[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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[For Elderly Care Facilities] Easy! September Craft Ideas That Feel Like Autumn (41–50)
Rabbit making mochi
As in the children’s song “Usagi,” which celebrates the night of the mid-autumn full moon in September, moon viewing is often associated with rabbits.
Indeed, the patterns on the full moon’s surface look like a rabbit pounding rice cakes.
Let’s try making a September calendar featuring an origami design of a rabbit pounding mochi.
Even older adults are likely to smile as they create these cute rabbit origami pieces.
You might also enjoy lively conversations about moon viewing while you work.
It’s also recommended to craft the full moon, pampas grass, and more with origami and paste them onto the calendar.
For Senior Facilities: Simple September Craft Ideas That Feel Like Autumn (51–60)
Bagworm Origami
Let us introduce an autumn-themed “bagworm origami.” Use brown, orange, and yellow origami paper to make three parts and assemble them.
Patterned paper also creates a unique and cute finish.
The fine folds help promote finger dexterity and concentration.
Stick round stickers on at the end to make eyes, and you’ll have a bagworm with a rich expression.
Display several in a row to add a warm autumn accent to a calendar.
It’s a craft that lets you feel the season indoors.
Gentian
Gentians are one of the representative flowers of autumn.
The deep blue blossoms are well-known, but there are also pink and white varieties, as well as ones with white and blue along the petal edges.
Please try folding and decorating your calendar with origami gentians.
Since gentian flowers bloom in clusters along the stem, make plenty of them with origami and decorate generously.
If any steps are complicated, have people around you lend a hand.
Older adults who enjoy origami will likely have fun making these.
You’ll end up with a lovely calendar that looks as if the gentians are in full bloom.
Origami calendar for the night of the full harvest moon
Speaking of September, there’s the night of the full harvest moon, also known as the Mid-Autumn Moon.
Let’s make an origami piece inspired by the Fifteenth Night and turn it into a calendar.
Rabbits, pampas grass, and rice dumplings all come to mind for the Fifteenth Night.
And since it’s also called the “Potato Moon,” how about folding some taro as well? As they fold the origami, some older adults may recall memories of moon-viewing with their families.
It might spark lively conversations.
With summer ending, creating this calendar can help us feel the arrival of autumn.
Handwritten Halloween
We’d like to introduce an idea called “Handwritten Halloween,” where you create your own calendar by freely drawing frames, dates, and illustrations on construction paper.
By colorfully depicting autumn-themed motifs like jack-o’-lanterns and witch hats, you can produce a piece with a warm, inviting feel.
Careful tasks—such as spacing between the frame and dates or aligning vertical and horizontal rows—also help support finger dexterity, cognitive function, and concentration.
It’s an easy, enjoyable activity for older adults as well; feel the autumn season and make your calendar with care.
Grapes made with an origami heart
We’d like to introduce a calendar made with heart-shaped grape origami.
Autumn brings many harvests and everything tastes especially delicious, doesn’t it? It’s said that the peak shipping season for grapes generally starts around September.
A grape-themed calendar, one of the flavors of autumn, would help older adults feel the seasonal atmosphere.
Since the grapes are made from origami folded into heart shapes, some seniors might enjoy the cute style.
When making the grape vines, try wrapping vine-colored origami around a toothpick.
Add leaves and attach them to the grapes to create a piece that looks like real grapes.
chestnut
Autumn is the season when chestnuts are at their best.
You might even come across large chestnuts still wrapped in their spiky burrs.
Some older adults may have fond memories of collecting chestnuts in the fall.
So, let’s try making a calendar decorated with origami chestnuts.
With a simple folding method that only takes a few steps, you can easily create a chestnut.
Once you’ve folded it, draw a cheerful face—like a big smile or a laughing expression—on the origami chestnut.
It will look even cuter, and you’ll have a charming calendar all finished.