Taiko Drumming Fun

We welcomed Yossi and Tirza back today after a few weeks break and it was great to see them. Their friends in the class were so happy and excited to see them. They immediately came to the table after doing their morning jobs to start making their gifts to give to their mommy’s for the ‘Mother’s Day’ breakfast next week. Blue saw the finger printed flower pictures and used the red and green ink pads to make his own tulip picture. He did really well to wipe his fingers between changing colors so that the ink colors remained separate. On the main table there were lots of dinosaur models set up on the fake grass along with some pencils and colored pencils. Each of the children chose one or two dinosaurs they would like to draw and put it in front of them so they could get a closer look. The Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops were very popular along with the Brachiosaurus. The firstly drew their pictures with regular pencils and then started to color them in. On the carpet today the K-Nex construction toys were again in use with many of the children making wands and snowflakes with several long pieces and round white snowflake like pieces. The clean up time was a little earlier today as we needed to get ready to go to the Taiko performance with Moko Sensei. We got ready super fast and did our own hats, jackets and smocks today with only a tiny bit of help. We all walked together to the community center and it was very warm, especially going up the steep hill. We were all very excited when we arrived and soon got to work on the drums. First we needed to put on our bandanas so that we looked the part and collected 2 sticks each. Moko-Sensei then showed us how to drum in the center of the drum as well as using the side. We even had the chance to move around each of our drums while singing a special song. Once we had mastered the basic “Don, Don, Ka, Ka” drumming Moko Sensei showed us how to do different poses like a mountain and make different loud calls. It was very hot work we soon needed a drink. We then tried some singing and began to walk around all of the drums until it was time to choose a new drum. We all sat together for the next part of the workshop and watched a wonderful drumming performance by Tomas’s mother Ana and Moko Sensei. They were drumming really fast and then changed places really quickly. It was wonderful to see and all of us thought it was great especially as Moko Sensei told us that Ana had only joined the group in January this year. We all posed for a group photo and then walked back down the hill. We had no time for park play today unfortunately as our Taiko exercise was a lot harder than we thought ! We were all so hungry by the time we got back most of us ate really quickly and wanted to rest for a while. In the afternoon we got up and practiced a few of our Japanese songs with Ayaka. Please note that our end of year party for parents will be held at Monsoon Café in Azabu Juban on Friday May 30^th. The doors will open at 6:30 with food and drinks starting at 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Please reserve the date. Have a great afternoon, All our Love, Darren, Ayaka and Sharee