This years Japanese Culture Week’s presentations prepared by our classroom mother’s were a whole lot of fun. We were not only sharing experiences with other, but also building community amongst both students and adults. We really lived out this years school’s theme of: Communication & Collaboration.
We also came together as a class to farewell our classmate Trin, who will be returning to his home country.
We were involved in presentations for:
*Koma (spinning tops)
*Daruma san ga Koronda (traditional Japanese game)
*Kami sumo
*Kamishibai-(Japanese storytelling)-“Eto” Japanese zodiac sign
KOMA-Spinning tops
DARUMA SAN GA KORNDA (traditional Japanese game)
We listened to instructions on how to play the game, “Daruma san ga Koronda.”
Enoal, Tomonori & Serina’s mum gave us a demonstration.
Then we had a try for ourselves!
It took us a few times to fully understand the rules of the game and even more time to follow the rules, but we all managed to have a turn and enjoyed playing the game with our classmates.
Kami sumo (paper sumo game)
Kami sumo was a fun for the children to make and play together. Enoal’s mum gave a presentation beforehand of the game and explained how the children could make their own sumo.
Then the children were given a demonstration by our class mum’s.
Then we had a go!
After a fun game of sumo the children loved tasting a small piece of mochi (compressed rice) with a tash of soy sauce prepared by our class mum’s.
Kamishibai-(Japanese storytelling)-“Eto” Japanese zodiac sign
The children listened to a traditional form of storytelling called, Kamishibai read to them by Serina’s mum. The story was taken from the folktale of the Chinese zodiac.
After the story each child was given the Japanese character for the animal/year they were born under in the zodiac. They were given colourful washi tape to decorate the edge of their card.
Overall, I would say that the children’s week has been so culturally enriched with a variety Japanese activities. This was only possible due to the thought, care and preparation time given by our classroom mum’s. A big thank you to Serina’s, Enoal’s & Tomonori’s mum for presenting and deliverying such a interesting and fun time for the children. A thank you also to Isato’s mum for prior planning of the activity days/times with our class.