もうすぐお正月 Christmas and New Year Party

今日は今年最後のポテトでした。5月から始まりあっという間の年の暮れです。色々な人にめぐり合い色々な考え方に触れました。ポテトでのめぐり合いは私の財産になると思います。今日は日本の伝統的な正月遊びをしました。福笑いとすごろくです。福笑いはいろいろな顔になりすごろくは真剣勝負でした。私が一番負けました。紙芝居はおみそかの話でした。英語の本とダンスはみんなすごく上手に踊れました。これも毎週踊っているからでしょう。みんな様も良い年をお過ごしください。1月は休みです。2月12日からスタートです。

New Year is just around the corner. POTATO members are introduced to some indoor games that Japanese play during the New Year. There is a game similar to snake and ladder but instead of snakes it is elephant and mice. There is another game with has the pictures of a traditional Japanese lady and man. The kids are blindfolded and they are given the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth of the characters and they are supposed to guess where is the parts of the face and place it on the picture. The face will end up distorted and everyone will burst out in laughter and there is a saying that laughter brings blessings. Musical intruments were passed out and the kids sang to Anpanman songs with the instruments. As usual, we have Japanese and English story telling and today a primary 2 Korean girl read the story in English for everyone. Everyone was amazed that she can read a second language so well at such a young age. Next, party time. One of the mothers suggested to have a pot luck party today so today we have many different dishes. Delicious. Korean seaweed roll, authentic Indian food, cakes, Korean glutinous rice, sandwiches, Japanese chirashi sushi, roast pork, Chinese steamed pork and others. I will be going back to Malaysia in January so there will be no gathering for POTATO playgroup in January. We will gather again on Feburary 12th so do come and join us then.

年賀状作り New Year Card

日本の年の初めご挨拶のカードを作りました。墨をすり筆にたっぷり墨を含ませ本来であればあけましておめでとうとか賀正などと書きますがみんなはクリスマスカードのようなものになってしまいました。しかし筆ではがきを書くことは楽しかったようです。墨の香りや私が持って来た年賀状の見本など見て日本の正月を楽しめたと思います。来週は25日で持ち寄りクリスマスパーティと正月の遊びをやります。最後ですので来てください。待ってます。

Japanese have a custom of sending out New Year Card on the 1st of January. The New Year card being sent out is in the form of a post card. For today, we gave each and every one a card and introduced the kids to calligraphy brushes. The kids used calligraphy brushes and crayons to decorate the card. Since Christmas is still in the air, some of the cards became Christmas cards rather than New Year Cards. Next week, we will be having a Pot Luck party. We will also be singing some songs and play some New Year games. Bring a dish and come and join us next week.

クリスマス模様 Christmas is in the air

クリスマスカードを色々な材料で作りました。色紙、鈴、星型に抜いた紙、ピカピカ光るテープ、モール、今回も写真のように個性豊かに仕上がりました。工作もだんだんその子の個性が出てきて面白いです。デンマークの方が紙を編んで作るクリスマスのハートを教えてくれました。私は第一段階の一番やさしいのを習いました。とても指先を使い注意深く作りました。ブログに乗せてありますのでご覧ください。来週は年賀状つくりです。日本の伝統的な便りです。
A new friend from China joined us today with her daughter. Welcome and do continue to join us. Christmas cards and Christmas decorations today. First, the kids are taught how to make a Christmas card　using a green card and decorated with shiny tapes, bells and stickers. After the kids are done with the cards, they played among themselves and we progress on to the next class which is to weave a patterned heart using 2 different color papers. This is taught by mother from Denmark. She can make really complicated patterns but for today, we started off with very simple patterns. As usual, we have story telling and singing and dancing in English. There will be a Japanese class party at room 403 (12 December) from 11 am to 2 pm. All POTATO members are invited. There will also be a party at room 202 on 13 December by the ViVi Day Care. Next week, we will be making New Year Cards. Do come and join us.

