For Seniors: Easy Crafts Recommended for October
October brings cooler, more comfortable weather.
There are events like the Harvest Moon (Jūgoya), Sports Day, and Halloween.
As the phrase “autumn is for ____” suggests, the mild climate makes it easier to get out and do things, making us want to enjoy our favorite activities and try new challenges.
Let’s create autumn-themed crafts so that older adults can also feel the season!
In connection with the idea of “autumn is for ____,” it could be nice to spark lively conversations with older adults about what to enjoy in autumn.
Be sure to make use of this “October Crafts for Older Adults.”
They say “autumn is for reading” because, among the four seasons, autumn has the shortest daylight hours, and the longer nights are perfect for reading.
For Seniors: Easy Crafts Recommended for October (1–10)
Moon-viewing mobile
Let’s make a mobile full of seasonal charm using twine and colored construction paper! When we think of autumn, there are so many iconic events and flowers: moon-viewing (Otsukimi), the autumn equinox (Ohigan), Halloween, maple leaves, cosmos, and more.
Create autumn-themed items with origami or colored paper, and hang them to make a gently swaying mobile—so cute, right? Make whatever you like and attach each piece to the twine.
Autumn flowers like bellflower (kikyo), as well as mushrooms and grapes, are easy to craft with origami and highly recommended.
A jack-o’-lantern would be adorable too!
picture letter
Isn’t “etegami,” hand-painted postcards, just lovely? Receiving a letter adorned with a seasonal picture can really lift your spirits.
So how about creating your own autumn-themed etegami as an October recreation activity? Even if you’re not confident in drawing, this time we’ll be making pictures with Japanese fabrics, which makes it easy to try! We’ll prepare templates like saury, autumn leaves, and mushrooms—just place your favorite fabric over them.
Japanese fabrics with rich textures and patterns create a beautiful atmosphere on their own, helping you make a charming etegami.
A fallen-leaf bookmark made with resin and wire
A stylish stained-glass-style bookmark of fallen leaves made with resin.
First, shape the leaves with wire.
To achieve a stained-glass look, bend the wire like veins and add short pieces of wire.
It seems easier to work on top of a sketched design.
The key point is to place resin or nail polish at the joints where the wires meet.
Paint the leaf sections with resin liquid or nail polish in your preferred colors, let them dry, and it’s done.
With this lovely stained-glass-like bookmark, even older adults may find reading time more enjoyable.
Making Japanese-patterned bookmarks
Autumn is often called the season for reading, isn’t it? How about making a simple bookmark with a traditional Japanese pattern? For the bookmark body, cut a piece of fabric with a Japanese motif to the size of two bookmarks, apply double-sided tape to just half of the back, then fold it in the middle and press to adhere.
That alone is a bit too simple, so let’s add a small temari ball and a ribbon—often used in hanging decorations—as accents.
Punch a small hole at the top of the bookmark, thread a slightly long ribbon through, then thread a temari ball onto each end of the ribbon and tie them.
This alone gives it a festive look, and the temari balls swaying at the ribbon tips are very cute.
If you prefer a stiffer bookmark, you can insert cardstock between the layers of fabric.
Halloween wreath made from paper plates
A great way to feel the autumn season indoors is to add seasonal decorations.
Halloween may not be very familiar to many older adults, but your grandchildren would probably be thrilled to see the decorations when they come to visit.
It’s also important to try new things, so why not make some cute pumpkin decorations?
Creating an autumn harvest festival with quilling
Paper quilling is an art form where you roll thin, narrow strips of paper into coils to create artworks.
This time, why not use paper quilling to depict autumn delicacies like grapes, mushrooms, and persimmons? It’s tricky to roll the paper with just your fingers, so try winding it around a toothpick or similar tool.
Unlike torn-paper collage, this technique produces a three-dimensional finish, and the completed piece will make a wonderful interior decoration if you frame it.
It helps build concentration and gives a sense of accomplishment, so even seniors who find fine motor tasks challenging are encouraged to give it a try.
Maple leaf photo frame
Maple leaves have often been the subject of waka poetry since ancient times.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro’s poem, “Akiyama no momiji o shigemi madoinuru imo o motome mu yamaji shirazumo,” is well known.
It’s quite charming to go on a momijigari (autumn leaf viewing) with everyone from the day service while thinking of such poems.
How about decorating a photo frame with the maple leaves you gather? It will make a lovely autumn memory, and photos taken in the fall will surely shine.
The photo frame can be handmade or store-bought—either is fine.
Arrange various shades of orange paper and maple leaves beautifully on the frame you’ve prepared.