foam in a cup of your choice, insert the skewers, and arrange the parts for good balance.

Finally, fill any gaps with crumpled flower cores to finish.

If the bamboo skewers are too long, it’s best to cut them; however, they’re hard to cut with scissors, so prepare skewers that have been cut to an appropriate length in advance.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem