Ava and Tokutaro's Birthday Party and Taiko

Today we had two very special events in the classroom; Ava and Tokutaro’s birthday party and our Taiko drumming class with Moko Sensei. We only had a short while before the party and so we had a few games and blocks on the carpet to play with. Eito, Riko and Kosei enjoyed making spiders and pumpkins on the table using origami paper. We folded the paper in two and then cut half the shapes. When we opened them up they made wonderful spiders and pumpkins or bats. Soon it was time to start the birthday party and we were all so excited. Ava’s mom and dad Christine & Bill arrived and so did Tokutaro’s mom and dad Miyuki and Tomio with some delicious and healthy food for us all. Ava’s mom and dad also brought along a big book titled ‘Big Red Barn’. While Bill read Christine did the animal sounds and we all loved it. Thank you so much! Miyuki and Tomio brought along two kamishibai (Card stories), the first one called ‘Kappa’ about a monster who doesn’t like rice and the second one which Miyuki read titled ‘Glove’. This was another fun story about the cold weather and how lots of animals wanted to get warm inside the glove but soon there was no room. Ava and Tokutaro loved these stories too and it was funny to see them lying on the floor relaxing and listening to the stories. We sang Happy Birthday together and both Tokutaro and Ava each received a beautiful crown from their friends as well as a nice card present which we all wrote in. Soon it was time to eat the yummy fruit, popcorn and carrot cake which was very yummy in our tummies. Thank you so much Christine, Bill, Miyuki and Tomio for all the preparation, the book and all your hard work on this. As soon as we had finished eating and packed away it was time to get ready for our Taiko drumming session with Moko Sensei. We all walked together and it was warm in the sunshine and cool in the shade. The hardest part was heading up the hill but as soon as we saw Marc’s brother Sean we all got very excited and moved faster. Moko Sensei greeted us at the door and we were soon all drumming away. We practiced lots of different beats and even danced around the drums. When we got tired Moko Sensei showed us how we could sit on the Taiko sticks like a mini chair. At the end of our drumming session we were all feeling hot and were really happy to sit down for a few minutes and watch Moko sensei perform with her friends. It was super good and so fast and loud. We all loved it, thank you Moko Sensei. We were a little tired on the walk back and it was great to get back and drink some water and have lunch together. Have a great afternoon. All our love, Darren, Ayaka and Nanako.