紅花とまつり Celebrating Benibana

7月21日土曜日

This July we had three very important guests. Mr. Inoue and Mr. Ujikawa from Takase came to Dekobokoeigo and talked to our little friends about Benibana and Shishi Odori. Mr. Ujikawa came in full costume, and together with Mr. Inoue, they explained the intricacies of the Shishi Kashira. (In case you were wondering, it doesn’t look half as intimidating on smaller friends!) We were also joined by Ms. Kanamori, a dying and fabric expert, who showed us how to turn our Benibana petals (harvested from our very own Benibana farm!) into a dye, and we made some very pretty paintings with two shades of Beni dye, and Japanese Washi paper. What a lovely workshop! Thank you everyone!

Mr. Inoue telling us about Benibana

We learned about how to grow...

...and how use benibana

Ms. Kanamori talked about making dye

Beni-mochi

Benibana orange

An interesting smell!

Adding the Sodium Carbonate

It turned a deep orange

We painted washi using the dyes

Beautiful yellow and orange pictures

Learning about Shishi Odori

Shishi!

Discussing the finer points

A very special Kamon

The glass eyes

Trying on the shishi

Getting a closer look

Beautiful!

カヌーを楽しもう/Canoeing in Kaminoyama

ゲスト：OUTDOOR SHOP DECEMBERの菊地大二郎さん 日時: 6月30日土曜日　

It was a perfect morning for canoeing in Kaminoyama with Mr. Kikuchi. When we arrived, Mr. Kikuchi helped everyone put on a life jacket, and then showed us the right way to hold a paddle, after which everyone jumped into the water to float around in their life jackets. Everyone looked really happy and relaxed, and after seeing how good the life jackets are at keeping them safe in the water, everyone was ready to get into their canoes. Steering the canoes was much harder than it looked, but eventually everyone got the hang of it, and had a wonderful time. One of our students even found a beautiful giant dragonfly in the water, and managed to save it from drowning. It was a fantastic experience, and we highly recommend contacting Mr. Kikuchi if you're interested in trying canoeing. He's a wonderful teacher, especially with our younger friends, and is always happy to help people learn how to enjoy canoeing. We look forward to going again next year! Thank you all so much! カヌー日和のすっきりと晴れた朝、上山市内にあるダムへ到着しました。今日の先生、菊地大二郎さんにまずはライフジャケットの身につけ方を教えてもらい、次にパドルを何となく手に取ってみて、そしてどっぽーん！っと水に飛び込んだ子どもたち。冷たい水に浮きながら見上げた青空は最高でしたね。ライフジャケットを着ていれば大丈夫だという安心感を得た後、それぞれがカヌーに乗りこみました。見た目よりずっと難しいパドルの扱い方に、はじめは戸惑う子どもたちもいましたが、徐々に慣れカヌーが前に進むようになっていました。中にはこつをつかみ思い通りにカヌーを進ませることができる子もいて、おぼれていたオニヤンマを助けるなどの出来事もありました。

菊地さんの人柄に子どもたちもすぐに打ち解けることができ、カヌーイングを存分に楽しむことができました。また来年が楽しみです！

菊地さん、ありがとうございました！

ベビー/チャイルドマッサージ＆子育てプチ講座〜 Baby Massage and Morning Tea April

ゲスト: 鈴木千恵さん (ベビーマッサージ教室 arch)

日時: 4月27日土曜日

Deko Boko Eigo's Friday morning Kosodate Support group was joined by Chie Suzuki, who taught us some excellent baby and child massage techniques, and then we enjoyed a nice cup of tea with sweets provided by MOCO-CHOCO, while Chie-san led a discussion about how to raise children to be confident and independent. It was great to have Chie-san as our special guest, and we hope to see her again soon! If you're interested in finding out more about baby/child massage then please take a look at Chie-san's website here. Thanks to everyone who took part!

毎週金曜日開講中の子育てサポートに、ベビーマッサージ教室 archの鈴木千恵さんをお招きし「ベビー&チャイルドマッサージと子育てプチ講座」を開催しました。モコチョコのおやつと紅茶で、リラックスした楽しい時間を過ごすことができました。千恵さんありがとうございます。

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