[Childcare] Moon-Viewing Craft Ideas
In autumn, we celebrate Otsukimi (moon viewing).
Also called Jugoya, it’s an event where people enjoy the night while gazing at a beautiful full moon.
This article introduces Otsukimi craft ideas that are useful in early childhood education.
There are lots of cute ideas featuring essentials of Otsukimi—like the moon, pampas grass (susuki), rice dumplings (dango), and rabbits—so try using them for pre-Otsukimi craft activities.
Try different ways of making the moon and dango depending on the children’s ages.
Once completed, you can turn them into wall decorations and create a September bulletin board—highly recommended.
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[Childcare] Moon-Viewing Craft Ideas (21–30)
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.
[Color Cellophane] Moon-viewing craft with a yellow-finding game
![[Color Cellophane] Moon-viewing craft with a yellow-finding game](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zOIGHuEo8Jo/sddefault.jpg)
Here’s an idea for making a moon using colored cellophane and yellow stickers.
Prepare plenty of yellow stickers and let the children place them however they like.
If you also provide stickers in various colors and say, “Only stick the yellow ones,” they can enjoy it like a game.
Once the stickers are on, place the moon frame over the top and cut off the excess with scissors.
Then attach it to a backing sheet together with clouds, a rabbit, a sanpō (offering stand), and dumplings.
You’ll have a finished moon-viewing craft with a beautiful, sparkling full moon!
Moon Art
This is a fun moon-viewing craft using paint.
Beforehand, prepare a black backing sheet with pre-attached parts of a rabbit, pampas grass, and rice dumplings.
Put a white sheet of drawing paper into a bag, drop a few colors of paint onto it, and seal the bag.
Have the children spread the paint by using their hands and fingers on top of the bag.
Because the paper is inside the bag, their hands, clothes, and surroundings won’t get dirty, so even one-year-olds can work safely.
Once the paint has spread, take the paper out of the bag, let it dry, and cut it into a circle like a full moon.
Finally, stick it onto the backing sheet to finish!
Fluffy Moon-Viewing Art
Let me introduce a fluffy “moko-moko” art technique that’s perfect for Tsukimi (moon-viewing) crafts.
If you mix shaving foam into glue, you’ll get soft, cloud-like foam.
Use that to make Tsukimi dango.
Add a little food coloring to turn it yellow and you can make a full moon, too.
Since it’s just mixing, kids can help with the process.
Once the foam is ready, prepare a backing sheet with illustrations of a sanpo stand, a rabbit, and pampas grass (susuki), then use a spoon to place the foam on.
It’s easier if you use the back of the spoon.
When the foam hardens, it’s complete! This craft is suitable for ages 4 and up.
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!
In conclusion
How did you like the craft ideas for the moon-viewing festival? If you found any you liked, be sure to try making them with the kids.
The impression changes depending on the materials you use—such as stamps, stickers, or clay for the dumplings—so it’s fun to experiment with different options.
Also, choose black or navy for the background paper to create a moon-viewing atmosphere.