Play activities recommended for childcare in February: ideas to enjoy seasonal events

Mochi Glasses & Mochi-Pounding Peta-peta-petan-ko

[January Fingerplay] Mochi Glasses♪ “Mochi-Pounding Pettan Pettanko~” A song kids sing every day at nursery school/kindergarten after winter break! Children’s song! (With lyrics)

When making mochi, we use the onomatopoeic word “pettan,” don’t we? In this fingerplay song, you touch your thumb to each of your other fingers in time with that sound to act out pounding mochi.

And what you end up with isn’t a kagami-mochi, but… mochi glasses! They look like they’d really stick to your face, but it seems like a fun way to spark kids’ imaginations about what to make with mochi.

Moving your fingers precisely is trickier than it looks, so start slowly at first.

Once you get the hang of it, try speeding up for a challenge.

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sasashina

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Valentine’s Day Crafts

[Craft Play] 3 Valentine’s Day Crafts

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, most people picture it as a day to give chocolates to someone special.

If you make a container to hold those chocolates, it might help you feel even more connected to the holiday.

Using items meant for holding things—like paper cups, paper bags, or gift boxes—as a base and then customizing them is a great way to create a sturdy container.

Decorating with ribbons or paper cut into heart shapes is a classic approach—aim for a festive look that helps convey your feelings.

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kappamaki

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Cardboard Ogre

[Craft] Setsubun Activities for Infants [Daycare/Kindergarten]

If you engage in a game themed around Setsubun bean-throwing, it won’t just be fun—it can also serve as a rehearsal.

So here’s an idea I’d like to share: the cardboard oni (ogre).

This involves attaching a paper-crafted oni face to a cardboard box.

Then, throw balls made from crumpled newspaper, pretending they’re beans, into the box and play.

The fun part is that sometimes the throws go in and sometimes they don’t.

Since everyone tends to crowd into one spot to retrieve missed balls, place several baskets filled with the “beans” in different locations as a preventative measure.

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yamamoto

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Ice ogre

[For Childcare Workers] Arrange Ice Oni [Teacher Rio’s Active Play That Excites Kids]

Let me introduce a game that evokes the feeling of cold: “Ice Tag.” First, start the game as usual by dividing into a tagger and runners.

The rule is that anyone touched by the tagger must freeze on the spot and can’t move.

A key point is that the tagger does not change.

A frozen player can be revived if another player touches them, but if everyone gets tagged and frozen, there’s no one left to revive them, so the tagger wins.

Once everyone gets used to the basic rules, you can add variations, such as deciding a specific pose for freezing.

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yamamoto

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Snowman Soccer

Let's Enjoy Winter Activities! [Ages 0–2] | Minami Senrioka Play & Learning Nursery School [Daycare/Kindergarten Event]

Perfect for warming up the body, here’s a snowman soccer idea.

All you need are a ball made by crumpling up newspaper and a goal made from cardboard.

Since the goal looks like a snowman, it’s called snowman soccer.

Why not start by getting familiar with the motion of kicking the ball? By changing the design of the goal, you could adapt it for other events like Setsubun or Valentine’s Day, too.

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yamamoto

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Throwing honeycomb balls through a hoop

[Halloween Play] Spiderweb Ball Toss (for ages around 2 through elementary school) Halloween kids activity, kindergarten, nursery school, Halloween party, easy craft play

Great for Halloween too! Here’s an idea for a game where you make a spiderweb with a hula hoop and throw balls at it.

You’ll need a hula hoop, clear tape, black construction paper, scissors or a craft knife, and colorful balls.

Use the black construction paper to make a spiderweb and a spider.

Attach strips of clear tape across the inside of the hula hoop to create a target.

When you throw the colorful balls, it looks like they get caught in the web, which is really fun! If you don’t have a hula hoop, you can make a ring by cutting poster paper into long strips and connecting them into a loop.