Video speech from meetings

How to read a book to/with children

Kamishibai

Video speech from meetings

Speech 1

Speech 2

Our bunko was set up in 1987 as one of the oldest bunko.
We organise birthday interviews for children born in that month, so that children have an opportunity to speak Japanese in front of others. Both our children and parents are very close. We still maintain participation of older children (6 year or above), who are busy with their after school activities. At the moment more than half of our children are 6 year old or older. They have understanding of bunko activities and have concentration. They listen to book reading quietly and are able to speak up. Our smaller children learn from these older ones and learn to behave when listening to someone reading or speaking and also when participating in activities. We have lots of “double children” and it is our hope that our bunko becomes a place where those children feel being supported for being Japanese and “taste” Japan and look forward to come visit us. We believe that our bunko provides an invaluable place for mums to have a wider circle of friends.

closed Nov 2024

Craft activities from last year
• Small Osechi (festival food for the year). – We explained the Osechi in detail. After that ,children made the Osechi by using the colourful paper and various materials. Their Osechi were very gorgeous and looked so delicious.
• A musical instrument – After making instruments, they used them to play music.
• Otedama – They brought their favourite cloth with them and stuff aduki beans into the bag which they sew
• Ohinasama – They rinsed out the contents of eggs by hole at the bottom. Then they decorated them like a Japanese doll.
• Kashiwa-mochi (oak-leaf-wrapped mochi)
• Chimaki (a rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaf)
• Nagashi-somen (fine white noodles served flowing in a small flume)
In early summer, they cut nine plastic bottles in half and connected them together into one. It’s length was 2.5m! It was used as a flume. Mothers helped to let the water and noodles run from top of the flume to the bottom. Children caught noodles using chopsticks which they made by themselves.
• Sushi-Roll – Mothers’ faces appeared on the surface of each piece when they sliced them into small pieces.
• Cookie – Children studied about the prefectures of Japan and made some biscuits(cookies) in these shapes.

Sometimes, children studied a task which their mothers decided. All children presented their work in front of other members. First time, they were nervous. But gradually, they gained confidence. I think children grow in confidence as they learn to listen to what other people say. I believe that they will get benefits from these sessions such as understanding how other people feel. And they will be able to choose what is the right attitude such as being to kind to others etc.

Everyone gained a lot of experience through the bunko.
Eating dinner with other members is great fun!

We have a parents meeting once a month to decide the agenda for the next bunko and to discuss the materials required for handmade products so as not to waste time on the bunko day.

closed Nov 2024

We aim to let our children experience Japanese traditional events. Some of the activities we do every year are craft work for Tanabata Festival, making rice cakes to celebrate the Autumn full moon, sports day, Japanese karuta playing cards, craft work for Girls’/Boys’ Festival.

closed Nov 2024

Text to come

Our activities include storytelling based on the season, reading/writing Japanese characters, reading books, singing songs with hand play, and seasonal craft.

Marked closed Jun 2024

We also encourage children to speak in front of the group. Older children (from Year 5) read children’s newspaper.

We are based in Milton Keynes. Our meeting which takes place once a month on Fridays (10.00 am – 12.00 pm) is for 0 – 4 year old and is part of the Japanese toddlers group in the area. Our bunko activities include seasonal crafts, reading picture books and singing songs. Our group offers an invaluable place where mums with babies can meet and get to know each other.

Our meeting which takes place once a month on Saturdays (15.00 – 18.00) is for 5 year old (reception) or older.   We meet in one of the village halls in Milton Keynes. Our activities include lending books, reading books, crafts and games. In our meetings we always try to do lots of activities. We aim to introduce children Japanese books and to expose them into Japanese language in an enjoyable environment.

closed Nov 2024

We introduce simple seasonal crafts. Both parents and children help one another in the craft session. Children enjoy this session as they can take them home when finished.

We meet in one of the member’s house. It is in a relaxed atmosphere. We start the meeting by singing a song “Let’s begin” followed by registration writing on a board a date, a day, weather and season. The other activities include singing songs, card games, reading books and craft. We finish by singing a closing song.

＊＊＊＊＊ Closed Nov. 2021 ＊＊＊＊＊＊

We are based in Merseyside and Chester area. We meet every week at one of our member’s house. The main activities include crafts, reading books, singing songs and Kamishibai. Our aim is to create a fun environment for using Japanese language, so that using Japanese becomes a part of children’s everyday life.

closed Nov 2024

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