[Craft] Make and Display! A Special Feature on Ideas for Making Koinobori (Carp Streamers)
When it comes to Children’s Day, many people think of koinobori (carp streamers).
Koinobori are displayed at schools and at home to wish for children’s healthy growth.
This time, we’re sharing ideas for making koinobori.
There are plenty of fun ideas: perfect for wall displays, ones that use handprints and footprints, and even wearable versions! If children arrange them freely with their own ideas, they can create wonderfully unique koinobori full of personality.
Through making activities, let’s also teach the origins and customs of Children’s Day to deepen their interest in the event.
We use the term “seisaku” in the text because the items children create are treated as works or projects.
- [Children's Day] Let's make and display! Children's Day wall decoration special
- Craft ideas for 1-year-olds to enjoy in spring: flowers and koinobori (carp streamers)
- [Childcare] Let's make and display in May! Wall Decoration Craft Ideas
- Fun Fish Craft Ideas to Make at Daycare and Kindergarten
- [Childcare] Feel May! A special feature of fun craft ideas to make
- Fun for Children’s Day! A Collection of Performance and Play Ideas Recommended for Early Childhood Education
- [May] A collection of craft ideas to try with 5-year-olds
- [Childcare] A collection of craft ideas to make for Mother's Day
- [By Age Group] Goldfish Craft Ideas! Enjoy Fun Time with Kids
- [Childcare] Craft ideas perfect for June
- [For Age 3] Let’s make it in April! A collection of craft ideas to feel spring events and nature
- [Childcare] Fun Craft Ideas for Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day)
- For three-year-olds: A collection of craft ideas featuring spring events and creatures that you’ll want to make with your three-year-old
[Crafts] Make and Display! A Special Collection of Ideas for Making Koinobori (Carp Streamers) (21–30)
Handprint Koinobori
How about making one big koinobori together? If you look closely at this windsock carp… each and every scale is made from the children’s handprints! Cut colored construction paper into scale shapes, have everyone stamp their handprints on them, and then write their names or draw pictures on top.
Next, stick the handprint scales onto a large koinobori drawn on poster paper.
It’s very colorful and a great idea for a wall decoration.
You can just picture the kids having fun searching for where their own handprints are!
Wearable carp streamer
A big, fluttery carp streamer made from colored plastic bags.
The fun part is that once it’s finished, you can wear this carp streamer like a poncho! Prepare colored plastic bags and cut slits on one side to resemble a tail fin.
Then have the children use paper plates and colored construction paper to create the carp’s scales and face.
When everyone wears their carp streamers made from their favorite colors, it looks so colorful and adorable! Don’t forget to take a group photo!
[Crafting] Make and Display! A Special Feature on Ideas for Making Koinobori (Carp Streamers) (31–40)
Koinobori wreath
This is a carp streamer wreath made from origami.
Its biggest feature is that, unlike the typical wreath-making method where you might imagine connecting decorations with thread or string, this one doesn’t use any at all.
You fold the origami into triangles with slots, then combine six of them in a circle to form the wreath.
Attach a carp streamer in the center and you have a wall decoration.
By changing the colors of the base wreath, you can also use it for occasions like Christmas, so give it a try!
Connected/decorative carp streamers you can string together
These are origami carp streamers that you can make in quantity, line up, and display.
Apply glue along one edge of the origami paper, roll it into a tube, and stick it together.
Gently flatten it, then cut the tail fin into a triangle.
Next, attach the eyes and scale pieces made by cutting origami paper.
Connect thin, folded strips of origami to make a string, thread it through holes you’ve punched at the ends of the streamers, and you’re done—carp streamers swimming side by side! If you make them in different sizes and line them up, they’ll look just like a family.
It’s also fun to do the rolling and pasting of the parts together with children.
Koinobori made from a paper roll
Would you like to make a cute carp streamer that gently sways and looks great on the wall using a toilet paper roll? Press the top of the paper roll to create creases, then start attaching origami paper.
Cut the origami slightly larger than the front surface, and fold any excess over to the back.
On top of the origami, stick on the carp’s eyes and scales made from colored paper.
In the same way, try making the black carp, the red carp, and the streamer, changing the sizes and colors.
Finally, tie them together with string, and you’re done.
Bleeding-paint koi-nobori
Let’s make a carp streamer (koinobori) using a bleeding-ink painting technique, where you drip water onto water-based marker drawings to intentionally blur them into patterns! Draw the scale pattern of the koinobori with water-based markers, mist water over it with a spray bottle, and let it dry as is.
You don’t have to draw the scales precisely—since they’ll gently blur, being rough is fine.
Using various colors and letting them bleed makes it super cute.
For the base paper, coffee filters are recommended because they’re water-resistant and hard to tear.
Add an eye and attach it to a straw pole!
carp streamer
Let’s make a koi nobori (carp streamer) using origami.
First, fold back about 1 centimeter at the end that will become the mouth to show the white part on the back.
Then lightly fold the paper in half, and make a cut of about 2.5 centimeters at the tail end.
Fold that section into a triangle, and fold the outer side into a triangle as well.
Fold the body into thirds, overlap the white mouth section, and then draw in the eyes and scales to finish.
If you cut out scales from other paper and paste them on, you’ll get a colorful koi nobori.
Try using a variety of colors!
