Beach School Session 3

Our third beach school session and sadly the last of the year was a great success.

We had 9 students in total with an age range of 2.5 years up to 9 years. It was really important to see how the children responded to each other in this situation and as expected, the older children really enjoyed being the mentors of the group.

We discussed shapes and textures of shells while also thinking of new ways to use them. We found many clam shells and the larger the better for digging away.

It was a great activity to get the group warmed up and thinking creatively.　It really inspired them afterwards too with their chosen activities.

We talked about shapes too and used this to introduce the red hazard triangles. It is important that not just the teachers are aware of the potential dangers but the participants too. The class was very active in finding many things from broken shells to broken glass, so it proved an important activity indeed.

 One of the activities the group decided to do was to build a big Mount Fuji and they used a red triangle to mark the lava which was dangerous!

Counting the shells, reviewing the activities was all part of the session too.

We even had time to make some necklaces and of course everyone took home many shell souvenirs.

What a lovely way to conclude the 2014 Tree's Kindy beach school sessions.

Moriyouchien Harmony

 My third visit was to a school called harmony. It was also situated way out west of Tokyo, on the Musashino plain.

The school runs four days a week (Monday to Friday but no Tuesdays) with Thursdays a 3 year old only day. This was the day I visited.

The session started off with a little more structure than the other schools I visited. We sung some songs to welcome the group and talked about the date and weather.

We also played a leaf matching game which got the group to count, feel and match different shapes of leaves. 

This got the class very excited and when we left on a walk through the park and woodlands, they would find similar shaped leaves, like the 'tulip-shaped' leaf or the giza-giza (jaggedy edge) leaf.

It looks like a flower.

We found some edible acorns en route to the lunch spot too and this became a fun focus for the group as they wanted to collect more.

We ate lunch at a spot chosen by the children but also accessible to toilets so we were all able to prepare with minimum fuss.

We spent half an hour or so chatting and as we slowly finished, we went to play amongst the leaves.

Playing in the leaves and wondering which way the wind will take them.

When everyone was done, we all headed to the 'mountain'. The children were very excited to show their new visitor to the mountain.

They played in the mud, rolling down the hill, collecting sticks and leaves etc.

Around 1.30pm we headed back to meet the parents so while the day was short, it was filled with different places and activities to keep the group amused.

 

The colours of Autumn.

We visited Kogenai park - http://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/format/index050.html