[For Seniors] Handmade calendar for December: motifs that make you feel excited and joyful
When it comes to making December calendars, Christmas motifs are by far the most popular! Decorating with origami Santa Clauses, reindeer, poinsettias, and more gives your creation a wonderfully seasonal feel.
Did you know that Christmas decorations actually have lovely origins and stories behind them? One of the charms of making calendars is being able to share these fun tales with older adults as you work together.
This time, we’re introducing simple handmade calendar ideas that anyone can enjoy.
[For Seniors] Handmade Calendar for December: Motifs That Spark Joy and Excitement (21–30)
sleigh
A sleigh is an essential item for Christmas, isn’t it? Santa rides his sleigh to deliver presents to everyone.
First, choose origami paper that matches the image of a sleigh.
Solid colors are fine, and using patterned origami can be fun too.
Measure the specified lengths, crease the folds, and then start folding.
Fold the runner (foot) parts and the seat part separately.
Finally, assemble each piece together and it’s complete! Add Santa, reindeer, and presents, and it instantly feels like Christmas has arrived.
bell
Let’s make a lovely bell out of a single sheet of origami! You’ll end up with a cute bell that practically sounds like it has a gentle chime.
It’s perfect for brightening up a room as a Christmas decoration or advent calendar.
Origami is said to stimulate and activate the brain by engaging the fingertips and thinking through the next steps.
It’s also easy to do while chatting with others, which helps encourage social interaction.
You can enjoy customizing the finished bell by adding a ribbon or drawing patterns with a pen.
Please feel free to use this activity to help create wonderful moments for older adults.
Christmas bell
One of the major events in December is Christmas.
Aren’t the streets and interiors adorned with luxurious and festive Christmas decorations? Christmas bells are an essential item for holiday decor.
Try making Christmas bells out of origami or construction paper and create a calendar.
If you add items like a Christmas wreath or a Christmas tree to the calendar as well, you’ll have a calendar perfect for December.
Besides a calendar, handmade Christmas bells also look lovely displayed on the wall.
Santa Claus and Presents
The gold coins that Saint Nicholas threw into poor households happened to land in stockings that were drying by the fireplace.
Thanks to those coins, everyone became happy.
From this anecdote came the custom of putting Christmas presents in stockings.
It’s a lovely story, isn’t it? Did you also receive presents in your stockings when you were children? Let’s use Santa and presents as decorations for the calendar.
Presents can be box-shaped, a big sack, or of course the stocking type—anything is OK! It would be great to create a colorful calendar!
Christmas tree made with an eraser stamp
Eraser stamps are a lot of fun, even if you feel a little sorry for the eraser itself.
A similar activity might be the rubber block prints we made in elementary school art class, right? I remember carving the zodiac animals to use on New Year’s cards.
If you’re good with your hands, making a calendar with eraser prints would be great, too.
Try carving Christmas-related motifs like fir trees, stars, presents, and snow.
Your sense of style will show in how you combine them and arrange the colors.
And please be very careful with the carving tools!