[For 3-year-olds] Winter craft activities and bulletin board decoration ideas for use in childcare
In winter, there are many ways to have fun with children—big events like Christmas, New Year’s, and Setsubun, as well as chances to experience the changing climate and nature through snow and ice.
Many teachers may be thinking about incorporating that wintry feeling into their art and craft activities as well.
So this time, we’re introducing craft ideas to make in winter with three-year-olds.
We’ve gathered a wide range of ideas, from those related to winter events to themes unique to the season—like snowmen and mittens.
We’ve selected activities that will spark children’s interest and curiosity, so please try using them in your childcare setting.
Because the children’s creations are treated as works, we use the term “制作” (seisaku, ‘creation/work’) in the text.
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[For 3-year-olds] Ideas for Winter Crafts and Wall Decorations Useful in Childcare (11–20)
Valentine’s chocolates made with sponge stamps
Valentine’s crafts using sponge stamps turn out super cute, so I highly recommend them.
First, take a light pink sheet of construction paper and stamp colors like red, deep pink, and pale yellow using a sponge stamp.
When making your sponge stamp, try to shape it so the stamp prints as a circle.
Once you’ve filled the paper with stamps, cut it out into a heart shape with scissors.
Then glue the heart onto another sheet of paper, draw a motif like a bear, and you’re done! It would make a lovely gift for parents or guardians.
Kite made from a plastic grocery bag
A fun New Year’s activity we recommend is making a kite out of a plastic shopping bag.
Prepare a shopping bag from the supermarket and have your child draw their favorite picture on it.
Make sure they draw with the bag oriented so that the handles are at the bottom.
Once the drawing is done, attach kite string to both handles, then wind the string around a piece of construction paper or thick cardstock that will serve as the handle for pulling the kite.
Cut a small notch in the handle so you can hook the string into it.
Your plastic-bag kite is complete! Even in the chilly New Year season, head outside and have lots of fun playing with this kite.
The Handprint Demon and the Ehomaki
Let’s make a craft by turning children’s adorable handprints into ogres (oni).
When taking the handprint, use four fingers except the middle finger: paint the index and ring fingers yellow, and the remaining fingers in oni-like red or blue.
Applying paint directly to the hand with a brush helps you get a clean handprint.
Once the paint dries, treat the yellow parts as the oni’s horns and attach the facial features.
Then, make an ehomaki roll with construction paper and crumpled tissue paper, and you’ll have a unique Setsubun-themed craft! Using handprints makes it a special keepsake of this moment, which is another charming point.
Three-dimensional Christmas tree
@buchiko_hoiku 🐶 @buchiko_hoiku ◂◂◂◂ Check out my other posts, too 🌼 This time, it’s a tree that even infants can make easily 🎄 Crumple up tissue paper to enjoy the texture, peel stickers using little fingers, and decorate as you go—so you can make a cute tree easily while having fun 😆💕 Tips: To keep the cone base from losing its shape, gently dab the pieces on when sticking. As you add tissue paper, it gets bulkier, so make the cone base a bit slimmer to avoid a chubby tree 🙆🏻♀️ Also!! This craft is available as a kit for purchase 🌟 Craft kits saved me back when I was working on the front lines, so now I want to help teachers who are struggling! I make each one with that in mind ✂️ Links to Mercari and BASE are in my profile! I’m selling other crafts, too, so I’d love for you to take a peek 👀 A follow would make me even happier 🥴💕 lol Please try making it yourself 🌈 I’d love to hear your “I made it!” reports—they keep me going 🥹❤️🔥 Thank you so much for reading to the end 🐶 I share ideas you can easily copy—from intro to crafting ♬︎ Likes ♥, saves 𖤘, and follows 𖤐 would make me cry with joy 😂 lol Comments are super welcome 🤍🤍Nursery teacher / Childcare workerKindergarten TeacherWinter Craft#Wall CreationInfant CraftPlay that expands from picture booksChristmas crafts
♬ Christmas – neozilla
When Christmas comes, the glittering Christmas trees around town are so beautiful, aren’t they? To make this tree, first create the base out of construction paper, then crumple tissue paper into balls and stick them onto the tree—this lets you change the tree’s shape and size, which is a fun point.
Wrap yarn around it to look like snow, add Christmas stickers and a star, and it’s done! Crumpling the tissue paper is an activity even small children can enjoy together.
Make your own cute, original tree, decorate your room with it, and have fun with your child!
Bûche de Noël made with paper clay
@suginoko2525 Making Christmas cakes 🍰🎄 Easy enough for preschoolers!Suginoko Kindergarten#Kindergarten#Nursery schoolKindergarten teacherNursery teacher / Childcare workerChildcare student#NurseryTeacherInTrainingCakeTranslationYounger class (kindergarten junior class)Ages 3 and 4#SantaSanta#acorn#Pine cone#ChristmasChristmas presentChristmas songChristmas Eve
Santa Girl feat. nishina – WurtS
When it comes to Christmas, cake is a classic, isn’t it? For this cake, let’s prepare cardboard, paper clay, decorative items like nuts and pom-poms, and some glue.
We’ll make the “cream” by softening the paper clay with a small amount of water.
Once it reaches a creamy texture, put it into a food storage bag with a snipped-off corner, pipe it onto the cardboard, and spread it like frosting.
The softness of the “cream” is the key point.
It also sounds fun to cut the cardboard into square or triangular shapes to make different cakes.
Try imagining the cake you want to eat and create it!
Making a Daruma fukuwarai
Daruma dolls are painted red, a color believed to ward off evil, and they’ve long been cherished as lucky charms.
This daruma fukuwarai is perfect for New Year’s, and it’s also a good idea for teachers to prepare the base and the eye and mouth pieces in advance.
Depending on the children’s ages, having them cut out just the pieces with scissors can be good practice, too.
Because they think about where to place the eyes and mouth before sticking them on, the funny expressions that result are part of fukuwarai’s charm.
It might also be fun to make a large fukuwarai to invite in lots of good fortune.
[Age 3] Winter craft activities and bulletin board decoration ideas you can use in childcare (21–30)
Oni mask made with decalcomania
Using paint decoupage (decalcomania) to make a one-of-a-kind mask gives it a special feel that kids will love.
For this Setsubun mask, drop paint on one side of a folded sheet of construction paper, fold it closed, and press lightly from the top to create a symmetrical pattern.
Then cut it into the shape of an ogre (oni) mask to make the most of the pattern, add eyes and horns, and your original oni mask is complete! If you use yarn for the ogre’s hair, it adds more dimension and makes it look stronger and fiercer.
On cold winter days, try making oni masks indoors with the kids!