Lovely childcare

[July] Recommended for 1-year-olds! Fun summer craft ideas

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.
9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherShibata Risa
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.

One-year-olds whose desire to “I want to try it!” is growing stronger by the day.

Here, we’re sharing July ideas packed with clever twists that will get children excited to dive in.

Each activity lets kids express themselves freely, so they can enjoy creating.

Use these as a reference and try incorporating them into your childcare.

As we emphasize activities where children can freely enjoy expressing themselves, we consistently use the term “seisaku” written as 制作 rather than 製作 in the text.

[July] Recommended for 1-year-olds! Fun summer craft ideas (1–10)

Colorful fish with decalcomania

Decalcomania is a simple technique that even one-year-olds can try, yet it’s also a delightful way to enjoy color.

Let’s use decalcomania to create fish that swim smoothly.

First, have fun with decalcomania on construction paper.

It’s great if you can involve one-year-olds from the step of placing the paint.

Once the paint dries, cut the construction paper into fish shapes and use round stickers to make the eyes and mouth.

Finally, stick the fish onto another sheet of construction paper to represent the ocean, and you’re done! Give it a try and make these adorable fish swimming in the sea.

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[scribbles] Tanabata decorations

Tanabata decorations where you can write wishes are perfect for a summer craft.

Try making them together with one-year-olds.

First, let them scribble with crayons on white construction paper, then decorate it with round stickers.

Cut it into the shape of Hikoboshi’s body, and paste another piece of paper on top where the wish will be written.

The key is to make the most of the lovely patterns the children create.

Prepare Orihime and Hikoboshi’s faces with construction paper, and let the children make the facial parts with stickers or draw them with crayons.

After that, just glue all the parts together.

You could also interview the parents to write down the children’s wishes.

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[Handprint/Footprint Art] Octopus and Squid Swimming in the Sea

Let’s make summery octopus and squid crafts using children’s handprints.

First, take one handprint each using red and white paint.

Next, prepare construction paper for the octopus and squid faces.

Have the kids create the faces with stickers or crayons.

Once the handprints are dry, cut them out and use the fingers as legs, attaching them to the face pieces.

For the background paper, stamp patterns using a toilet paper roll and paint.

Since controlling the pressure can be tricky, it’s reassuring for the teacher to help.

To finish, glue on the octopus and squid, along with seaweed and rocks, and you’re done!

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[July] Recommended for 1-year-olds! Fun Summer Craft Ideas (11–20)

[Paints and Stickers] Watermelon Bag

With paint and round stickers, you can make a watermelon shoulder bag.

First, prepare a deep paper plate and paint it red.

Once the paint is dry, let the children freely stick on black round stickers.

Then the teacher finishes it up: cut the paper plate in half, overlap the rims, and secure them with green vinyl tape.

Punch holes at both ends and thread a vinyl cord through.

Since there are individual differences in body size among one-year-olds, adjust the cord length for each child.

This bag can be used in various situations, such as carrying toys inside or taking it along on walks.

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(Footprint) Swimming Goldfish and Goldfish Bowl

Footprint Craft Vol. 1! August/Summer Craft Book “Refreshing Goldfish Bowl” – For Infants 0–1 Year Old – [Nursery/Kindergarten]

(Footprint) Swimming Goldfish and Goldfish Bowl

Making a goldfish bowl with swimming goldfish creates a cool, refreshing look—perfect for a summer craft.

Since it uses footprints, it also becomes a sweet keepsake of a child’s growth.

First, the teacher sticks a paper goldfish bowl and water plants onto construction paper.

Next, take footprints of the one-year-olds on a separate sheet.

Using solid red is fine, or leave the toes white for a cute finish.

Once the footprints dry, cut them out, put double-sided tape on the back, and attach the goldfish fins.

Let the children “swim” their footprint goldfish by sticking them wherever they like.

Add white round stickers to represent bubbles.

To finish, the teacher should attach tissue paper as the goldfish tails.

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Colorful-sticker fish

Sticker play suitable from age 1: Let’s make colorful fish with paper plates!

Colorful-sticker fish

Why not make colorful fish with sticker pasting? Round stickers are easy for little hands to peel and stick, so they’re sure to be captivated! If you’re incorporating this into a July craft, turn paper plates into summery fish motifs.

To let the children go all out with sticker pasting, portion the stickers into small amounts and put them in cases so they’re easy to use.

The colorful polka-dotted fish look cool and give an early taste of summer.

Each child’s individuality will show in how they place the stickers, so once they’re finished, it’ll be fun to display their creations!

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Finger-painted ice cream

How about making ice cream art with mess-free finger painting? Put a sheet of drawing paper with paint on it into a zip-top bag, then trace over it from the outside to finger paint! Since clothes won’t get dirty, it lightens the load for parents, too.

Once you’ve created patterns with the paint and let it dry, just cut the paper into ice cream shapes and stick them onto cones.

Imagining the flavors of ice cream with all those mixed colors is half the fun.

Enjoy creating your delicious ice cream art!

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