[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 (51–60)
ball
Here’s an idea for making a ball out of paper.
First, prepare six strips of paper, each 1 cm by 20 cm.
Connect one of the strips into a loop.
Next, layer the remaining five strips one by one to form a star shape.
If you overlap them so that the center forms a pentagon, you’ll get a neat star.
Once layered, temporarily clip the ends of the strips upright, then pass the loop you made earlier through them.
At this point, only thread the strips that were on the bottom during the layering.
Swap the top and bottom positions of the overlapped strips, connect strips of the same color, and you’re done!
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.
Maze ideas
@tomonite_official A handmade maze using a wrap core! This looks fun for both kids and adults♪ Try making it together with your child 😊 Please use this idea with adult supervision and with safety in mind. Featured from Instagram: a post by @mimita_asobi ✨ Thank you for the wonderful post. ↓↓↓ ───────────────── 【Not trash: A Spinny Maze with a Wrap Core】 Today’s post is a “spinny maze”! The child was super focused! But then they said, “Make a harder one next time,” 🫣 I guess it was a bit too easy for a five-year-old! You can make lots of different versions☺️ The child was able to make it themselves too, so everyone, try making it with your kiddo 👍🏻 ̖́- ▷Materials for today 〇 Wrap core (cardboard tube from plastic wrap) 〇 Paper (construction paper or copy paper is fine) 〇 Wrapping film 〇 Double-sided tape 〇 Stickers (or draw directly on the film) 〇 Pens/markers for drawing ───────────────── This is Tomonite @tomonite_official. Even on busy days, we want family time to be full of smiles! We share: 🏠 Time-saving housework and parenting hacks 💎 Convenient items with great time and cost performance 👶 Relatable parenting moments and heartwarming videos ✨ A favor ✨ Likes and comments really encourage us! If you found this post helpful or enjoyed it, we’d be happy if you leave a 👶 in the comments! All posts introduced by Tomonite are shared with permission from the original creators. Comments that may hurt others may be hidden by our team. We’d love for everyone to enjoy comfortable conversations and to connect a lot here ✨#AtHomePlayworkSimple craftMaze
♬ Bling-Bang-Bang-Born – Creepy Nuts
You can make a fun maze with a cardboard wrap core! Here’s a simple way to do it.
First, cut construction paper to the length of the wrap core, and draw a maze on it using any writing tools you like.
Attach double-sided tape to the paper with the maze and wrap it around the core.
Next, cut a piece of wrapping film to about 5 cm and stick your favorite stickers on it—that’s it! Thread it through the wrap core to play the maze game.
If you make the construction paper removable, you can enjoy original mazes over and over again.
It’s also recommended to use stickers of your favorite characters to enjoy a themed world.
Maze ideas
@tomonite_official A handmade maze using a wrap core! This looks fun for both kids and adults♪ Try making it together with your child 😊 Please use this idea with adult supervision and with safety in mind. Featured from Instagram: a post by @mimita_asobi ✨ Thank you for the wonderful post. ↓↓↓ ───────────────── 【Not trash: A Spinny Maze with a Wrap Core】 Today’s post is a “spinny maze”! The child was super focused! But then they said, “Make a harder one next time,” 🫣 I guess it was a bit too easy for a five-year-old! You can make lots of different versions☺️ The child was able to make it themselves too, so everyone, try making it with your kiddo 👍🏻 ̖́- ▷Materials for today 〇 Wrap core (cardboard tube from plastic wrap) 〇 Paper (construction paper or copy paper is fine) 〇 Wrapping film 〇 Double-sided tape 〇 Stickers (or draw directly on the film) 〇 Pens/markers for drawing ───────────────── This is Tomonite @tomonite_official. Even on busy days, we want family time to be full of smiles! We share: 🏠 Time-saving housework and parenting hacks 💎 Convenient items with great time and cost performance 👶 Relatable parenting moments and heartwarming videos ✨ A favor ✨ Likes and comments really encourage us! If you found this post helpful or enjoyed it, we’d be happy if you leave a 👶 in the comments! All posts introduced by Tomonite are shared with permission from the original creators. Comments that may hurt others may be hidden by our team. We’d love for everyone to enjoy comfortable conversations and to connect a lot here ✨#AtHomePlayworkSimple craftMaze
♬ Bling-Bang-Bang-Born – Creepy Nuts
You can make a fun maze with a cardboard wrap core! Here’s a simple way to do it.
