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

Daruma

[Origami New Year] “Bad-Luck-Clearing Daruma” New Year’s decoration, handmade wall decoration, origami, preschool craft, senior care recreation — How to make a Japanese Daruma

Here’s a fun idea for making daruma decorations for New Year’s.

First, flatten a toilet paper roll and make three cuts from one edge with scissors.

On the cut sections, attach thin strips of yellow, orange, and purple origami or colored paper.

Cover the remaining sections with red paper.

Wrap the papers all the way around.

Then reshape the toilet paper roll back into a cylinder.

You can leave the red area as is.

Next, make a daruma face from another piece of paper and stick it onto the red part, then add the daruma’s pattern below the face—and you’re done! Try making and displaying them in different colors!

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sasashina

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Thread-spinning top

Simple Craft 053: String-Pulled Top — Can It Spin Even Stronger?

Let’s try making a cool, fast-spinning pull-string top! It’s a perfect craft idea for kids, too.

This top can be spun just by pulling a string, even if you don’t have much strength.

First, create the top’s shape with Perler beads (fuse beads), then insert a chopstick with a sharpened tip into the center of the top.

It will spin well as is, but by adding a mechanism with a straw to pull the string, you can make it spin even more powerfully! Winding and pulling the string might feel a little tricky at first, but give it a try and spin your top in style!

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miyabi

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Shishimai (lion dance) made with paper cups

Chomping Fun! How to Make a Paper-Cup Shishimai (Lion Dance) | DIY New Year’s Toy [Craft]

Let’s make a lion dance (shishimai) toy out of a paper cup that you can play with by opening and closing its mouth! Cut two slits in the side of a paper cup and open them up.

Attach green construction paper with a karakusa (arabesque) pattern to the lower part, and red construction paper to the upper part.

The red section will be the shishimai’s face, so it’s best to cut it into a face shape before attaching it.

Then, add parts that capture the shishimai’s features—big eyes, thick eyebrows, neatly lined teeth, and shaggy hair—to finish it off.

Adjust the placement of the teeth so that the moving, chomping part looks like a mouth!

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yuri

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Kagami mochi made from toilet paper rolls

Making Kagami Mochi: Introducing New Year’s crafts you can use at daycare!

A kagami mochi wall decoration made using toilet paper rolls is easy to craft and can create a lifelike three-dimensional look, so it’s highly recommended.

Simply make a base with colored construction paper or origami and stack toilet paper rolls cut to matching lengths, and your room will be filled with New Year’s colors.

Kagami mochi carries the meaning of praying for a bountiful harvest that year and celebrating a fresh start; by making one, you may be able to begin the coming year with a renewed spirit.

It’s a New Year’s craft that’s fun to display in classrooms—whether in daycare, kindergarten, or school.

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Hoshino Takashi

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[Handmade Instrument] Tissue Box Koto

[Craft using a tissue box] [Handmade instrument] Something to play at New Year! Plucking Koto ♪

A koto made using a tissue box and rubber bands is a craft that children can approach with sparkling eyes, not least because it’s an instrument they don’t often see.

The sound of the koto—like in the piece “Haru no Umi,” which we hear around New Year’s—really makes you feel the new year has arrived.

It may not be a real koto, but since you can play sounds with it after it’s finished, it’s a great craft activity.

Preparing the small parts in advance as the teacher/caregiver will help things go smoothly.

If everyone plays the kotos they made together, it will create a lively, festive New Year atmosphere.

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Hoshino Takashi

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