YPK : Cherry Blossom Picnic : April 14, 2009

ジーナ先生より

Today was our Hanami (Cherry Blossom) Picnic. We sang "The Ants Go Marching" and "Springtime is Coming" in morning circle. Then we enjoyed our milk/snack a little early so all the kids would have time to visit the potty before we boarded the bus for the park. We put on our backpacks and grabbed our hats and loaded up the bus. On the bus we sang "Let's All Go To The Park" and everyone enjoyed watching for beautiful cherry blossoms out the windows.

We went to Kaiseizan Park, which is located in downtown Koriyama. We walked to the small tots playground area. On the way, we stopped to admire the beautiful tulips and pansies, and say "thank you" to the men and women weeding the flower beds. We chose a spot under the trees for lunch and put our backpacks on a big ground sheet. The Toddlers and Rompers 1 played in the small tots lot where they practiced climbing and sliding and swinging. S.S. "took care" of Y.Y. T.S. enjoyed climbing on and off the rocking animals, and N.Y. loved the slides. M.O. really liked the swings. I.N. really liked the way the cherry blossoms would fall like snow when there was a big wind. They all had a great time.

The Rompers 2 and Kinders walked along the Seseragi Path to the other side of the park to the big kids playground. The Rompers 2 and Kinders exclaimed "beautiful" and "fantastic" as we walked thru the park. At the playground, the kids enjoyed climbing up the tall ladder on the big slide and swinging on the swings. They also walked on the wall around the maze. M.T. loved driving the bus. T.S. showed off his balance skills. H.K., K.H., and Y.S. enjoyed showing off their new "heads over" on the monkey bars. H.I., K.U., and T.E. played chased all over the lot.

At 11:30 we met up with the little kids for lunch and enjoyed our delicious obentos. The three kinder boys sat together on H.K.'s sheet and shared their lunches and laughs. It was so nice to see the three of them enjoying eachother's company and sharing everything. M.T. sat with Jen and Jeana. And the three younger boys sat in a row and got busy eating. H.I. then shared some snacks with all the kids after lunch, and then we went back to play again - this time we stayed on the little tots lot - til 1 pm when the bus picked us up.

Back at school, K.U. and H.I. did their self-introduction posters to the class, and we drew pictures of our favorite part of the picnic. The kids went crazy and most kids drew two or more pictures of their day. H.K. drew ONE perfect blossom in great detail, and then some cars. Then it was time to go home.

It was a beautiful cherry blossom day.