[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 as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is 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] 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.

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sasashina

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Let’s make it with cardboard stamps! Cute shishimai (lion dance)

https://www.tiktok.com/@chooobo2/video/7442299731532975367

If you roll a strip of cardboard into a spiral and dab it in paint, then press it onto paper, it makes the pattern for a shishimai (lion dance) costume! Using that pattern, let’s make a hanging shishimai decoration.

First, take a green sheet of construction paper cut into a rectangle and stamp any pattern you like.

Next, sprinkle on small pieces of gold origami paper to add a festive touch.

Finally, attach a shishimai face made from construction paper to one corner, add a string to the back, and you’re done! A plain backing works fine, but if you stick washi masking tape along the top and bottom, it will look like a hanging scroll and be extra lovely.

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