みんなで感じるいろいろな気持ち
Recently, the children in Waterfall have been building stronger friendships. What started as play between just one or two children is now growing into bigger groups as they invite others to join in and say, “Let’s play together!” Their circle of friends and shared play experiences continues to expand.The children are beginning to discover the joy and excitement of accomplishing something together and creating something as a team. This week, we saw many wonderful moments of them expressing their feelings and putting their thoughts into words as different emotions naturally arose throughout their daily play.
最近、友達同士の関わりがますます深まってきたWaterfallの子どもたち。一人、二人から始まった遊びも、ほかの子を誘ったり、「一緒に遊ぼう！」と声をかけて仲間に入ったりと、少しずつ友達の輪や遊びの輪が広がってきています。友達と一緒に何かをやり遂げたり、力を合わせて作り上げたりすることに、楽しさや喜びを見つけ始めた子どもたち。今週は、日々の遊びの中で生まれるさまざまな気持ちを、繰り返し言葉にしながら、自分の思いを表現する姿がたくさん見られました。
Let’s start with a puzzle!As they worked together, we heard comments such as, “That’s not right!”, “I’ll do this one!”, and “Isn’t that piece you’re holding supposed to go here?” Although the children are still at an age when they naturally want to put their own ideas first, they are gradually learning to listen to one another, share their ideas, and work together to complete a task.And when they finally finished, everyone struck a pose and cheered, “I did it!!”When we asked, “How do you feel?”, they confidently expressed their feelings in their own words: “I’m happy!”, “I’m good!”, and even “I’m yeah!” Their faces lit up with the joy and satisfaction of accomplishing something together.
まずは、パズル遊びの様子から。「ここは違うよ！」「これ、私がやるね！」「それ、あなたが持っているピースじゃない？」など、友達と声をかけ合いながら、みんなでパズルを完成させていきます。まだまだ自分の思いを優先したい年頃の子どもたちですが、少しずつ相手の考えにも耳を傾け、力を合わせて取り組む姿が見られるようになってきました。そして、完成した瞬間には、みんなで「I did it!!」とポーズ！「How do you feel?（どんな気持ち？）」と尋ねると、「I’m happy!」「I’m good!」「I’m yeah!」と、それぞれの言葉で嬉しい気持ちを表現してくれました。みんなでやり遂げた達成感が、一人ひとりの表情からも伝わってきました。
When it comes to outdoor play, every day is a party for the Waterfall children!They take turns hosting and being hosted, and work together to create all kinds of wonderful things. By sharing ideas and cooperating, their creations become even more imaginative and creative.Of course, even during these happy moments, disagreements sometimes arise. Someone might use the food another child was making without asking, or take over a space someone else was using.In these moments, we heard children expressing their feelings by saying, “No, thank you!! I’m sad!!” They were using words to communicate their frustration and sadness to their friends. Learning to express their own feelings and communicate their needs is an important part of developing positive relationships with others.
外遊びでも、子どもたちにかかれば、毎日がパーティーです！友達をもてなしたり、もてなされたり。一緒に同じものを作りながら、アイデアを出し合い、どんどんクリエイティブな作品へと発展させています。そんな楽しい遊びの中でも、ときには気持ちがぶつかることがあります。自分が作っていた料理を使われてしまったり、使っていた場所を取られてしまったり……。そんなときには、「No, thank you!! I’m sad!!」と、怒りや悲しさを言葉にして相手に伝える姿がありました。自分の思いを言葉にして伝えることも、友達と一緒に遊ぶ中で大切にしていきたい成長の一つです。
We also took the opportunity to connect the many different emotions the children experience in their daily lives to a creative activity: making monsters to decorate our upcoming Halloween Party!As the children created their own original monsters, we asked questions such as, “What does your face look like when you feel sad?” and “What shape would your mouth be?” The children carefully imagined different facial expressions and brought their ideas to life in their own unique ways.Happy faces, sad faces, angry faces… The children created a wonderful collection of unique monsters while thinking about their own feelings and imagining how others might feel, too!We can’t wait for you to see their creative monsters at the Halloween Party next weekend. We hope you’re looking forward to meeting them!
そして、子どもたちが日々見せてくれる、さまざまな気持ちの表現を、来週末に開催されるHalloween Partyに飾るモンスター作りにもつなげてみました！一人ひとりがオリジナルのモンスターを作りながら、「悲しいときは、どんな顔になるのかな？」「口の形はどうなるかな？」と問いかけると、子どもたちは自分なりに表情を思い浮かべ、丁寧に形にしていきました。嬉しい顔、悲しい顔、怒った顔……。自分の気持ちや、相手の気持ちを想像しながら、個性豊かなモンスターたちが完成しました！Halloween Partyでは、どんなモンスターたちがみんなを迎えてくれるのでしょうか。ぜひ、楽しみにしていてくださいね！
Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Mr. Jimmy.When Mr. Jimmy came to spend time with us, “We are so happy!” But when it was time to say goodbye, “We are super sad.”Feeling happy when someone is with us and feeling sad when we have to say goodbye are both important parts of our emotional experiences.To make the most of our final moments together, we sang, danced, played, and enjoyed lots of fun activities with Mr. Jimmy.Thank you for everything, Mr. Jimmy! We’ll miss you, but we hope you’ll come and visit us again soon!
最後に、Mr. Jimmyとのお別れです。Mr. JimmyがWaterfallに来てくれて、「We are so happy!（とっても嬉しい！）」。でも、お別れは「We are super sad.（とっても悲しい……）」嬉しい気持ちも、寂しい気持ちも、どちらも大切な自分の気持ちです。最後は、みんなでたくさん歌って、踊って、遊んで、楽しい時間を過ごしました。Mr. Jimmy、今までありがとう！また、私たちに会いに来てね！
We’d like to introduce the exercise dance for our Halloween Party! Halloween partｙのエクササイズダンスを紹介します。
