[Childcare] Recommended for Entrance Ceremonies! A Collection of Fun Performance Ideas
As the season of cute cherry blossoms arrives, it’s finally time for the entrance ceremony.
Children come to the ceremony with all sorts of feelings—excitement and nervousness, and sometimes a little anxiety.
We want to create a warm, wonderful ceremony that supports those feelings and conveys how fun the kindergarten is.
In this article, we’ll introduce fun performance ideas recommended for the entrance ceremony.
We’ve gathered ideas for songs, dances, paper puppet shows, and short plays—performances from teachers and current students that share the gentle message, “It’s okay” and “Let’s have fun every day.”
We hope you find them helpful.
- [Entertainment/Performances] Ideas for Performances to Introduce at Kindergartens and Nursery Schools—Great for Children and Staff
- [Entrance Ceremony] Let smiles spread through song! A recommended collection of songs perfect for nursery and kindergarten advancement as well
- [Entrance Ceremony] Songs We All Want to Sing! A Collection of Recommended Cheer Songs for Spring Send-offs
- [Kindergarten/Daycare] Games and Performances for Fun Events
- Fun Performances for Preschool Teachers: Perfect for Birthday Parties and Seasonal Events!
- Ideas for Performances Recommended for 0-Year-Olds at Recitals and Play Events
- Popular hand games and hand game songs for toddlers and children! Full of ideas for childcare/early childhood education.
- [Nursery/Kindergarten] Ideas for Performances at Thank-You Parties! Fun for Both Parents and Children
- Heartwarming surprise ideas that will excite kids at daycare and kindergarten
- [Childcare] Perfect for April: Wall decoration ideas to celebrate starting school and moving up a grade
- Fun for Children’s Day! A Collection of Performance and Play Ideas Recommended for Early Childhood Education
- [Childcare] Fun for Hinamatsuri! Performance ideas perfect for the event
- Nursery/Kindergarten: A Collection of Performance Ideas for Thank-You Parties — Heartfelt Presentations That Touch Teachers
[Childcare] Recommended for Entrance Ceremony! A Collection of Fun Performance Ideas (21–30)
Sketchbook Theater
The entrance ceremony comes with a mix of excitement and nerves: while everyone is eager for what’s about to begin, both children and their guardians often feel anxious because it’s all new.
That’s why I recommend a sketchbook theater for teachers! By using a sketchbook, you can introduce the kindergarten or nursery school in a way that feels like enjoying a picture-story show.
You can make items like a soccer ball, crayons, scissors, or tulips from the flowerbed out of construction paper, then stick them onto and peel them off the sketchbook as you go—making it easy to understand and visually fun for the children.
Puppet show board “Cute Hide-and-Seek”
“Kawaii Kakurenbo” is a fairly minor paper puppet theater piece, so I imagine many people don’t know it.
As the name suggests, “Kawaii Kakurenbo” is a paper puppet show with the theme of hide-and-seek.
Just by watching, you can sort of understand the rules of the game.
It’s a relatively short story, so it’s easy to perform—that’s a nice advantage.
Congratulations on starting/advancing in kindergarten theater
Because the “Congratulations on Entering/Advancing to the Next Grade” theater is a video, it’s sure to captivate any child.
You’ll likely use a projector, but modern projectors can render clearly even at short distances, so you won’t need to worry too much about space.
Hand play ‘The Flower Smiled’
How about enjoying a hand-play activity with the children’s song “Ohanaga Waratta,” which is perfect for spring entrance ceremonies? You can make flowers with your hands and open them with a pop—it’s a very simple and cute choreography.
Playing it together with children who may be nervous in a new place, or having teachers perform it, could help ease some of that tension.
This song might also convey that kindergarten or nursery school is a fun place.
Please consider it as a performance idea.
Puppet Show ‘Spring Has Come’
Papercraft puppetry (peep-show style) is a recommended performance that creates a sense of unity.
While papercraft puppets require trimming, unlike picture-story shows, you don’t need to draw backgrounds.
It does take more steps, but the advantage is that it’s basically easy to make.
Children love it, so please give it a try.
Hand play ‘Musunde Hiraite’
“Musunde Hiraite” is one of the popular and simple hand-play songs.
It’s been sung for many years, so people of all ages can enjoy it.
The motions are easy, and it’s fun just to watch.
Children who already know it—and even those who don’t—can have a great time together.
Give it a try!
Hand play ‘What Shall We Make with Rock, Scissors, Paper?’
“What Shall We Make with Rock, Scissors, Paper?” is one of the most popular finger-play songs, and many people probably played it when they were little.
Since even children who haven’t yet started preschool or kindergarten know rock–paper–scissors, it’s highly recommended as a performance activity.
You can make various animals and foods with rock, scissors, and paper, so kids get excited wondering, “What will we make next?”