Traditional Games: Fun Old-Time Play. Popular Activities Useful in Childcare
Traditional folk games that have long been loved in Japan are packed with timeless charms that captivate children across generations.
Because folk games let us experience old cultures and local traditions, we want to pass many of these games from adults down to children.
In this feature, we’ll introduce a wide variety of such time-honored folk games.
We’ve gathered many activities kids can truly get absorbed in—everything from physical games, to ones using traditional toys like ohajiki (small playing pieces) and stilts, to word- and song-based games like karuta and chachatsubo.
We hope you’ll incorporate them in nursery schools and kindergartens and enjoy them together with the children.
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- [January Childcare] Traditional New Year’s Games! A Collection of Ideas to Enjoy with Children
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- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- [Hand Play] Popular with kids! A collection of trendy hand-play songs and nostalgic traditional children’s songs
- [Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
- A collection of ideas for infant/toddler play, recreation, and games
- [Parenting] Parent-child bonding! Hand-play songs and traditional nursery rhymes collection
- Handkerchief and Towel Play! A Collection of Fun Play Ideas
[Traditional Games] Fun Old-Time Play. Popular Activities for Childcare (21–30)
Easy Karuta That Kids Can Make Too!
@hoiku.labo New Year’s craft activity: Easy DIY karuta with construction paper that kids can make!ChildcareNursery teacher / Childcare workerKindergarten TeacherChildcare job openingsChildcare Column#NurseryTeacherThings#IWantToConnectWithChildcareWorkers#Nursery School Craft#DaycarePreparationNursery School PracticumChildcare studentAspiring childcare workerChildcare Job LabNursery teacher skillsJob change activities#JobChange#nursery_teacher_job_changeNursery teacher employmentProduction#CraftworkProductiondrawing paper#ConstructionPaperCraftsPoster Board CraftNew Year’s craftKaruta
Year-end Song from 12/26 Onward – [Alexandros]
It looks like making easy-to-create karuta together with children would be fun.
Prepare glue, construction paper, illustrations, and felt-tip pens, and let’s get started.
Once you decide on the first letter for each karuta card, draw illustrations that match the letter.
It might be easier if you split up the illustration work.
After coloring, paste the drawings onto the construction paper that will be the base of the cards.
Stick a small circle of paper in the upper right corner and write the letter on it to finish.
Lay out the completed karuta cards, divide into a reader and players, and try playing.
If you choose a theme like animal karuta or food karuta, it may be easier to come up with ideas for the illustrations you want to make.
Easy Craft! Let’s Play with the Zodiac Sugoroku
An animal zodiac-themed sugoroku game, perfect for New Year’s play, is also a great opportunity to learn about the zodiac of the new year.
Prepare construction paper, colored pens, scissors, milk cartons, paper clay, and paints to make it.
Cut the construction paper into a circle, come up with squares featuring sentences related to that year’s zodiac sign, and lay out the board.
Use a milk carton to build the sugoroku base, attach the construction paper, and write the numbers.
The key is to make the squares equal in size so the board forms a neat square.
For the playing pieces, shape paper clay and paint them.
Sugoroku is ideal for learning numerical concepts and practicing the rules needed to move pieces forward.
From infants and toddlers! Traditional games everyone can enjoy together
Since it’s the New Year, a traditional Japanese holiday, it’s a great time to try out various classic games.
Kagome Kagome remains a popular game even today.
It’s fun to sing the song with its unique atmosphere, and guessing who is sitting directly behind you is thrilling and exciting.
Hanai-chimonme is also enjoyable, with the hand-holding, leg-lifting poses and the song.
And with soap bubbles, take your time to watch them gently float and drift far away.
Let’s make and play! New Year’s Hanetsuki
Let’s make a handmade hagoita (traditional Japanese paddle) and enjoy New Year’s games.
Prepare a milk carton, wooden chopsticks, vinyl tape, origami paper, glue, and scissors.
Open up the milk carton, draw fold lines for the hagoita, and shape it into the paddle.
By sandwiching a chopstick along the central axis, you can reinforce the core and keep it sturdy.
After applying vinyl tape to the handle and the top part of the paddle, glue origami paper onto the paddle face to finish.
Give it a try!
Tonton Sumo
Sumo is said to have begun as a Shinto ritual.
As for paper sumo—where paper dolls modeled after wrestlers are made to wrestle—there are various theories about its origins, but since there are no clear written records, it seems to have been a pastime from quite a long time ago.
So let’s enjoy paper sumo using milk cartons, which are sturdier than construction paper.
Cut a piece of paper into a square, fold it in half, and draw whatever you like on the front and back.
It’s fun from the moment you start preparing your own wrestler doll even before you play.
After that, just tap-tap on a box serving as the ring and enjoy.
For children who’ve never tried paper sumo, it will surely feel fresh and new!