[For Senior Care Facilities] Easy! September Craft Ideas to Feel the Autumn Season
When it comes to September events and observances, the Mid-Autumn Moon, Respect-for-the-Aged Day, and the autumn equinoctial week come to mind.
These are long-standing traditions in Japan, so they should be familiar to many older adults.
In this context, we’re introducing simple craft activities suitable for senior facilities such as day service centers.
We’ve gathered many projects perfect for September, featuring motifs like moon-viewing rabbits and themes of longevity and health.
They’re fun to make, attractive to display, and likely to give a sense of accomplishment! Although summer is ending and autumn is approaching, some regions still experience hot days.
Craft activities are great because they can be done indoors and are accessible even for those who find physical movement challenging.
Please give them a try!
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- Wall decoration ideas for seniors recommended for September
[For Senior Care Facilities] Easy! September Craft Ideas to Feel the Autumn (91–100)
mochi-pounding rabbit
On the beautiful full moon night, there just might be a rabbit pounding mochi.
Let’s make a cute rabbit decoration inspired by that dreamy, delightful story.
You can craft the rabbit and the mortar and pestle used for mochi pounding out of origami, or, if you prefer, cut each shape from construction paper—both are great options.
Once you’ve made the shapes, assemble them and finish the piece by sticking them on a wall or mounting them on a large sheet of paper.
You could even make lots of rabbits to create a lively scene of mochi pounding on the moon.
Moon viewing and pampas grass
This is a moon-viewing craft made with origami and tissues.
You’ll make six items: pampas grass, rice dumplings, a sanpō (offering stand), a rabbit, the moon, and clouds.
For the pampas grass, soften an edge of an origami sheet by rolling it, snip fine cuts along that edge, and wrap it around a bamboo skewer.
The rice dumplings are simply made by rolling tissues into balls.
Templates for the sanpō, rabbit, moon, and clouds are available for download—place them on origami paper, draw guide lines, and cut them out with scissors.
Arrange and paste each piece on the wall to complete your autumn wall decoration.
Let’s all enjoy the autumn scenery together.
3D origami cosmos flower
Cosmos, a flower that represents autumn, is simple and cute when you look at each blossom individually.
But a field covered in blooming cosmos is truly overwhelming and spectacular, isn’t it? How about recreating that cosmos field by scattering three-dimensional cosmos flowers all over a wall? You can make the cosmos flowers by cutting folded origami paper; by leaving the base intact and cutting away part of it, you create a gluing tab, resulting in flowers with a three-dimensional look.
For the leaves and stems, use the technique of detailed paper-cutting with fine-tipped scissors, and be careful not to overcut.
Lampshade made of paper
Why not try making a lampshade inspired by seasonal flowers? A lampshade is a shade that covers a lamp or bulb, and the materials and designs you use can create many different kinds of light.
This time, let’s make one using shoji paper and washi.
Tear the shoji paper and washi, or fold them into flower shapes and cut them out in advance.
Dilute craft glue with water and brush it onto an inflated balloon.
The key is to apply the glue over an area that matches the size of the shoji paper you’ll attach.
Once you’ve covered the entire surface with shoji paper, add the flower pieces made from washi.
Finally, coat the entire surface with the diluted glue, let it dry, and then pop the balloon.
You’ll have a beautiful spherical lampshade.
It’s also nice to place a dollar-store LED light inside for display.
Seniors are likely to be very pleased with such a lovely creation.
Cosmos in 2 Minutes! Easy Version
Here’s a very easy way to make cosmos flowers using scrap materials.
Fold origami paper three times, then use pinking shears to make cuts on one side.
Snip between the petals with scissors, apply double-sided tape to the bottom, and roll a plastic bottle cap onto it to secure.
Stuff the inside of the bottle cap with crumpled yellow tissue paper, curl the petals, and you’re done.
If you’ve got lots of spare plastic bottle caps, why not take this opportunity to put them to use?
Cosmos Plate Artwork Made with Tissue-Paper Collage
How about making cosmos flowers out of tissue paper and decorating a paper plate to create a cosmos picture plate? Fold the tissue paper into thirds, then fold a corner into a triangle to make a square.
Fold that up and cut out petal shapes—this lets you make three cosmos flowers at once.
Use your preferred colors of tissue paper, such as red, pink, or white.
Brush a layer of glue thinned with water onto the paper plate, then arrange the cosmos on top.
Brush more glue over the flowers to set them in place.
If you also decorate the rim of the paper plate with tissue paper in colors you like, let it dry thoroughly and you’re done.
Knit Ball Moon-Viewing Dango
Cute, round tsukimi dango you can make with crochet.
Some seniors may enjoy sewing and needlework, so how about working on a little each day starting a bit before the moon-viewing festival? You can get all the yarn and tools at a 100-yen shop, so it won’t cost much.
Even if you’re new to crochet, feel free to give it a try.
Since these are made with yarn, once you make them you can reuse them every year—that’s a nice bonus.
You can also make a sanpō (offering tray) to go with them and enjoy a lovely autumn display.