Lovely childcare

Let’s get infants and one-year-olds excited at the sports day too! A collection of event ideas for parents and children to enjoy together.

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked for 10 years as a kindergarten teacher and for 7 years as an after-school childcare instructor, then took a post as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I also engaged in activities that shared Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational play, working with many children. Afterwards, through freelance writing, planning, and editing work at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and conveying ideas. Leveraging the perspective cultivated in educational settings and my experience as an editor, I aim to deliver practical information—focusing on fields related to music and children—that values both input and output. Hobbies include instruments, singing, handcrafts, toys, drawing, traditional play, the outdoors, books, DIY, and crafts. Special skill: spinning-top tricks.
9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherShibata Risa
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.

When it comes to sports day, it’s all about parent-child events! Here are some wonderful activities that even infants and wobbly-walking 0-year-olds can enjoy.

From the “Animal Train” to “Kinraki Rappon,” there are plenty of hands-on activities tailored to children’s stages of growth.

Whether a child can sit up or still needs to be held, these events let everyone join in together.

They can transform into cute animals, play hand games, and sway happily with their parents.

Create joyful memories filled with sparkling smiles from the children!

Playtime Activities for Parents and Children (11–20)

Olympics

If it’s an Olympic year, a sports day with an Olympic theme could be a lot of fun.

This event involves lighting the cauldron.

Each child holds a handmade torch and rides a trolley pulled by a parent to approach the cauldron.

Many children love riding on a trolley even outside of sports day.

For younger children, it’s important to create programs that focus more on enjoyable participation than on competition.

We hope you’ll make happy memories together.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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parent-child play

Sports day parent–child games

parent-child play

Parent-child play is an event that even infants in the youngest class can easily join.

To music, children and their caregivers do exercises, dance, and try imitating the teacher’s movements while interacting with each other.

They can also try, in pairs with a caregiver, the kinds of games the child usually plays with friends.

It’s a heartwarming activity that fosters a sense of bonding and love with the caregiver.

For younger infants, it’s recommended to sit on a picnic blanket or similar mat while participating.

Rather than competing, the goal is to enjoy being together and taking part as a parent and child.

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What kind of vehicle is it?

What Kind of Vehicle Is It? [CD Book: Play Song “Ta-daa!” (Toshihiko Shinzawa, Satoko Yamano, Asami Mori, Riiko Yamada, Shinpei Kaneko, Jumpei Chiba, Makiko Matsuiya)]

What kind of vehicle is it?

We’d like to introduce a dance song called “What Kind of Vehicle Is It?” that lets you enjoy expressive play and balance play.

In this song, the lyrics mention the names and features of vehicles that children know well, and parents and children move together in ways inspired by those vehicles.

There are example moves, but it’s fine to move however you like based on the lyrics.

For example, for a train, a parent can place their hands on the child’s shoulders to become a train together, or the parent can make a tunnel for the child to crawl through.

Have fun interacting with the children while moving your bodies!

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Cart-pulling relay

Parent-child basket-pulling relay #Childcare #Kindergarten #Daycare #ChildcareWorker #SportsDay

Cart-pulling relay

The basket-pulling relay, which is popular for parent-participation events, is one of the classic sports day activities at many preschools.

It’s especially great for infants who aren’t ready to run yet—by sitting in a box and being pulled by a parent, they can enjoy the exhilarating feeling of running themselves.

Even with simple rules—head toward the cone, turn around, and come back—it can be surprisingly demanding.

Children may feel the thrill of running, while parents may feel like they’ve run a long distance! It’s a really fun event, so definitely consider including it.

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Perfect for water sports

Tomobe Kindergarten Sports Day Event Description No. 4 “Go! Go! Summer”

Perfect for water sports

Let me introduce a fun swimming game that uses swim rings.

Have the children wear swim caps and wait with their bodies through the swim ring.

At the start signal, they run and dive through a “sea” made of streamer tape! On the other side, fish are waiting—have them set down the swim ring and go fishing for a fish.

Once they catch one, they run to the finish line holding their fish! For a parents’ event, you can have the parent carry the child while the child pretends to swim, or make the fish smaller for the parents’ fishing part to increase the difficulty and excitement.

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In conclusion

We introduced parent-child activities that can make sports day for infants and 0-year-olds even more enjoyable. By transforming into animals, gently interacting to music, and moving your bodies together, you can spend a time full of smiles. We hope it becomes a sports day that remains in your hearts as a precious memory. Choose activities that match the children’s developmental stages and enjoy an irreplaceable time together.