[By Age Group] Goldfish Craft Ideas! Enjoy Fun Time with Kids
As the weather gets warmer, we tend to imagine summer-themed motifs for our crafts.
Bright red goldfish often evoke the image of goldfish scooping at summer festivals, so many of you may be thinking of incorporating them into your summer projects.
Craft activities need to be tailored to children’s ages and developmental stages, which can make it tricky to decide on the tasks and steps.
In this article, we’re introducing goldfish craft ideas by target age group.
We’ll cover a wide range—from decorations you can enjoy displaying to ideas kids can actually play with.
We hope you find them helpful.
Note: Since the items children make are treated as “works,” we use the term “seisaku” (制作) in the text.
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- [Childcare] A roundup of summer craft ideas to enjoy with 2-year-olds
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- August Craft Ideas for 5-Year-Olds
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[By Age Group] Goldfish Craft Ideas! Enjoy Fun Times with Children (11–20)
goldfish
Let’s try folding a goldfish with origami.
Origami goldfish look colorful when made in various colors, and they give a very cool, refreshing impression.
As for how to fold this goldfish, the steps are the same as the origami samurai helmet up to a certain point.
Flatten the helmet sideways and fold back the tail section, and a goldfish will appear.
The horn parts of the helmet become the goldfish’s fins.
If you put lots of colorful goldfish in a glass bowl or add paper that resembles aquatic plants, it will look even more refreshing.
Try getting creative and see what you can make.
Goldfish you can make in 3 minutes
When summer comes, you feel like folding a cool-looking goldfish out of origami, don’t you? This goldfish is simple and takes about three minutes to make, so please give it a try.
The folding method is very similar to the samurai helmet (kabuto).
Instead of folding the horn parts of the kabuto, imagine folding back the part that goes over the head in the opposite direction.
After that, rotate the origami 90 degrees and fold it back the other way, then cut open and spread out the tail section.
Be careful not to cut your hands when using scissors.
Finish by drawing a cute face.
plump goldfish
Here is a three-dimensional goldfish you can make from a single sheet of origami paper.
Because it has a 3D finish, there are quite a few steps where you create creases first and then assemble, but watching a goldfish take shape from a flat sheet makes an excellent way for children to develop spatial awareness.
It’s also nice to work through the tricky parts together with a parent or guardian.
Making goldfish in different colors or adding water plants to recreate a pond or fishbowl is fun, and it would look cute pasted onto a fan as well.
Goldfish made with balloon stamps
We’ll introduce a colorful, pop, and cute goldfish craft made with balloon stamps.
Prepare paint, brushes, water balloons, construction paper, glue, and scissors.
After cutting the construction paper into the shape of a large jar and goldfish, dip an inflated water balloon in paint and stamp it onto the jar-shaped paper.
Switching colors as you stamp makes it even more fun.
Stick adhesive eyes on the goldfish, place them wherever you like, and you’re done.
Give it a try!
A goldfish you can make by folding six times
This goldfish is one of the easiest origami goldfish to make.
Most goldfish origami usually starts by folding into a triangle, but this one is a bit unconventional because it begins with a square fold.
First, fold the paper in half to make a rectangle, then fold it diagonally along the diagonal.
After that, fold down the white section—this will become the tail fin.
Then make a small fold for the head, and it’s already done.
It’s an avant-garde style of origami, almost like a painting by Matisse or Picasso.
Puffy, three-dimensional goldfish
Let’s make a fun twist on the classic origami balloon! Here’s a puffy, three-dimensional goldfish idea.
All you need is one sheet of origami paper in your favorite color, a black pen, and a white pen.
It’s a unique, playful idea that makes the goldfish look adorably puffed up! Fold a balloon-like goldfish from a single sheet of paper, then use the black and white pens to draw the eyes and patterns.
It will look as if the goldfish has leapt right out of an aquarium.
This idea is sure to make anyone go “Whoa!” the moment they see the finished goldfish!
[By Age Group] Goldfish Craft Ideas! Have Fun with Kids (21–30)
Wobbling Goldfish
This goldfish origami can be moved to recreate the gentle swaying motion of swimming.
The folding process is similar to the yakko-san, pinwheel, and trick boat models up to a certain point, so it should be easy to get started.
Every part is three-dimensional, and when you move the tail fin, it looks as if the fish is actually swimming, so you can enjoy not only making it but also playing with it.
You can also make it cute by adding eyes with round stickers or a felt-tip pen.
Be sure to give it a try!