A place for children

Hello! I am Yuki and I am a member of “Nijiro Crayons” staff. Today, I was playing at the Koyo District Community Centre.

Fortunately, the two girls that had come last week, they were willing to come again at Koyo yesterday. The two girls were playing with the kids in other activities and places, too. No barriers for them.

In that way, these activities became a place of bringing everybody together; not only the children, but the adults, as well. That’s nice, isn’t it?

In the hall, children had sweated themselves. They were using different kinds of playing items. There were balls, skipping-long-ropes, paper-boomerangs (that Mura-san made), and many other items like these.

Young and older kids, all the children, jumbled up and got so excited in this open space. I was overwhelmed by these lively kids. When I felt thirsty, I went back for drinking water at the multipurpose hall where I could also check the activities performed, all in one. There, in sharp contrast to the hall, kids and volunteers were playing with the clay, card games, with the rest having a relaxed mood.

A kid was playing Karuta ( a Japanese card game) with Sen-ji, another one was playing UNO (an American card game) with Retsu-san, and at their side there was a kid alone, who caught up pressing and dyeing his hands into the clay; the blue-color one.

Somehow, I felt like watching a situation where the grandchildren have come and seen their grandpa and grammas’ house, after a long time.

At the end, as usually, Natsukichi called the small children together. It’s story hour! Children and adults watched the picture-story book that Natsukichi was reading. At that time, a mother arrived to pick up her kids and she loved to join our company, too.

I feel a magical attraction to picture-story books. Don’t you think so? Adults were enjoying themselves by the narration of the story, let alone children.

Last month, the place of activities moved from the provisional housing in Northern Hebita Park #2, to the Koyo District Community Centre. Now, after a month, children seem to have been accustomed to their new place.

However, sometimes we might not be as careful as we want with the people that use the community centre.  For this reason, all of us have been trying to improve the way we proceed our activities”.

Fortunately, all the members of staff of our Community Centre have tolerance and understanding. By having the privilege of having these people around us, we must do our best to make the places that children stay, a reliable and safe environment every single day.

Today, our staff members are seven; Onchan-Shisho, Sen-ji, Retsu-san, Mura-san, Yama-chan, Natsukichi and me, Yuki.

Thank you very much for today!

Written by Nijiiro Crayons on 12/5/2013.

Translated by Takako Kawamukai and Maria Koimisoglou.