Lovely childcare

[October] Craft ideas for fall you can use in childcare

9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherShibata Risa
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.

October is when you can feel autumn even more strongly, thanks to changes in nature and the climate.

This is a must-read for teachers who are thinking, “I want to enjoy autumn-specific crafts with the children!”

Here we introduce craft ideas perfect for October.

You’ll find a wide range of ideas: themes inspired by Halloween such as ghosts and pumpkins; and themes that feature autumn-only natural items and seasonal tastes like fallen leaves, acorns, mushrooms, and grapes.

We also introduce techniques that stimulate children’s five senses and curiosity, as well as fun ways to use materials that greatly expand their imaginative world—please use them for inspiration.

Because we focus on ideas for creating works that allow children to freely express their individuality, we use the term “制作 (seisaku)” as “creation” or “craft” in the text.

[October] Useful for childcare! Introducing autumn craft ideas (51–60)

Chestnuts you can try from age 3

Origami “Chestnut” – Easy folding method suitable from around age 3

Chestnuts you can try from age 3

After folding the origami squarely in half, open it up.

With the colored side facing up, fold the bottom edge up to meet the crease.

Turn the paper over and fold the top two corners in toward the center.

Fold the bottom two corners inward to make triangles, then fold the new left and right corners even farther inward.

Turn the origami back to the front—and your chestnut is complete! Finish it by coloring the white part with crayons or drawing a face on the colored part.

If you make a second one with smaller origami paper, you might end up with a parent-and-child pair of chestnuts!

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Let’s make a ghost!

[Nursery Teacher / Origami] Let's Make Ghosts! [With 4- and 5-Year-Olds]

Let's make a ghost!

Fold the origami paper in half into a square twice to make creases.

Open it, then fold the top and bottom edges to meet the horizontal crease.

From there, make additional creases and squash-fold the left and right sides into boat shapes.

On one of the boats, squash only one corner into a square to create the ghost’s face.

The sides of the face will be the hands, and the remaining part becomes the bottom.

Use the creases on the hands to create indentations so they look three-dimensional—that’s the key.

Soften the head by folding the corners to make it round, and finish by folding the bottom part up at a diagonal.

Draw the face with stickers or a pen to complete it.

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Easy and cute Halloween ghost

[Origami] Halloween Ghost – Easy and Cute Folding Method | Autumn Origami for Ages 3+ | Kid-Friendly Instructions | October Origami [Origami]

Easy and cute Halloween ghost

After folding the paper in half into a triangle twice to make creases, open it and place the origami so the creases form a cross.

Fold the bottom corner up to the center to make a crease, then fold the top corner down to align with that crease.

Fold the left and right corners to the center line to crease them, then unfold.

Make step folds so the creases you just made overlap with the center line, open the pocketed parts, and squash-fold them into triangles.

These will be the ghost’s hands.

Fold both top corners into small triangles to round the ghost’s head, then fold the left and right edges of the bottom corner to the center line to form the tail.

Turn the paper over, fold both hands inward, and fold the tail up at an angle.

It’s complete.

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An easy way to fold fallen leaves (origami)

[Origami] Fallen Leaf – Easy Folding Method, 3D Crafting – Autumn Origami Kids Can Make from Age 3 – Origami for September, October, and November [Origami]

An easy way to fold fallen leaves (origami)

Fold the paper into a triangle with the colored side on the inside.

Next, fold the base of the triangle back diagonally, leaving about 2 cm from the edge.

Then place it so the 90-degree corner is at the lower right, and fold so that the tip points downward.

From there, continue folding in an accordion (zigzag) manner so that each fold overlaps the one you just made.

When you open up the part you’ve been folding at the end, you’ll have a fallen leaf with veins expressed by the crease lines! Using various colors of origami paper—brown, orange, yellow, and so on—might make it feel like you’re enjoying autumn leaf viewing.

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Easy! Halloween Pumpkin

[Origami] Halloween Pumpkin [Easy, for ages 3 and up] (Halloween origami)

Easy! Halloween Pumpkin

Fold the origami paper twice to make a small square.

Flatten both of the pocket sections formed by the folds into triangles, then fold the left and right edges of one of the triangles toward the center line.

Turn the paper over and fold up the part sticking out at the bottom to hide it as a triangle.

Next, fold the left and right corners of the other triangle toward the center line, then tuck the two corners created by the folds slightly inward.

Finally, fold the top corner downward, then fold it back up a little so the tip sticks out slightly, and your pumpkin is complete.

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