Lovely childcare

[Childcare] Winter Projects You’ll Want to Try! Recommended Craft Ideas

20 years of experience as a nursery teacher / kindergarten teacherhiyoko sensei
I’m Hiyoko-sensei, a former nursery school teacher from Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since I was five, my dream was to become a childcare worker, and before I knew it, 20 years had passed since I achieved that dream. Through singing and playing with the children, I kept working with the spirit of someone in their twenties, even as I increasingly felt my physical limits year by year (haha). From here on, I’d like to share helpful information carefully and thoughtfully, drawing on my on-site experience.
Nursery Teacher Mom Writertsukada moe
After working for five years at an after-school childcare club and three years at a nursery school, I began working as a freelance writer. I’m a mother of two children. Inspired by playing the flute in the school wind ensemble in elementary school, I joined a jazz club at university. I’ve also incorporated ukulele and piano performance into childcare. Playing, laughing, feeling sad, feeling frustrated—through all kinds of experiences, I want children to grow.

Winter is packed with events like Christmas and New Year’s.

With one fun event after another, children are surely full of excitement.

Plus, winter-specific activities and warm, cozy motifs add color to everyday life.

In this article, we’ll introduce craft ideas to enjoy during the winter season.

If your ideas have been getting repetitive or you’re looking for a hint, please use this as a reference.

Since the things children make are treated as works, we use the term “seisaku” (production) in the text.

[Childcare] Recommended craft ideas to try in winter (141–150)

How to make easy oden

[Made in February] Oden

How to make easy oden

Recommended for those who want to make an oden pot packed with lots of ingredients! Prepare as many sheets of origami as you can in colors that match typical oden ingredients.

For example, for daikon radish, take a beige sheet of origami, cut it into a half-sized rectangle, fold it in half, fold the corners, and draw lines with a crayon to finish.

For konnyaku, simply fold a small piece of origami into a triangle and add a pattern.

For kombu, fold a black sheet of origami three times to make a small rectangle, then stick a thin strip of yellow origami down the center.

Finally, glue all the pieces you made onto a sheet of construction paper cut into a pot shape, and your oden pot is complete.

Try making and adding any other favorite ingredients with your own creative twists!

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How to fold a cute Tomte

[Origami] How to fold a cute Christmas ornament (Tomte) – easy method, kid-friendly instructions – December origami [Origami]

How to fold a cute Tomte

Also popular as Christmas decorations! The Nordic gnome “Tomte.” Let’s make the hat with 15 cm origami paper, and the face and body with 7.5 cm origami paper.

First, fold the hat paper into a triangle to make a crease.

Next, fold the bottom corner up so it aligns slightly below the crease.

Fold it up again along the center crease to form a triangle, then turn it over and fold the left and right corners up to meet the top corner.

Fold the lower left and right edges inward so they meet at the center, and the hat is done.

Next, fold the face paper into a triangle to make a crease, then fold the two top edges down to meet the crease.

Open up the overlapped center and squash it to form the nose.

Fold the tip of the nose slightly to round it, then turn the paper over and fold the corner above the nose slightly inward to make a crease.

Insert the part under the hat, aligning the crease with the bottom edge of the hat, and fold both sides of the face to match the sides of the hat.

The white part left showing is the beard.

Fold the left, right, and bottom corners of the body paper inward, then attach it to the face to finish.

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Colon and a cute reindeer

[One Sheet of Origami] Christmas Cute Round Reindeer Folding Method (Relaxed/Slow Tutorial)

Colon and a cute reindeer

Watch “Colon and a cute reindeer” on YouTube

Turn the origami paper to the back and crease it in half.

Fold the bottom edge up to meet the crease.

Shift the crease by folding the edge to align with the fold line.

Fold the left and right sides to meet the center line.

Fold the white section down to the edge.

After folding up both bottom corners of the white section, pull them upward.

Next, squash-fold so that the creases land on the corners.

Fold the edges with the image of reindeer antlers in mind.

Finally, fold the left and right sides diagonally so they cross slightly at the center, letting the “horns” peek out a bit, to form the body—and you’re done! Use round stickers or a pen to draw a cute face.

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Made with sponge stamps! Fun oden

[Crafts for ages 0–5] Winter foods with sponge stamps 🥢 #childcarecrafts #nursery #kindergarten #kodomoen #nurseryteacher #kindergartenteacher #childcareideas #easycrafts #crafts #stamps #walldisplay #infantcrafts #constructionpaper

Made with sponge stamps! Fun oden

Using sponge stamps, we’ll create patterns for oden ingredients.

For example, for konnyaku, if you press a coarse-textured sponge or a sponge with raised bumps onto a triangle-cut piece of gray construction paper like a stamp, you can make the konnyaku’s speckled texture.

In the same way, using a sponge with carved grooves will make the daikon’s striations, and a sponge with fine cuts can create the wavy, mottled pattern of fish cakes.

Once your oden ingredients are ready, paste them onto construction paper cut into the shape of a pot to complete your oden hot pot!

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For winter childcare! Origami oden

Perfect for winter preschool crafts! We tried making oden with origami ♪ #shorts

For winter childcare! Origami oden

Let’s make oden out of origami, with three items—konnyaku, daikon, and chikuwa—skewered on a stick.

First, fold a gray sheet of origami paper twice to make a small triangle, draw a pattern, and you’ll have the konnyaku.

Next, fold a yellow sheet using the “cushion fold,” then fold all four corners inward to round it out; draw a cross-shaped slit to finish the daikon.

For the chikuwa, draw a pattern on brown origami paper and roll it into a tube shape.

Finally, fold another sheet into a long, thin skewer and attach the three pieces you made.

Your oden is complete!

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