Lovely childcare

Let’s make it at nursery school and kindergarten! A special collection of handmade New Year’s card 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 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.

Welcoming the New Year at nursery school or kindergarten—how about making heartfelt New Year’s cards together with the children? We’ve gathered lots of ideas full of handmade warmth: the soft hues of pastel art, the fun of dabbing and spreading color with sponge daubers, and keepsakes like footprint records of growth.

From simple steps to puffy, three-dimensional finishes, every design lets each child’s individuality shine! Create one-of-a-kind New Year’s cards with the children—cards that will warm the hearts of those who receive them.

Let’s Make It at Nursery School and Kindergarten! A Special Feature of Handmade New Year’s Card Ideas (41–50)

Let’s make postcards with vegetable stamps!

Don’t waste them—let’s make postcards with vegetable stamps!

Let's make postcards with vegetable stamps!

There are parts of vegetables that we cut off and don’t use in cooking, right? Let’s try turning those usually discarded parts into stamps and make New Year’s cards! You can use any vegetables you like—onions, green peppers, carrots, lotus root, spinach, and so on.

Prepare several vegetable stamps with different shapes.

Once you’ve got your veggies ready, dip them in paint or ink and start stamping.

They might look like flowers or animal faces—your imagination will surely expand.

Try expressing the design side of the postcard with your stamped artwork.

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Handprint Kadomatsu Ema

How about making an ema (votive plaque) decorated with handprints that even infants can work on? Let’s turn the children’s handprints into kadomatsu (New Year’s pine decorations) and create a fun, pop-style ema! First, take the children’s handprints on paper and cut around them.

Next, make the kadomatsu section by attaching the base and adding decorations.

Finally, stick the kadomatsu onto a piece of construction paper cut into the shape of an ema, and finish by adding squares of origami or chiyogami to the blank areas.

Even if your child doesn’t understand what a kadomatsu is, the festive New Year’s decorations are sure to lift their spirits.

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In conclusion

We introduced New Year’s card ideas that you can make by hand at nursery schools and kindergartens.

Designs perfect for the New Year—like the zodiac animals, shishimai (lion dance), and Mount Fuji—become truly special when created by children.

Use stamp daubers to dab and spread color, or tear and paste origami paper—enjoy each step of the process, and send New Year’s greetings filled with heart.