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[Jūgoya] Craft ideas you’ll want to incorporate into childcare, plus introductory activities

[Jūgoya] Craft ideas you’ll want to incorporate into childcare, plus introductory activities

Last updated:2025/7/11

Nursery Teacher Mom Writertsukada moe
After working for five years at an after-school childcare club and three years at a nursery school, I began working as a freelance writer. I’m a mother of two children. Inspired by playing the flute in the school wind ensemble in elementary school, I joined a jazz club at university. I’ve also incorporated ukulele and piano performance into childcare. Playing, laughing, feeling sad, feeling frustrated—through all kinds of experiences, I want children to grow.

Many of you are probably starting to prepare for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (Jūgoya) in September.

You may be planning activities suited to your preschool’s environment, such as food education through making rice dumplings (dango) or gathering pampas grass (susuki).

If your craft activities also feature motifs related to Jūgoya, children’s interest will deepen even more.

So in this article, we introduce craft ideas themed around Jūgoya.

We’ll use a variety of materials and techniques.

Please choose according to your class’s age group.

We also share ideas you can use as an introduction, so please use them for reference.

Because the children’s creations are treated as works (art pieces), we use the term “seisaku” (制作: production/creation) in the text.

[Jugoya] Craft ideas to incorporate into childcare. Also introducing introductory activities (1–10)

3D Moon-Viewing Dumplings Made from Toilet Paper Rolls

[Moon-Viewing Craft] Let’s enjoy Tsukimi with liquid glue and toilet paper rolls ♪ [For ages 1–3]

3D Moon-Viewing Dumplings Made from Toilet Paper Rolls

There are also versions of tsukimi dango made with round stickers or stamps.

But the one introduced here is a three-dimensional, realistic-looking tsukimi dango.

First, cut construction paper to make the sanpō (offering stand).

Prepare a black backing sheet, glue on the sanpō, and put double-sided tape where you want to place the dumplings.

Place slices of a toilet paper roll on top, then stuff inside them the dumplings you’ve made by crumpling white tissue (flower) paper into balls.

And that’s it—your three-dimensional tsukimi dango are complete! Have the children cut out the sanpō with scissors and roll the tissue paper into balls.

Peeling off the double-sided tape might be surprisingly fun, too!

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[Introduction] What was it called again, the moon-viewing decoration?

[September] What do we offer for Moon Viewing? Panel Theater [Full Moon Night/Mid-Autumn Festival]

[Introduction] What was it called again, the moon-viewing decoration?

This is a panel theater piece themed around the Harvest Moon (Jūgoya) that I’d like to recommend as an introduction to performance.

The protagonists are bunnies.

Night falls, and they’ve prepared dumplings.

But—huh? Something’s missing… That’s the story, and in the end they go off to find the moon.

They only remember that the missing thing ends with the sound “ki,” so words like keiki (cake), denki (electric light), and gakki (musical instrument) appear before the moon does.

If the children are old enough to know what moon viewing is, some might even call out, “It’s tsuki (the moon)!”

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[Finger Stamp] Lace Paper Moon Viewing

There are various ways to create a full moon, but the one introduced here uses lace paper.

You can buy lace paper that is already yellow, or you can use white lace paper and color it with paint or stamps.

On black cardstock, attach a three-tier stand made from drawing paper, stamp white dango (rice dumplings), then add the lace-paper full moon to complete your moon-viewing craft.

You can also draw pampas grass in the empty spaces or use finger stamping to represent stars.

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Torn-paper art: Full Moon and Rabbits

[September Production] Full Moon and Rabbits

Torn-paper art: Full Moon and Rabbits

Let’s make a rabbit with handprints and a full moon with torn paper.

First, for the handprint: for infants and toddlers, take a handprint stamp and draw the rabbit’s face to complete it.

For preschoolers, they can trace around their hand with a pencil and cut it out with scissors.

If you fold the thumb and pinky forward and the middle finger backward, it creates a cute rabbit silhouette.

For the full moon, cut a circle from construction paper and glue on torn pieces of yellow origami paper.

Since infants and toddlers may find tearing difficult, you can help by making small cuts with scissors.

Mount everything on a backing sheet to make a wall decoration for September.

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[Stained glass style] Movable, playable rabbit

[Moon-Viewing Craft] Stained Glass Style!! A Wall Decoration Where You Can Move the Rabbit and Play [September Craft]

[Stained glass style] Movable, playable rabbit

Let’s make a movable rabbit decoration you can play with! Because this craft uses scissors and has many steps, it’s suitable for children ages 4 and up.

First, cut a circle out of navy construction paper, then cut out a smaller circle inside it.

For the rabbit, draw guide lines on white construction paper and have them cut it out.

Once it’s cut, draw the rabbit’s face.

Next, cut a circle from a clear file and stick on torn pieces of transparent origami paper to create a full moon.

Make a pocket from another piece of paper and attach it to the bottom of the navy paper, then place the rabbit you made into the pocket.

Finally, attach the full moon to the back and add a string at the top—and it’s done! Take the rabbit out of the pocket and have fun playing with it in different ways.

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[Sponge] Munch-Munch Moon-Viewing Bunny

[Seasonal Craft] Easy and cute♪ Great for plays too: Pac-Pac Sponge Puppets

[Sponge] Munch-Munch Moon-Viewing Bunny

Let me show you how to make a chomping rabbit puppet out of a sponge.

The method is very simple.

Place the sponge horizontally and, leaving the hard scrubby part intact, cut through the middle with scissors.

In the center of each cut face, make a hole big enough for a finger.

Fold the sponge so that the hard part is on the inside, attach rabbit parts like ears and eyes to the top, and add a tongue to the hard part—then you’re done! If you put your fingers in the holes and move them, it looks like the rabbit’s mouth is chomping.

It might also be nice to use this puppet to tell a story about moon viewing (Otsukimi).

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[Scissors] Handmade Susuki (Japanese silver grass)

[Crafts / Making] [Autumn Crafts] Enjoy an Otsukimi mood with handmade pampas grass!

[Scissors] Handmade Susuki (Japanese silver grass)

Let’s try making pampas grass by hand—an essential for moon-viewing! First, cut a piece of construction paper into a rectangle and make fine vertical slits, leaving a small margin at the top.

If a child is doing this, it helps to draw guide lines.

Once the slits are cut, roll the paper up and secure it with tape so it doesn’t unwind.

Next, take another rectangular piece of construction paper, roll it diagonally, and tape it.

Attach it to the slit piece you made earlier.

Your pampas grass is complete.

Place it in a decorated toilet paper roll core—covered with colored paper and adorned with pipe cleaners—and set it next to your rice dumplings.

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