[For 4-year-olds] Winter craft ideas to enjoy at daycare and kindergarten
Children who attend kindergarten and nursery school are likely looking forward to celebrating Christmas and winter events together with their friends and teachers.
In the chilly winter, some people may be looking for events that can be enjoyed not only outdoors but also indoors.
In this article, we’ve compiled a collection of recommended winter craft ideas for four-year-olds in childcare settings.
We’re also introducing activities that involve using their hands and thinking about what to make as they work, which can help nurture concentration and thinking skills through play.
Try making these items that are fun to create and fun to play with!
Because the children’s creations are treated as works, we refer to them as “seisaku” (制作, craft/creation) in the text.
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[For 4-Year-Olds] Winter Craft Ideas for Fun at Nursery School and Kindergarten (61–70)
Great for New Year’s cards too! Easy-to-use stamps
This is a New Year’s card featuring Mount Fuji made with construction paper and stamping.
It’s an easy project that kids can enjoy.
First, cut out the base of Mount Fuji from blue construction paper.
Cut it to postcard size, imagining a trapezoid shape.
Once cut, dab white paint onto a sponge dauber and stamp the upper area.
This creates the look of snow-capped Mount Fuji.
After the paint dries, glue it onto the postcard and draw the sun in the blank space to represent the first sunrise of the year.
Finally, write the year in Western numerals, and you’re done!
Let’s make postcards with vegetable stamps!
There are parts of vegetables that we cut off and don’t use in cooking, right? Let’s try turning those usually discarded parts into stamps and make New Year’s cards! You can use any vegetables you like—onions, green peppers, carrots, lotus root, spinach, and so on.
Prepare several vegetable stamps with different shapes.
Once you’ve got your veggies ready, dip them in paint or ink and start stamping.
They might look like flowers or animal faces—your imagination will surely expand.
Try expressing the design side of the postcard with your stamped artwork.
Easy! Torn-paper Christmas tree
https://www.tiktok.com/@hoiku.labo/video/7446285535447944455Let’s create a Christmas tree with torn-paper collage! Prepare a base with the tree trunk already glued on, and have the children tear several sheets of origami paper into small pieces.
If tearing is difficult, you can prepare pre-torn origami paper.
Apply glue in a triangle above the trunk, then attach the torn paper on top to form the tree.
Finish by decorating with round stickers as ornaments.
Mixing patterned origami with solid colors will make it look more festive.
Choose sticker colors that won’t be overpowered by the origami colors.
Pompom Stamping! Christmas Tree
https://www.tiktok.com/@hoiku.labo/video/7445125954743110919Here’s a Christmas tree craft idea where you dab on color with stamps.
Prepare a tree template, stamps, paint, and drawing paper.
First, fix the tree template onto the base sheet and have the children stamp paint onto it.
Green is the main color, but adding a little white can make it look like a snow-covered tree.
Once the stamping is done, remove the template and glue on a trunk made from construction paper to finish.
After the paint dries, decorating with sticker ornaments could be fun, too.
Christmas activities for 0-year-olds
As part of a Christmas-themed activity, why not try making Christmas trees and ornaments? Use a stamp made by covering a lactic acid drink bottle with fabric to print patterns on construction paper, or decorate ornaments with stickers to make them festive.
In the end, you can even decorate a big tree drawn on the wall! Even children who don’t yet understand what Christmas is will surely deepen their understanding while having fun through play.
Prepare ornaments and stickers with different motifs and colors, and let the children choose for themselves.
Let’s make a big Christmas tree!
This is an idea where you put a big Christmas tree made from construction paper on the wall and let the children freely decorate it with ornaments.
Since it’s for infants (0-year-olds), please prepare the ornament bases in advance by cutting them out of construction paper.
Let the children draw on the bases with crayons or stick on stickers to create lovely ornaments.
Once the ornaments are finished, decorate the tree with them! If you prepare bases in a variety of motifs, the tree will look even more festive.
How to make handprint reindeer and Santa
Here are some craft ideas for making Santa Claus and a reindeer using handprints.
For Santa, use a handprint to create his beard, and for the reindeer, use a handprint to form the face.
Since Santa’s beard uses an upside-down handprint, make sure to pay attention to the direction when stamping.
The faces are made with round stickers, so the children can also enjoy sticking the stickers.
Once Santa and the reindeer are finished, glue them onto a base with a construction paper Christmas tree attached.
Be sure to decorate the tree with round stickers as ornaments, too!