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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!
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January Crafts: Fun Handmade Ideas for Kids That You Can Use in Childcare (1–10)
Fun New Year’s crafts for childcare: how to make them
These are perfect crafts for an auspicious New Year.
The wobbly daruma made with a paper plate uses familiar recycled materials, so even very young children can enjoy making it.
For the eyes, round stickers could work well.
For the kadomatsu made with a milk carton and toilet paper rolls, adjust the lengths of the “bamboo” pieces and use accordion-folded origami to finish the overall look in a balanced way.
It’s also good finger dexterity practice.
For the shimenawa, carefully teach the children the order of bundling and braiding so it has a nice, full volume.
Enjoy making these while experiencing Japanese culture.
Perfect for wall displays! Cute Shishimai (lion dance)
The shishimai (lion dance) has long been cherished as a New Year’s good-luck charm that brings fortune.
The method is simple: cut vertically down the center of a toilet paper tube with scissors, roll it, secure it with a rubber band, and stamp on the shishimai patterns.
Then attach the lion’s eyes, nose, mouth, mane, and ears.
Adjusting the amount of glue while sticking the parts helps children learn how to use glue properly.
Glue the body, face, and legs of the shishimai onto a backing sheet, then finish by pasting torn pieces of origami paper around it.
Using finger stamps or crayons to draw New Year–themed pictures is also recommended to give it a seasonal feel.
Origami horse you can make with a single sheet
Perfect for the Year of the Horse! Here’s an idea for making a horse’s face out of origami.
New Year’s cards are often associated with illustrations and drawings, but if you create one by attaching an origami piece, it adds depth and turns it into a very special card.
This design uses a simple series of folds along the creases and can be made with just one sheet of origami paper.
You’ll need a craft knife to make the mane, so have it ready before you start.
Use black round stickers for the eyes and draw the nostrils with a pen.
Great for New Year’s cards too! Easy-to-use stamps
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!
A spinning top you can make and play with!
Let’s make a spinning top for New Year’s games using scrap materials.
First, make cuts at the corners of an empty milk carton and open it out so the sides lie flat.
Then cut the side panels at a point 10 centimeters up from the bottom rim.
Trim the corners to make them rounded.
After decorating the milk carton by drawing pictures or adding stickers, glue a plastic bottle cap at the center on the front, and attach a piece of straw (cut to 5–10 millimeters) to the center on the back.
Your top is now complete—pinch the cap and give it a spin!