I’m a bit of a crafty parent and if you are too (or your kiddies are!) these are some interesting Japan-related crafting ideas because I think it really adds to the anticipation of a trip to Japan (and I also love doing a craft right after we have been somewhere too.)
So here are some suggestions for before, after or during your time in Japan.
Shinkansen
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you will know how much I love making things out of cardboard and this cardboard Shinkansen (bullet train) was no exception. This is cute thing to do before coming to Japan to help kids get even more excited.
Or how about making a little ‘map’ of Tokyo and use toy bullet trains and Japanese model cars and buses to get around?
The toy bullet train in this picture is included as part of my Tokyo gift suggestions for kids. Post is here.
Koinobori
If you’ve been here for the Children’s Festival / Koinobori season .. its really fun to make your own with empty toilet rolls (even if my little guy kept saying these look like minions and now I can’t unsee it.)
Cut & Paste
Even if you’re not a huge scrapbooker (I’m not except for my kids’ baby books – I love doing that) I do find it fun do to a little cut and paste after a holiday – even if I just take a photo of it as a flat-lay and then never do anything with it again. Most of these pictures are just cut out of those free touristy magazines that you get at the airports and train stations.
Pocky Cake
And making a Pocky Cake is really fun. Pocky can be found in all supermarkets and convenience stores. Costs less than 200 yen.
And…guess what? behind this Pocky wall? Is a store-bought muffin with icing all the way around. It was really easy.
And another time we just rolled Pocky in a thin layer of white icing sugar mixed with a tiny bit of boiling water and decorated them with sprinkles.
And if you wanted to do some Japanese vocal practice, this is game was fun. One night when we were having a lazy dinner and were just eating what wa in the fridge for dinner – we played restaurants and I drew pictures of the options and wrote the Japanese word underneath. They had to say the word to the waitress (me!) and circle the item .They could choose a certain number of items each. They loved it.
Or for a simpler and more hands of version of this, I recommend practicing these words here and using them at the Farmer’s Market in Omotesando on a weekend (more market details here)
Autumn Leaf Pictures
Something I love to do in Autumn in Japan is collect the leaves from the park and make crafty activities of them once we get home. My children get more and more excited about this every year. (More of my autumn suggestions are here.)
PLEASE NOTE: THE PLAYGROUND AT THE TOP OF THE PARK ( UP THE HILL) IS CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION UNTIL MARCH 15, 2019.
IF YOU’VE GONE THERE AND ONLY JUST ENCOUNTERED THIS ” ISSUE” , YOUR OTHER OPTIONS ARE: THE SMALL PLAYGROUND NEXT TO THE TOKYO LAWN TENNIS CLUB OR THE JIDOUKAN/ IKI IKI PLAZA (COMMUNITY CENTRE) FOR INDOOR PLAY.
Cherry Blossom Bath
And if you are lucky enough to catch Sakura (cherry blossom) season in Spring – I love making anything with the fallen petals.
Then I suggest you get creative with your bath tub (or even a few buckets of water over the sink) – add some bubble bath, go to the 100 yen shop for lots of cheap bath toys, put a few drops of food colouring in the bath…. grab a few petals and make a petal bath for a barbie or a ninja turtle.
I mixed in some wilting other pink flowers too here.
Recreating the Disney Teacups ride
My kids love this game using an IKEA Lazy Susan. The toys all then wait their turn to ride.
See here for my Tokyo Disneyland with Kids tips.
Or even just a drawing of the Disney Character they would like to meet at Disneyland
I love this picture of Mickey, drawn by my 5 year old.
Yayoi Kusama Inspired Pumpkin Craft
And for another idea? How about a Yayoi Kusama inspired pumpkin craft?
All the details in this guest post by Little Artists League in Tokyo here.
Playing kaitenzushi/ sushi train restaurants
After visiting sushi train restaurants several times, my kids loved making their own little conveyor belt restaurant. We used the convenience store play food (from my gift suggestions for kids post here.)
