[October] Craft ideas for 1-year-olds: Halloween, mushrooms, and more

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.

October is a month when you can feel the essence of autumn, from the colorful leaves to the crystal-clear skies.

We want children to have plenty of experiences during this comfortable season, don’t we?

In this article, we’ll introduce October craft ideas recommended for one-year-olds.

Autumn offers a wealth of materials that can be expressed through crafts—from seasonal delicious foods like grapes and pears to sensory elements like bell crickets and the moon that you can see and hear.

From these, we’ve gathered many craft ideas perfect for October.

Be sure to let children experience lots of autumn through crafting!

Because the things children make are treated as works of art, we refer to them as “seisaku” (creations) in the text.

[October] Craft ideas for 1-year-olds: Halloween, mushrooms, and more (21–30)

Colorful Ghosts with Finger Painting

How about making colorful ghosts with finger painting? Finger painting is a technique where you paint using your fingers or hands.

This time, though, we’ll do it a bit differently: you’ll paint by touching the paint and paper through a food storage bag.

That way your hands won’t get messy.

Once you’ve roughly created a ghost silhouette, add eyes and a mouth at the end.

The impression changes depending on where you place them! For example, placing them close together can make it look like a full-body ghost, while spacing them farther apart can make it look like a close-up of the face.

Raise the rankinglower

yamamoto

Report a problem

Grapes made by crumpling origami paper

Here’s an idea for making grapes by crumpling origami paper that’s fun to create, too.

You’ll need purple and light purple origami paper, plus a plastic bag.

Choose a small, clear bag.

Once you have the materials, crumple each sheet of origami paper into a ball.

The texture feels nice, so I think you’ll enjoy the process.

After you’ve finished crumpling them all, put them into the plastic bag, then cut the bag into an inverted triangle shape to finish.

It clearly looks like grapes and has a cute charm to it.

Raise the rankinglower

yamamoto

Report a problem

[October] Craft ideas for 1-year-olds: Halloween, mushrooms, and more (31–40)

Little Picture Book Author

The period from October 27 to November 9 is designated as Reading Week, right? So I’d like to introduce an idea related to reading called “Little Picture Book Authors.” This is a creative project with lots of freedom.

First, have the children draw whatever they like on construction paper designed to look like a picture-book page.

Then, to make it look as if they’re holding that page, attach a head, hands, and feet made from construction paper—and it’s done.

You can even use a photo for the face parts.

Adding a speech bubble to explain what they drew is a nice touch as well.

Raise the rankinglower

yamamoto

Report a problem

Halloween garland

Let’s make a garland to decorate your room or walls and create a fun Halloween atmosphere.

The method is very simple: unfold an origami sheet that’s been folded into a triangle, then fold both sides inward into triangles so they line up along the center crease.

Apply glue to the small triangular flap at the top, place a string under it, and fold the flap down to secure it.

Draw ghosts, pumpkins, skulls, and other designs to match the color of each triangle.

Your colorful, cute garland is complete.

It will also look adorable displayed together with chenille stems (pipe cleaners) from the 100-yen shop.

Raise the rankinglower

Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)