[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] Craft Ideas Recommended for Elementary School Students (71–80)
Five-shot rubber band chopstick gun
With five disposable chopsticks and sixteen rubber bands, you can make a five-shot rapid-fire chopstick gun! Cut the chopsticks to the required lengths for the body, trigger, and grip parts, and assemble them into a gun shape while securing them with rubber bands.
If you set five rubber bands with the trigger locked on the finished gun, you’ll have a chopstick gun capable of rapid fire.
It’s exciting to think you can make a rapid-fire chopstick gun so easily! When cutting, the edges tend to become jagged, so be sure to sand them smooth with a file or sandpaper to avoid injury.
basket
Why not try making a basket out of construction paper? First, make a loop from a strip of construction paper.
Then prepare eight strips that are half the length of the paper used for the loop.
Cross two strips to form a plus sign and attach their ends to the outside of the loop.
Cross another two strips and attach them to fill the gaps.
Attach the remaining four strips in the same way, but this time, attach them to the inside of the loop.
Prepare two long strips and weave them through the gaps between the papers attached to the loop, alternating over, under, over.
Finally, add a handle and you’re done!
Automatic-firing chopstick gun
Why not try making a unique chopstick rubber band gun with an automatic launcher? When you turn on the power, the screw part rotates, causing the hooked rubber band to move upward and eventually slip off and fire—it’s a simple mechanism.
Kids who are interested in how batteries and motors work, or who are good at assembling plastic models, will likely be eager to take on building a chopstick rubber band gun with this kind of mechanism.
If they first understand the simple construction and how the rubber band is launched, they’ll probably enjoy each step of the process even more.
Aquabeads
Aquabeads are easy and fun: just place the small beads on a tray and stick them together with water.
Kids can focus on their own, creating all kinds of shapes and colors at their own pace.
Using their fingertips improves fine motor skills, and thinking about what design to make really expands their imagination.
Plus, there’s no glue or ironing, so cleanup is quick and easy! It’s also great because kids can feel a sense of accomplishment by completing projects on their own.
Once they get used to it, they can even make 3D creations—give it a try!
My First Fake Sweets
Let me introduce some super cute-looking fake sweets.
These days, you can find all kinds of candy-themed items at 100-yen shops, so it’s easy to enjoy.
How about decorating your favorite shaped motifs with whipped cream for sweets deco and adding dragees? You don’t even have to make the motifs yourself to have fun, so it’s perfect for your first fake-sweets project! Thinking about colors and shapes and handling tiny parts helps develop fine motor skills and boosts concentration.
You’ll nurture many abilities while having fun making them, so give it a try!
A kalimba that makes a hopping sound
A kalimba is a traditional African instrument consisting of a wooden box fitted with thin metal or bamboo tines.
This time, let’s make a kalimba using an empty candy box and plastic spoons! The method is simple: just use rubber bands to fasten the spoons to the empty box.
To improve stability, you’ll need to create grooves to hold some chopsticks, but don’t worry—the process is as easy as making small cuts with scissors.
Place your handmade kalimba on a desk, hold the body down with your hand, and pluck the spoons to produce interesting sounds.
Try experimenting with how the way you secure the spoons changes the pitch.
Easy acrylic keychain made with labels
Introducing an easy acrylic keychain you can make with labels—perfect for creating your own original designs.
Peel off a plastic bottle label, place it design-side up, and stick it onto a milk carton.
Put it in a square tray and pour hot water over it.
Then, sandwich the design between pieces of a card case cut slightly larger than the design, and trim around the edges.
Attach a keychain ring and you’re done.
Give this simple, custom acrylic keychain a try—the steps are easy and beginner-friendly.
Shrinky dink crafts with everyday materials
Everyday items can actually be used as materials for shrink plastic crafts.
There are many types of plastic, and not all of them will work.
Polystyrene is fine.
Check the symbol on the container carefully when choosing.
Once you find something usable, draw on it just like you would with regular shrink plastic.
Polystyrene cups shrink and crumple into a rounded shape as they bake, which is fun to watch.
Be careful, though—aluminum foil can sometimes stick! You can turn them into coasters or make a toy wristwatch.
Before you throw containers away, be sure to check them and give this a try!
Remaking a 100-yen shop clock
@broccoli_family Remake a 100-yen shop clock! Clip clock 👍✨Summer Vacation Craft#Summer Vacation Workshop#100-yen shop DIY#100-yen shop arrangement
Original Song – Nanmo-kun – Broccoli Family
The part you can see from the back of a table clock or wall clock—the section with the battery compartment and the knob for setting the time—is called the movement.
You could say it’s the heart of the clock.
In fact, clock movements are sold on their own at 100-yen shops and home improvement stores, and you can use them to make your own original clock! If you’re good at woodworking, try starting from scratch by buying a wooden board and cutting a groove to fit the movement.
If that’s not your strong suit, there are also assembly kits with pre-cut grooves available, so you can use those instead.
Cake-shaped accessory case
https://www.tiktok.com/@hoikushisatomi/video/7497881404731182357Here’s an idea for a cake-themed trinket holder made with paper cups.
First, take one paper cup and cut straight from the rim down to the base, then cut out the base as well.
Use this as the template base, and decorate it by attaching felt or construction paper to make it look like a cake.
Once you’ve finished decorating the base, attach it to another paper cup, and you’re done.
It’s easy and cute, and you can customize the decoration however you like—highly recommended! With a bit more effort, you can even add a lid to the trinket holder, so give that a try if you have the time.