[Indoor Activities] A Collection of Craft Ideas Recommended for Elementary School Students
These days, DIY has firmly taken root as a go-to hobby.
When you visit a home improvement store or a 100-yen shop, you’ll even find dedicated sections for it.
Plenty of households probably already have the materials and tools on hand.
In this article, we’ve rounded up craft ideas recommended for elementary school students who are interested in making things!
We’ll introduce everything from board games everyone can play together to practical ideas you can keep using at home after you’ve made them.
Find the project that suits you best and give it a try!
- Crafts you can make with 100-yen shop items! A collection of fun project ideas that elementary school kids will love
- Simple yet amazing crafts: craft ideas that elementary school students will want to make
- [For Elementary School Kids] Handmade Toy Craft Ideas
- [Let’s Make and Play!] Handmade Toy Ideas You Can Create Yourself
- [Summer Vacation Crafts for Lower Grades] Make It with Everyday Materials! Simple Yet Awesome Craft Ideas
- Handmade games: DIY craft ideas you can make and play
- [For Upper Elementary Students] Simple but Awesome! A Collection of Summer Vacation Craft Ideas
- [DIY] A Collection of Handmade Moving Toy Craft Ideas
- [For Kids] Fun Indoor Game Ideas for After-School Day Services
- Toys you can make from cardboard crafts! Authentic ideas you can build and play with
- For summer vacation homework! Simple and amazing crafts for elementary school students that you’ll want to make after seeing them
- For upper-grade boys! Simple yet awesome craft project [Don’t call it lazy]
- Crafts parents and kids can enjoy together. Recommended craft ideas to keep children entertained.
[Indoor Play] Craft Ideas Recommended for Elementary School Students (71–80)
Original handmade watch
When you go to a 100-yen shop or a handmade goods store, you can find just the clock movement for sale.
Let’s use that to make your own original clock! For the base of the clock, use a photo frame or a plastic plate.
Once you decide where to fix the movement, drill a hole.
Tighten the nut to secure the movement, and then decorate it to your liking.
Paint it, attach parts, or add glitter to make it sparkle—depending on your ideas, you’ll end up with a clock full of originality!
Candy Magnet
Let’s make a magnet that looks like a candy with twisted ends.
The materials and steps are very simple, so it’s highly recommended.
First, prepare strong magnets from a 100-yen shop, a plastic bottle cap, and a fabric scrap with a pattern you like.
Start by gluing the magnet to the back of the bottle cap.
Next, cut the fabric scrap to 14 cm by 10 cm, then fold back and glue three sides, leaving just one of the short sides unfolded.
Once the glue is dry, wrap the bottle cap with the fabric and secure it with glue.
Finally, to create the candy shape, gather and stitch the fabric at both ends with thread.
You’re done! Try making lots in different colors and patterns.
gel candle
At 100-yen shops, you can find a product called gel candles, and with them you can easily make homemade candles.
Gel candles are easy to handle, and you can even pour two different colors one on top of the other to create a two-layer candle.
The way the colors blend slightly between the layers also gives it a lovely look.
Plus, by placing items you like—such as colored sand, seashells, or dried flowers—into the glass before pouring in the gel candle, you can create a more stylish and original piece.
Give it a try and make one with your own sense of style.
Original T-shirts made with stencil printing
How about making your own T-shirt over summer vacation? We’ll use a technique called stenciling to create an original T-shirt.
You place a cutout of letters or illustrations on the fabric and paint over it with ink or other pigments.
Since you’ll wear the T-shirt, you’ll likely wash it too.
When stenciling on T-shirts or fabric, be sure to use fabric ink that won’t wash out.
While this can be a summer vacation homework project, it can also become a fun summer memory.
You might even make matching T-shirts for the whole family.
There are stencil T-shirt kits available online, so why not give them a try?
Stone painting
During summer vacation, there are times when you go out with your family to rivers or mountains, right? When you do, why not try picking up stones and making art with them? Of course, stones you’ve collected from around your neighborhood are fine, too.
First, paint the stones you’ve prepared with white acrylic paint.
This small extra step will help your work turn out beautifully.
Then, use acrylic paints to create animals, plants, and more by adding color.
If you also use items like pipe cleaners or empty cans, you can make pieces that look very realistic.
Please use this as a reference and give it a try!
Let’s make a cardboard pochette
Here’s an introduction to making a pochette using cardboard.
Do you have cardboard boxes at home from parcel deliveries or from purchases at the supermarket? If you have some on hand, you can make a pochette simply by cutting it into shape, folding it, and assembling it.
Cardboard has lines where the inside is hollow.
The key is to keep those lines in mind when you cut.
If you want to create curves in your cardboard parts, cut across those lines.
Doing so will expand your creative possibilities.
Designing the pochette itself is sure to be an enjoyable time, too.
Let’s play with paper blocks!
Prepare some construction paper and try playing with paper blocks.
Using long, narrow strips of construction paper, make triangles, circles, and squares, then assemble them into artworks.
By folding or curling the narrow strips, you can express a variety of shapes.
Attaching the parts you’ve made with glue or clear tape and combining them will broaden the range of your creations even more.
As children think about shapes and combine them to make pieces, they can expand their imaginations.
You can also mount the combined works on construction paper for display.
For pieces with movement, hanging them with thread is also recommended.