[For 4-year-olds] Crafts to make with preschoolers in July and August: Creative activities that let kids feel the summer

Playing aquarium

[Ages 0–2] “Let’s Play Aquarium”

Here’s a fun pretend-aquarium activity that lets you feel cool during the hot and humid days of July.

Use blue plastic bags as a stand-in for the ocean and make your fish swim through it.

Create your favorite sea creatures—like whales, fish, starfish, and jellyfish—and you’ll encounter all kinds of ocean life.

If you also hang plastic bags from the ceiling and stick the sea creatures on them, the whole space will feel like an aquarium.

The best part is that people of any age can enjoy it!

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mayumi

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ice cream

[For 4-year-olds] Seasonal Origami: Ice Cream

I’ll show you how to fold a cold and tasty ice cream.

Prepare one sheet of origami paper and fold it into a triangle.

Open it once, then fold the corners in so they meet the center line.

Fold the bottom corner up to overlap the top corner, then flip it over.

Fold about one quarter of the larger triangle to separate the ice cream from the cone.

Finally, flip it over and fold the tips slightly to refine the shape—your ice cream is complete! It’s also fun to use colored pens to color the flavor you like and add toppings.

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mayumi

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Summer-themed origami

How about trying origami as a July craft project? There are plenty of ideas you can also use for summer wall decorations, like popsicles, juice, and straw hats.

It’s a perfect activity for three-year-olds whose fine motor skills are developing.

First, help them find an idea they want to make.

For parts the child finds difficult, an adult can lend a hand.

Encourage them to start with what they can do, build up small successes, and boost their motivation!

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sasashina

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[Ages 3 and up] Rainbow Craft

[Kindergarten/Preschool] Nijiiro Craft: How to Make a Stained-Glass-Style Rainbow That Lets Sunlight Shine Through!

Here’s a craft idea inspired by rainbows, featuring the beautiful light reflected through colored cellophane.

Stick small pieces of colored cellophane onto a rainbow-shaped template to enjoy a stained-glass effect.

Handling the colorful cellophane also helps children develop their sense of color.

For a more satisfying result, it’s recommended that adults prepare the rainbow template in advance.

That way, children can simply enjoy exploring colors.

Take the finished piece outside and let it catch the sunlight to appreciate its beauty even more.

Give it a try!

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Yoimachi Jēn

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silky beach

[Kindergarten/Daycare] August: My Smooth Sandy Beach – Drawing/Craft

Summer-themed art projects and activities not only let children enjoy the season, they also nurture their imagination! Let’s try expressing a beach atmosphere through art to boost those summer vibes.

Kids can color freely on construction paper shaped like a beach umbrella, or tear tissue paper to resemble beach sand and glue it onto paper.

With their free ideas, what kind of beach will they create? Both children and teachers will be excited to find out.

It would also be lovely to display the children’s drawings or photos under the umbrella!

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miyabi

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Four Picks for Uchiwa (Hand Fan) Making

Uchiwa fans are a classic item for beating the summer heat.

They’re also used in recreational activities, so they’re probably familiar to children, too.

Here are four summer-themed uchiwa craft ideas! First, a yo-yo design that lets you enjoy wax-resist painting; second, goldfish made with handprints; third, morning glories created with wet-on-wet bleeding effects; and fourth, a watermelon motif you can make with fun stamping.

All of these ideas are great for four-year-olds, so have fun crafting and make a wonderful uchiwa!

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sasashina

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Morning glories with coffee filters

Here’s an idea for making morning glories—a summer flower—using coffee filters! First, flatten the opening of a coffee filter into a rounded shape to form the morning glory.

Then, soak it with watercolor paint diluted in water to add color, but leave the center unpainted so it stays white.

Make the leaves from coffee filters as well and color them with paint.

Attach the leaves to the morning glory, hang a small strip made from origami paper and white drawing paper, and you’re done.

It would also look nice mounted on a backing sheet for display.

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sasashina

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