[Childcare] Winter Projects You’ll Want to Try! Recommended Craft Ideas
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.
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[Childcare] Winter Projects You’ll Want to Try! Recommended Craft Ideas (11–20)
Handmade karuta
We’d like to introduce a handmade karuta set that’s perfect for New Year craft play! Children can learn hiragana and other characters, and by drawing pictures that match the chosen character, they can also develop their thinking and imagination.
You can let the kids pick their favorite characters, too.
The method is very simple: prepare colored construction paper with the characters, then cut out and paste on the pictures the children have drawn.
You can also come up with the reading cards’ sentences together with the kids to make this karuta game even more enjoyable.
Warm Futon Production
When cold days continue, we start longing for a warm futon, don’t we? Here’s a very fun craft activity you can make while having the children think about the futon they sleep in every day.
Leave a margin along the edge of a sheet of construction paper, make vertical slits, and then interweave another sheet of construction paper.
Have the children draw a self-portrait and paste it on top of the futon.
You could also ask whether it’s nap time or nighttime and change the background paper color accordingly.
Once they’re finished, having everyone present what kind of futon they made is sure to get the group excited!
Christmas tree-shaped box
How about a Christmas tree–shaped gift box that’s fun to decorate? First, cut a milk carton a little below the halfway point and open up the top part.
Cut it into a jagged, tree-like shape and trace that onto green construction paper.
Glue the pieces together to form the tree.
Next, cover the lower part of the carton with light green construction paper.
Then have fun decorating the tree—glue on sequins or pipe cleaners, or draw with crayons.
Glue the box portion and the tree together to finish.
You can put small gifts or trinkets inside and enjoy it for a long time!
Mr. Panda’s Warm Sweater
Winter is the season when the cold becomes harsh, and we find more opportunities to dress warmly to stay healthy.
Here’s a panda mascot that looks like it’s wearing a sweater, evoking that cozy winter style.
You can make it just by combining a paper cup, yarn, and construction paper, so it might be fun for everyone to try making their own.
Wrap the yarn around the paper cup so there are no gaps, then attach the face and the hand-and-foot parts to finish.
You can also add originality through the face design.
Making a kite with a plastic bag
When it comes to New Year’s activities, kites immediately come to mind.
In recent years, I think more people have been buying ready-made ones, but making your own is one of the real pleasures of kite flying.
That’s why I’d like to introduce kite-making with plastic bags.
All you need are a typical plastic bag and some string, so it’s inexpensive and easy to try.
It’s also fun to get plain plastic bags and decorate them.
By all means, try making a kite with your own original style.
Plastic bottle snowman
Winter is the season when it sometimes snows, and many people think of snowmen as a snow-related motif.
This project shows how to make a must-have winter snowman using a plastic bottle.
Since the plastic bottle is used as-is without any cutting, choose a rounder bottle so it looks more like a snowman.
Stuff it with cotton, close the cap to serve as a hat, create the face and buttons using stickers and other materials, and finally attach a felt scarf to finish.
The process is simple, but the choice of colors lets you add your own originality, which is a nice touch.
[Childcare] Great winter projects! Recommended craft ideas (21–30)
Moving! Paper Cup Snowman
When January comes, there will surely be regions where snow piles up.
One of the seasonal symbols of snowy weather is the snowman.
So let’s make a snowman craft using a paper cup.
Draw the snowman’s face on the paper cup.
Then make a hole in the cup, insert a straw, and attach a mitten made from construction paper to the end of the straw.
When you move the straw, the hands will flap.
Kids are sure to enjoy a craft with a moving mechanism like this.
