Tuesday Morning Playgroup
I need to start off by saying I have been extremely fortunate to come across a couple of great groups of ladies (mostly American) living in Tokyo. They've introduced me to a lot of kid-friendly places in the city, along with three different weekly playgroups.
We went to Ikebukuro today for playgroup in a local children's hall.
A lady who lives about 10 minutes from our hotel stopped by to pick us up, to make sure we found the place. Her little girl is the same age as Andrew, and standing side by side they could be siblings (or at least cousins). Quenby is American, her husband is Japanese, and they have lived in Tokyo on and off for 15 years! It was amazing to listen to her speak Japanese so fluently.
These children's halls are apparantly located all over the city, and are a great place to go if it's raining outside. They have multiple "playrooms", including one gymnasium type room for running, playing ball, riding bikes, etc.
We joined a room designated for groups, and sang songs (that Andrew and I both know!) and did exercises. We had craft time, story time, then the kids set out to play again.
Right at noon, a bell sounded and music started playing. Then, a lady came over the loud speaker and spoke in Japanese. Everyone headed toward the gymnasium room, so I figured that's where we should go, too.
Everyone was in a line near the back wall, and three adults were standing in front, in a semi-circle. The man pressed a button on a remote in his hand, and music began playing. Then, they began to dance (or maybe exercise is a better term?). The moms and kids followed suit and Andrew tried, but then gave up and just twirled in circles to the music. *smile* Below are two videos from the exercise time. I came to find out, right before we ate our lunches, that this was simply an 'exercise before lunch' time for the kids! How cool!
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Before entering the children's hall play areas, we removed our shoes. Notice at the bathrooms they leave slippers for your feet so that you aren't walking around a bathroom floor barefoot. The funny thing is, these slippers are made for tiny Japanese feet! Not for my US size 9s!
We went to Ikebukuro today for playgroup in a local children's hall.
A lady who lives about 10 minutes from our hotel stopped by to pick us up, to make sure we found the place. Her little girl is the same age as Andrew, and standing side by side they could be siblings (or at least cousins). Quenby is American, her husband is Japanese, and they have lived in Tokyo on and off for 15 years! It was amazing to listen to her speak Japanese so fluently.
These children's halls are apparantly located all over the city, and are a great place to go if it's raining outside. They have multiple "playrooms", including one gymnasium type room for running, playing ball, riding bikes, etc.
We joined a room designated for groups, and sang songs (that Andrew and I both know!) and did exercises. We had craft time, story time, then the kids set out to play again.
Right at noon, a bell sounded and music started playing. Then, a lady came over the loud speaker and spoke in Japanese. Everyone headed toward the gymnasium room, so I figured that's where we should go, too.
Everyone was in a line near the back wall, and three adults were standing in front, in a semi-circle. The man pressed a button on a remote in his hand, and music began playing. Then, they began to dance (or maybe exercise is a better term?). The moms and kids followed suit and Andrew tried, but then gave up and just twirled in circles to the music. *smile* Below are two videos from the exercise time. I came to find out, right before we ate our lunches, that this was simply an 'exercise before lunch' time for the kids! How cool!
If the video does not display properly
click here to upgrade to Flash 8
If the video does not display properly
click here to upgrade to Flash 8
Before entering the children's hall play areas, we removed our shoes. Notice at the bathrooms they leave slippers for your feet so that you aren't walking around a bathroom floor barefoot. The funny thing is, these slippers are made for tiny Japanese feet! Not for my US size 9s!
posted by Rachel :-) | 2:44 PM
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