[Early Childhood Education] Enjoy Autumn! Play and Activity Ideas Inspired by Sweet Potatoes
Many schools and daycare centers probably hold sweet potato digging as a regular autumn event.
Even though everyone gets covered in dirt, they work hard together to dig up the potatoes.
Those memories make you grow so attached to them that you almost don’t want to eat them! In this article, we’ll introduce play ideas related to potato digging—that is, to sweet potatoes! They’re perfect for soaking up the autumn mood, so be sure to include them in your recreational activities in September, October, and November.
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[Childcare] Enjoy Autumn! Sweet Potato-Themed Games & Activities (21–30)
Sweet potato origami
Here’s an introduction to making a sweet potato—an autumn favorite—out of origami.
There are no complicated steps, so kids can enjoy making it while learning how to fold.
Once you have purple and yellow origami paper ready, let’s start by folding the skin.
After you’ve folded the base skin piece, make the inside using the yellow paper.
For the finishing touch, use a pen to draw the sweet potato’s texture, and add a cute face to complete it.
It’s okay if the folds are a bit uneven—real sweet potatoes come in all sorts of shapes.
If you make a lot, it’s nice to stick them on the wall as decorations.
Anno Imo Dance
Sweet potatoes are a fluffy, sweet, and popular autumn vegetable.
Among them, Annou-imo—a specialty variety from Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu—is especially sweet.
When you bake it slowly and carefully, even more sweetness and syrupy nectar ooze out, making it taste like a dessert all on its own.
Why not turn the features of Annou-imo into fun lyrics and a dance, and have everyone try dancing together? As you sing and dance this cheerful routine, you’ll naturally learn all about Annou-imo.
After doing the potato dance, you might just find yourself craving the sweet, round little shape of an Annou-imo.
Picture Book “Satsuma no Oimo”
How about enjoying the autumn season by reading a picture book themed around sweet potatoes? If you weave fun songs into the colorful illustrations during read-aloud time, it’s sure to keep little ones captivated.
Move the story along with a lively rhythm—almost like a kamishibai picture-card show—and young children will have a great time.
Since the sweet potatoes become characters and unfold a humorous story, you might find yourself laughing along the way.
Try varying your voice to match each character—sometimes loud, sometimes soft—to add expression and make your reading even more engaging.
[Song] Debu Imo-chan, Chibi Imo-chan
![[Song] Debu Imo-chan, Chibi Imo-chan](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AtLRrw6T8MY/sddefault.jpg)
In November, many preschools and kindergartens probably hold sweet potato-digging events.
Let’s sing a fingerplay song about digging sweet potatoes.
This song, created by two renowned figures in the world of children’s songs, Michio Mado (lyrics) and Akira Yuyama (music), has a charming, evocative quality.
If your preschool or family is planning a potato-digging outing, we recommend trying this fingerplay beforehand.
It helps children learn that big and small sweet potatoes grow underground and that creatures like earthworms and moles live in the soil, and it will make them even more excited to go potato digging.
Christmas wreath made of vines
Sweet potatoes are popular for meals and snacks, and you can enjoy not only the tubers and their flesh but even the leaves and vines.
After having fun digging up the potatoes, why not use the leftover vines to make a Christmas wreath? Choose vines that are as straight as possible.
Right after harvesting from the field, they’re still fresh and contain moisture, so they feel a bit heavy.
Because they shrink as they dry, shape them into a wreath while keeping the final size and look in mind.
Once the formed wreath has dried, pick up dried flowers, ribbons, and other decorations from a 100-yen shop and decorate as you like.
Your long-lasting, handmade sweet potato vine Christmas wreath is complete.