First, cut construction paper to the length of the wrap core, and draw a maze on it using any writing tools you like.
Attach double-sided tape to the paper with the maze and wrap it around the core.
Next, cut a piece of wrapping film to about 5 cm and stick your favorite stickers on it—that’s it! Thread it through the wrap core to play the maze game.
If you make the construction paper removable, you can enjoy original mazes over and over again.
It’s also recommended to use stickers of your favorite characters to enjoy a themed world.
Fly! Core Rocket
Here’s how to make an easy “core rocket.” You’ll need a plastic wrap core, a toilet paper core, two rubber bands, and a straw.
First, cut the straw so it’s just a little longer than the opening of the toilet paper core.
Link the two rubber bands by looping them together.
Tape the rubber bands to the straw, then tape the straw onto the plastic wrap core with cellophane tape.
Once it’s set up so the toilet paper core can be launched, you’re done! Decorate the toilet paper core however you like to make your own original rocket.
Have fun and get creative!
You can make it in 10 seconds! Marble run
Want to play something right now? For you, here’s a marble-rolling game you can make in 10 seconds.
All you need is a food tray and a pencil.
A slightly larger tray might work better.
To make it, just poke several holes in the tray with the pencil.
Roll lots of marbles on the tray and fit them into the holes you made—done! You can also write point values next to each hole and turn it into a game to see how many points you can score by placing marbles in them.
It’s quick to make even if you don’t have much time, so give it a try!
You can make it in 10 seconds! Marble run
Want to play something right now? For you, here’s a marble-rolling game you can make in 10 seconds.
All you need is a food tray and a pencil.
A slightly larger tray might work better.
To make it, just poke several holes in the tray with the pencil.
Roll lots of marbles on the tray and fit them into the holes you made—done! You can also write point values next to each hole and turn it into a game to see how many points you can score by placing marbles in them.
It’s quick to make even if you don’t have much time, so give it a try!
Marble maze made from a candy box
Here’s a marble run you can make using an empty candy box! Prepare a box where the lid and the compartment for the candy are separate.
On the side that held the candy, glue cardboard strips along two opposite edges and cut a hole where you can retrieve marbles that fall through.
On the lid, sketch the course, glue cardboard where you want walls, punch a few holes, and mark a start and a goal.
Once it’s ready, stack the two parts with the lid on top, and you’re done.
Depending on how you design the course, you can create marble runs with various levels of difficulty!
Marble maze made from a candy box
Here’s a marble run you can make using an empty candy box! Prepare a box where the lid and the compartment for the candy are separate.
On the side that held the candy, glue cardboard strips along two opposite edges and cut a hole where you can retrieve marbles that fall through.
On the lid, sketch the course, glue cardboard where you want walls, punch a few holes, and mark a start and a goal.
Once it’s ready, stack the two parts with the lid on top, and you’re done.
Depending on how you design the course, you can create marble runs with various levels of difficulty!
Marble run made from cardboard
Let’s try making a cool marble run using cardboard.
Prepare a rectangular piece of cardboard that isn’t too thick, and cut off one section on the large face and one section on the narrowest side.
Then, using the pieces you removed and other bits of cardboard, build the pathways for the marble to roll along and attach them to the base cardboard.
Instead of connecting every path all the way through, it’s also fun to leave gaps here and there so the marble drops down to the next level and continues.
Be sure to set up the goal area so the marble stops securely and doesn’t roll out after reaching the finish.