[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!
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[Indoor Play] A Collection of Craft Ideas Recommended for Elementary School Students (141–150)
Cute glasses with moles

Let’s make cute glasses using pipe cleaners and straws.
First, think about the shape of the glasses you want to make—try sketching it out.
Round, square, star-shaped—anything you like is fine.
Once you’ve decided on the shape, form it with the pipe cleaners.
A single pipe cleaner isn’t very sturdy, so twist two together into one before shaping.
After the frame is done, thread straws onto the parts that go over your ears, and you’re finished.
If you use the accordion section of the straw over your ears, the glasses are less likely to slip off.
Paper cup Tyrannosaurus

This activity involves combining paper cups to create a three-dimensional, dynamic Tyrannosaurus.
The key is how you connect the cups: by trimming the edges and adding slits, you can set firm angles.
Build it by linking the cups from the head to the tail, then attach separately made legs and arms at the end to finish.
Try different variations, such as using cups of the same color for a cohesive look or mixing different colors for a colorful effect.
Making a marble run with an ice box
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♬ Electro Swing Jazz – Retro, strange, mysterious(1137053) – Ponetto
Summer is the season that makes you crave ice cream, and as you eat it, you might find the boxes piling up.
This idea uses those leftover ice cream boxes to make a marble run.
Use a large box, like a milk carton, as the base, and attach slopes made by cutting the ice cream boxes around it.
Adjust the angles and heights carefully, keeping in mind the strength needed so it won’t break when the marbles hit.
Using ice cream sticks to reinforce it is also recommended—they’ll make the whole thing sturdier and give it a cohesive look.
Roll-and-drop game made with straws
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Here’s a fun-to-make, fun-to-play marble run you can build with straws.
Gather tapioca (boba) straws, beads, masking tape, and scissors, and let’s get started.
Cut the tip of a tapioca straw at an angle, then tape it to a wall with masking tape, adjusting the angle as you go.
Add guards at the ends of the straws so the rolling beads don’t fall out.
The key is to tweak the angles so the beads roll smoothly.
Once it’s finished, try rolling some beads and play! It could also be fun to turn this into a little science project—prepare beads of different sizes and time how many seconds each one takes to roll through.
Deodorizing pot made with an ice pack
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♬ Relaxing, cute everyday BGM – Avi
Do you have leftover cold packs from buying cakes and other treats sitting in your freezer? Here’s a deodorizing gel pot you can make with those cold packs—perfect as a summer science or craft project for upper elementary students.
Get your materials ready: cold packs, beads, a plastic container, an empty jar, colored markers, a bowl, water, and a stirring stick.
Squeeze the contents of the cold pack into the bowl, add water, and stir until it becomes a gel.
Color the bottom of the plastic container, then add the gelled cold pack and mix to tint it.
Spoon the mixture into the empty jar, add beads or other decorations, and you’re done.
It’s a simple deodorizing pot you can make with everyday items—try creating your own original version!
Well-spinning paper cup top

This is a spinning top made with a paper cup that spins well and is fun to watch because of its colorful look.
All you need are a paper cup and two plastic bottle caps.
First, cut slits into the paper cup and spread them out like propeller blades, then attach an axle made by combining the two caps.
That’s enough to complete the basic shape, but it’s recommended to decorate the “propellers” with an eye toward how it will look while spinning.
The impression changes depending on whether you spread the propellers before decorating or decorate first and then cut the slits, so try out various patterns.
A flying octopus? Tako-copter

It’s a toy that combines paper cups and a round chopstick to spin like a bamboo-copter and soar into the sky.
By spreading “wings” that catch the wind and coloring it mainly red, it takes on a curious form—a flying octopus.
You’ll use two paper cups and a round chopstick: attach the chopstick and the octopus’s facial parts to a paper cup with only the bottom left to create a launcher.
Then cut slits into the other paper cup, spread it out to form propeller-like blades, and attach it to the launcher to finish.
Fine-tune the propeller angles to make your octopus fly even higher.