厚木北児童館 Christmas Decorations

秋晴れの空の下お散歩がてら厚木北児童館のおひさまタイムに参加しました。0歳児から3歳児までの日本人のグールプの中に入りおままごとをしたり自動車遊びにしたりして過ごししました。思ったよりすんなり中に入る事ができ安心しました。この年齢の子供たちは人種や言葉など関係なく最初はぎこちなく近いより遊び始めました。児童館から帰るのはいやで道路でだだをこねて私たちを困らせましたがおなかがすいていたのでしょうがなくポテトに戻りました。来週はクリスマスの飾りを作ろうと思います。先生は参加者のお母さんです。すごく楽しみにしています。

Mother from Denmark came today and brought with her more Christmas decoration crafts. Using 2 different color papers, you trace the templates of the pictures that you want to make and cut it using a scissors. After that, you weave the 2 pieces of paper together and it is like magic, you get really nice heart shape pictures. There are also some very simple templates that kids can make. We plan to do some of this next week so do come and join us. Nice weather today. We walked to the Kita Kids Community Center and unlike the previous time, there are lots of mothers and kids today. There is a person today from the Atsugi City Parenting Support Center and the teacher sang some songs and read some stories to the kids. No wonder it is so crowded today. We also dropped by the Kita Community Center to inquire about "Ai Ai" playgroup as one of the mother from India is interested to bring her boy there. After lunch, we ate some delicious Denmark Christmas treats that the mother from Denmark brought. Recipes of the treats will be posted later. Try it out if you like.

お姫様 Let's Sing

今週は雨のため出席者が1人しかいませんでした。彼女はいつもお母さんにくっついていてママ大好きなお子様です。しかし今日は私の手をとったり大きな声でお話したりいつもと違う一面を見ました。きっと家では大きな声で話したり、笑ったりしているのでしょう。多くの人の中に出るとそのような面が消えてしまい黙ってしまうでしょう。とてもいい笑顔なのにもったいないなと思いました。また笑顔を見たいです。リズム遊びをしました。子供は乗りが悪く大人の合奏になりました。こんな日もあるでしょう。来週は北児童館へ行きます。10時15分に出発します。来てください。

Cold, rainy and cloudy. Gloomy weather today. Many of the kids have caught a cold and could not come today. Only 1 came. Anyhow, we had a nice time. A mother from Denmark showed us how to make stars which she uses for Christmas decorations. The stars are made using 4 long strips of paper. In Denmark, they usually use white and red which are the colors of the Denmark flag. She said that kids from age 5 could make the stars but try as I could it is impossible with my dexterity level. Castanets, hand bells and tambourines. Using these musical instruments, we sang to some children songs. It is a bit difficult though to form an orchestra with only 1 kid. We will try again next month and hopefully we will have more participants then. For next week, we will be going to Kita Kids Community Center so do join us. We will depart at 10:15 so come before then or meet us there.

どんぐりを食べる Newspaper! Newspaper!

韓国のお母さんがどんぐりのゼリーを作ってきてくれました。テーブルに乗るまで甘いお菓子のようなゼリーを創造していました。どんぐりのゼリーはこんにゃくのようでそれを薄くきり生野菜と韓国風ドレッシングを混ぜた惣菜の一品でした。口当たりもよくどんぐりの粉と作り方を教えてもらいましたが20分間も混ぜなくていけないので辞退しました。作ってくれたのを食べるのが一番いいです。今日の工作は新聞紙で遊ぼうでした。シンデレラ、スーパーマン、大きいな鳥、かわいいウサギなどに変身しました。発想はみんなさん豊かで写真をごらんください。来週はリズム遊びです。
Newspaper! Newspaper! Using newspaper, the kids were taught how to fold a hat. Then using shiny ribbons, papers and stickers, the kids and mother decorated the hat. Next, it is dressing up time. Cinderella, Superman, Rabbit and Bird. It is almost like a Halloween party. The mothers were very innovative and made costumes for the kids per the kids request. Next, paper gun. Using newspaper, we folded a paper gun. Well it does not look anything like a gun, or rather it looked like a simple triangle but when you quickly flip it down, BANG! explodes the paper gun. That too was a hit amongst the kids.

Day of the Bird. There is such a day in the Japanese calendar. On that day, there is a custom to decorate a rake like ornament which has some grains of rice and a face on it. This ornament is called "Kumade" which means 'Bears Hand'. Rice represents money in the olden times and the rake is for raking in all the wealth. Day of the Bird occurs twice or thrice in a year. For the year that it appears thrice, there is a saying that fire outbreak will happen easily so beware of fire.

For dancing time today, a mother requested for the song Ring a Ring of Roses so we sang that on top of the other songs. Kids and mothers alike enjoyed going round and falling to the ground. Last week, when we made autumn crafts using acorns, one of the Korean mothers mentioned that in Korea, they make acorn jelly during autumn. Today, she made the acorn jelly salad and brought for everyone to try. It is vegetarian so the vegetarians can also eat it. Next week we will be having a "Let's sing together" session. Come and join us.

