Fun! Spring activities for children: recreation and hands-on play

April Fools’ Day

[Prank] Since it's April Fools', we tried pulling a prank on Eishin with a 'potato chip–shaped jack-in-the-box' (・∀・)

April 1 is April Fools’ Day.

Spring brings new encounters—how about lightening the mood with a playful joke? These days, even corporate social media accounts run April Fools’-themed ads on April 1, so it might be fun to look for some unique April Fools’ ideas!

Exercise play you can enjoy at home

Introducing age-appropriate physical play you can do at home [Rakuwakai Health Class Web Edition]

Even when you can’t play outside, you still want to move your body! In times like that, let’s enjoy some active play at home.

For infants and toddlers, try baby massage or touch-and-play activities.

For preschoolers through elementary school kids, how about a spy game with a treasure hunt or a round of table tennis on the table? For the spy game, setting up obstacles around the room and preparing a treasure map can really liven things up.

For table tennis, you can substitute household items: a tissue box for the net, a pot lid for the paddle, and a super ball for the ball.

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sasashina

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5 super fun activities

[Don't Miss Out] 5 Super Fun Activities You Should Know

We’ll be introducing five activities: “Irregular Play,” “Swirly Tail Chase,” “Receive & Catch,” “Ball Rolling Play,” and “Cross Rubber Jump Tail Chase.” They mainly use a ball—putting it into a basket, catching it, and combining movements like hopscotch and forward rolls to get the body moving.

In “Swirly Tail Chase,” attach a jump rope instead of a string and run away from the tagger, changing directions between clockwise and counterclockwise.

For “Cross Rubber Jump Tail Chase,” stretch elastic bands across the room and escape from the tagger while jumping over the bands.

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sasashina

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My One-Piece Dress Play

One-Piece Play is an idea you can enjoy with kids in the spring.

It’s super simple: all you need is construction paper, scissors, laminating sheets, and a pen to get started! First, draw your favorite character—like Miffy wearing a one-piece dress—on the paper, then cut out the figure with scissors.

Next, laminate the illustration, and you’re done.

Using self-laminating sheets from a 100-yen shop is also recommended.

If you hold the laminated part up to spring flowers or the sky, the patterns show through and look beautiful!

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Yuuki

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Go see the fireflies

Jike Furusato Village Cat Watching Fireflies, May 2015

Fireflies are often associated with summer, but in fact, the best time to see them is from early May to early June.

How about taking the kids to a clean, clear river where you can spot them at the end of spring? The faint lights floating in the darkness are magical and beautiful.

It’s a perfect event to feel the end of spring and the approach of summer.

Mugwort rice cake making

mugwort mochi

In spring, I also recommend making yomogi mochi (mugwort rice cakes).

Yomogi is in season from March to May, or from April to June in colder regions.

Like foraging for other wild plants, picking yomogi is exciting, isn’t it? However, be careful of aconite, a wild plant that closely resembles yomogi.

You can tell them apart by checking whether the underside of the leaf is white.

If the underside isn’t white, it’s aconite—be sure not to eat it.

A flower that blooms when you water it

Why not try making a cherry tree in full bloom out of origami? With this craft, a mist of water makes the cherry blossoms bloom—such a magical flower! Prepare a cherry blossom–shaped hole punch and pink origami paper.

After punching cherry blossom shapes out of the paper, fold the petal sections inward.

Glue these onto the base cherry tree, and you’re done.

When you spritz the flowers with a mist of water, the petals open and you’ll have a springlike cherry tree.

The look of the blossoms changes depending on how you arrange the pieces when gluing, so have fun experimenting!

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mayumi

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