Fun for Children’s Day! A Collection of Performance and Play Ideas Recommended for Early Childhood Education
As Children’s Day approaches, many preschool teachers may find themselves wondering what performances or activities to prepare.
You want to make it a memorable day filled with fun events that bring out the children’s brightest smiles.
Here are plenty of engaging ideas perfect for preschools, such as making carp streamers (koinobori), active group games, and seasonal quizzes.
They’re all easy to incorporate with minimal prep and can be adjusted for different ages, so feel free to use this as a reference!
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Fun for Children's Day! A Collection of Recommended Performances and Play Ideas for Childcare (71–80)
Making koinobori (carp streamers) with handprint stamps
“We don’t have a koinobori at home…” Don’t worry! Let’s make one at home.
With 94 cm-wide shoji paper, a pencil, a utility knife, a rice bowl, glue, a ruler, colored paper, paints, thick paper, and a stapler, anyone can quickly make a koinobori.
The key point is the koinobori’s eye.
Place a rice bowl on the colored paper and trace it with a pencil.
Use bowls of three different sizes—large, medium, and small—to make three circles, and you’ll have a pop-out koinobori eye! Prepare black, red, and blue paints.
Paint the entire koinobori, then add leftover colored paper or handprints on top to create colorful scales, and your koinobori is complete!
water gun
Speaking of Children’s Day, it’s the season of fresh greenery—early summer.
The days are warm, and sometimes even hot.
It’s the time of year when we start longing for the water’s edge.
If the weather is pleasant enough that getting a little wet feels good, how about playing with water guns? These days you can even find fancy water guns at 100-yen shops.
The type of water gun and the rules are up to you.
Get creative and tailor them to the time, place, and the people you’re with.
event school lunch
Enjoy meals unique to special occasions! Here are some ideas for event-themed school lunches.
For children, lunchtime means more than just getting nutrition.
It’s an important time to have fun with friends and a place to develop social skills.
They can become interested in food and learn basic table manners, which helps foster a sense of gratitude for meals.
Another appeal of event lunches is that they let children experience the fun of colors as well as the traditions and origins behind different foods.
Fun for Children’s Day! A Collection of Recommended Performances and Play Ideas for Childcare (81–90)
Koinobori Tag
This is a game of tag themed around koinobori (carp streamers), which are displayed in gardens and elsewhere when May arrives.
It’s best tried in a large space like a kindergarten or nursery school yard or a sports field.
First, draw lines on the ground to create a pattern that suggests the silhouette of a koinobori.
Place the “oni” (tagger) and the runners on the lines, and have them play tag along the lines.
If you’re tagged by the oni, crouch down inside the koinobori drawing and become a “scale.” The rule is that if another child touches a scale, that player comes back to life.
If the runners make it to the end without being caught, the children win.
It’s a game that fosters communication as the kids help each other.
Give this tag game a try to experience the feeling of May while enjoying the warm spring weather.
In conclusion
We introduced activities that are perfect for Children’s Day. If you include them as fun events at a nursery school, the children’s smiles will shine. From a wide variety of options—quizzes, crafts, and active games—choose according to the atmosphere and the children’s interests. Enjoy them together and make lots of memories for Children’s Day.