どんぐり Autumn Crafts

秋のタペストリーを作りました。折り紙でどんぐりと葉っぱと本物のどんぐりもつけました。きらきらしたテープに色名どんぐりが付いてギャラーリのようでした。落ち葉を集めて作ってみたらどうでしょうか。来週は新聞紙で遊ぼうと11月のお誕生会です。時間を作って来てください。

It has been cold for the past few days but today we are blessed with nice autumn weather. Autumn crafts today. Using origami paper we folded chestnuts, acorns and ginkgo tree leaves. The kids and mothers were very creative. The end products were pasted on a sparkling tape as a decoration. After that, story telling in English and Japanese and dancing and singing. It is nice to see how the kids have progressed through the months and they can dance to perfection. Kids are kids and their learning abilities are amazing. Join us next week at room 403.

清水公園でシャボン玉遊び Bubbles at Shimizu Park

朝タンポポの花をもらいました。韓国語では「ミンデレ」と教えてもらいました。発音が悪く彼女からは違うと何度も言われました。清水公園行くときも日本の名前の草と韓国の名前の草の言い比べしました。柿は韓国でも「かき」らしいです。落ち葉のいっぱいある公園で遊動木に上ったり、すぺり台を滑ったりしました。シャボン玉はうまくふけなかった子供も最後にふけるようになり、ビンに水を入れて最後は水遊びになりました。お天気が良かったので他所ぬれても乾いてほっとしました。来週は工作をします。お弁当を持ってきてください。

Nice autumn weather today. Sunny, cool and dry. A new friend from Indian joined us with her son. The kids had such a nice time at Shimizu park that we did not have time to proceed to the Tomuro Kids Community Center. Bubbles, slides, swings, climbing frames, running around the park, leaves picking are just a few of fun activities that the kids did. After coming back, lunch time and as usual story telling, songs and dancing in English. Join us next week at room 403. We will be making some autumn crafts.

ハロウィンパーティ Halloween

ポテトのメンバーが自宅からかわいい衣装を持ってきました。かぼちゃ、ティガー、白雪姫、ピカチュウ、スパイダーマン、ミツバチハッチ、ゴレンジャなどでした。下の保育室にお菓子をもらいに行きました。驚いている子やずっと泣いていたばかりの子もいました。驚かしてごめんなさい。世界中の祭りはできる限りやってみたいと思いますが、あまり知識のない私は回りの方に助けられています。本当のハロウィンの日は10月31日です。みんな様もお化けになってみませんか。面白いですよ。来週はお天気が良かったらお散歩に行きます。待ってます。
Several new friends joined us today. 2 mothers from China and one mother from Korea with 2 kids. A warm welcome and do continue to join us. Halloween party today. We have Tigger, Bumble Bee, Spider Man, Snow White, Pumpkin, Pikachu and others amongst us today. The kids have a nice time putting on their costumes. We also made a ghost mask for those who are without costumes or did not want to put their costumes on. After everyone is dressed up, we went trick a treating at the ViVi Day care center. We greeted the small kids at the day care, scared a few of them to tears and got our bag of treats. As usual we also have story telling session in English and Japanese and English songs and dance. Next week, if weather permits, we will go to Shimizu park and Tomuro Kids community center. Come and join us.

中央公園で遊ぶ Chuo Park

雨が降りそうな天気の中、中央公園に行きました。途中消防署の前を通り消防自動車の訓練を見たり救急車がサイレンを鳴らしながら通るのを見ながら行きました。中央公園にはすでに大勢の子供とお母さんが遊んでおりみんなも遊び始めました。危険だっと思う縄のジャングルジムも注意ぶかく遊び、日本の友達とも譲り合って遊びました。上ってくる人を待ったり、声をかけたり、いい体験だったと思います。曇り空の下お弁当を食べ、雨の降る前に解散しました。次回は４０３号室で、ハロウィンパーティです。待ってます。
Today POTATO play group went to Chuo Park. We met several other foreigners with small kids at the park and invited them to POTATO play group. Hope that they will join us. The weather was kind to us and it only poured after we reached ViVi day care. The kids had a nice time climbing and playing on the slides. The smaller kids seems tired after playing for an hour so we moved to another part of the park and let them play with bubbles. After that it is lunch time and after lunch, story telling in Japanese and English. An enjoyable outing. For next week, we will be having a Halloween Party at room 403. Come in your costumes. We will be waiting.