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 (21–30)
kamishibai (paper theater)
Kamishibai—paper theater—has been loved unchanged from past to present.
There’s a wide variety of stories, from fun tales to thought-provoking, meaningful ones.
Store-bought or borrowed kamishibai are, of course, great, but it might also be nice to make your own kamishibai based on picture books.
And of course, an original story works too!
mock battle
On Children’s Day, some families display valiant warrior dolls.
Speaking of warrior dolls, that means a kabuto helmet.
How about folding a kabuto out of newspaper, putting it on, and playing at sword-fighting to feel like a brave warrior? You can make a sword in no time by rolling up some newspaper.
Enjoy a realistic battle game that’s different from video game consoles.
Fun for Children’s Day! A Collection of Recommended Performances and Play Ideas for Childcare (31–40)
Gesture Game
That gesture game you often see on quiz shows: someone gives a theme, and you have to express it using gestures only so others can guess.
You must not speak—communicate only through gestures.
It might also be fun for adults to perform while children watch.
hand play song
If there are many small children, how about doing some hand-play songs together? Even if it’s a song they don’t know, if you sing and show an example first, I think everyone will more or less be able to do it.
Whether or not it’s related to Children’s Day, I think it’ll be fun because people can say, “I know this one,” “I don’t know this one,” or “This is my first time hearing it.”
Magic Show
How about gathering some simple magic tricks and putting on a magic show? These days, even 100-yen shops sell plenty of easy-to-use magic items.
Of course, even without special props, you could practice a little with things you have at home, like playing cards or coins, and put on a performance.
Science show
How about putting on a science show like Dr.
Denjiro’s? Even if you can’t prepare any large-scale equipment, you can find ideas on the internet that seem pretty easy to do.
Children can join in and enjoy it as a participatory activity, too.
Tambourine Dance
As the name suggests, it’s a dance performed while playing the tambourine.
It’s lively and fun, isn’t it? Threading your arm through the tambourine’s ring and such makes for a pretty nimble style.
I think the tambourine is an instrument that people of all ages—from children to the elderly—can easily enjoy, so everyone can get excited together.