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[Childcare] Recommended for Tanabata party! Fun and exciting performance/activity ideas

[Childcare] Recommended for Tanabata party! Fun and exciting performance/activity ideas

Last updated:2025/6/6

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.

In the lead-up to Tanabata on July 7, nursery schools and kindergartens decorate bamboo branches and hold Tanabata gatherings together.

For those wondering, “What kind of performance should we do for this year’s Tanabata event?”, here are a variety of ideas! From songs and picture books to paper puppet shows, black theater, and even a planetarium, there are many special activities that children will enjoy.

Use these suggestions for your program, and have a wonderful Tanabata that both children and adults can enjoy.

[Childcare] Recommended for Tanabata events! Fun and exciting performance/activity ideas (1–10)

Staff Play: The Tanabata Story

[Childcare] Tanabata Story [Staff Play]

Staff Play: The Tanabata Story

How about putting on a play to share the Tanabata story with children, performed by preschool or kindergarten teachers? Assign roles for Orihime, Hikoboshi, and the deity, and follow the storyline.

It’s helpful to prepare simple props—like a cow or a loom—made from cardboard, so the children can visualize the story more easily.

While sewing costumes from scratch is great, if you’re short on time, try making them using colored plastic bags.

If you include songs or quizzes along the way, the children will stay engaged and enjoy it right to the end!

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Tanabata Circuit

Tanabata Circuit! [Ages 0–2] | Minami Senrioka Yui-en [Nursery/Kindergarten Event]

Tanabata Circuit

If you want to add a slightly different activity to your Tanabata party, the “Tanabata Circuit” is a great choice.

It’s an activity where preschool and kindergarten children can move their bodies and have fun while experiencing the world of Tanabata—jumping to reach Orihime and Hikoboshi’s stars, crawling through the Milky Way tunnel, and more.

With simple props and decorations, you can create the perfect atmosphere, and the kids will be thrilled! They’ll enjoy it like a game, naturally get some exercise, and feel a sense of accomplishment, too.

You can also adjust the difficulty based on age, which is another plus.

It’s an idea that makes your Tanabata event even more fun and memorable.

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Tanzaku Panel Theater

[Tanabata] Panel Theater Performance: 'Who Wrote the Tanzaku?' #July #Tanabata Event

Tanzaku Panel Theater

Here’s a panel theater with wish slips (tanzaku) that will liven up your Tanabata event.

When you think of Tanabata, many children write their wishes on tanzaku, right? In this story, those tanzaku appear on the panel.

There’s a tanzaku filled with wishes but no name written on it.

Whose tanzaku could it be? As you read the wishes, encourage the children to guess who wrote it.

Using a piano or guitar to boost the excitement is also recommended.

At the end, ask the children what kind of wishes they would like to make!

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playing planetarium

Sequel: “Tanabata Play – Pretend Planetarium” [5-Year-Olds] | Minami Senrioka Yui-Ken Nursery School [Daycare/Kindergarten Event]

playing planetarium

Here’s a make-believe planetarium activity everyone can enjoy.

After buying handmade tickets, move to the room prepared as the planetarium.

The night sky projected on the screen shows stars.

A key point is to help children relate by comparing the shapes of lines connecting the stars to familiar foods, and similar ideas.

Finally, have the children draw their own original constellations and hold a planetarium screening.

By punching holes around their sketched drawings, light will shine through the holes when the room is dark, creating a wonderfully charming planetarium.

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Tanabata Eurhythmics

[July Eurhythmics 🎵 Tanabata Rhythm Play ☆彡] For ages 3–5 ✨ Let’s play with the rhythms of Tanabata! ✨ Parent-child eurhythmics, also usable in childcare settings

Tanabata Eurhythmics

Here’s a Tanabata-themed eurhythmics activity you can enjoy even in a limited space.

Walk along to the Tanabata song while preparing hula hoops, scarves, bells, and colored construction paper.

Along the way, move your body freely to the music and gently sway the scarves to enjoy the eurhythmics.

By changing the size of the colored paper, children can visually enjoy the differences in stiffness and also vary their movements, which may make the activity more engaging.

Adding castanets or maracas is also recommended.

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The origin of Tanabata

A simple talk on the origin of Tanabata! Tips for explaining it at daycare (plus ways to spend the day and recommended picture books)

The origin of Tanabata

To make the Tanabata gathering more meaningful, why not share the origin of Tanabata with the children? If you introduce the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi using illustrations or a picture-story show, it will really draw them in.

It’s also fun to present tidbits like: Why do we hang tanzaku (wish strips)? Why do we make wishes to the stars? Why do we eat somen noodles?—in a quiz format.

Even very young children can participate intuitively, and everyone will get excited together.

After each correct answer, add a brief explanation so the significance of the event is clearly conveyed.

This idea, which blends learning and play, is likely to become the new standard for Tanabata gatherings.

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Tanabata Sketchbook Theater

How to Make a Tanabata Sketchbook Theater? A Preschool Teacher Explains a Performance That Shares Its Origins!

Tanabata Sketchbook Theater

The biggest advantage of a “sketchbook theater” is, without a doubt, how easy it is to carry around.

Once you’ve made it, you can enjoy it with the children not only at a group Tanabata gathering, but also in the classroom, much like reading a picture book.

With a Tanabata story theme, you can swap characters in and out and bring out the Milky Way to match the flow of the story.

If you make Hikoboshi and Orihime slide, it’s easy to show them being together and then becoming separated.

It’s also easy to store and can be used year after year, so definitely give making a sketchbook theater a try.

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