Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 26
Wonderful Event Collaborations
What a fantastic week we had at Pre–Kindergarten which gave us the opportunity to collaborate in many events not only with EY, but with the wider school community.
Here is a short summary of these wonderful collaborations:
1) Celebrating O–Hinasama , the traditional Japanese doll festival by crafting the dolls and visit the beautiful Sheraton display with K2
2) Celebrating Karneval, Dance and enjoy a game with K1
3) Celebrating the World Expo 2025 in Osaka by welcoming their mascot Miyaku Miyaku and attending an interesting presentation
4) Celebrating Book Day with parent readers and by making our own books and displays in EY and the DSKI entrance
5) Celebrating friendship, collaboration, wonder, creativity and kindness throughout the week
Monday, 3rd March was the actual O–Hinasama Day, so the children made a O–Hinasama card with the dolls they had folded from colourful origami paper and put a cute face on. I always explain to the children the meaning of this beautiful Japanese festival in an easy way and they are very eager to make a prince and a princess and sing along to the wellknown song.
For parents new to the custom, The O-Hinasama festival (also called girls or dolls festival in English) dates back to the Heian period when girls were given a set of dolls, the O-Hinasama, representing the emperor and empress and their court. Families pray for their daughters’ health and happiness, hoping that their daughters also will become kind, strong and courteous.
Many Japanese families display an elaborate set of dolls often handed down from generations or just the main two dolls representing the Emperor and Empress.
It has become a bit of a tradition for Pre–Kindergarten to visit the beautiful display at the nearby Sheraton hotel. This time K2 came along and the children were very happy to be able to admire the gorgeous dolls together.
As Ms.Anita had also introduced this song during K1 German lesson, everyone was on board !
Ms.Anita then showed the children a colourful ball game which was good prep for the upcoming Sports Day, because the children had to work in 2 teams. Everyone got really competitive throwing the balls into baskets and it was a close win, but most important was the fun time everyone had together !
On Wednesday again there was excitement in the air was we heard that Miyaku Miyaku was coming, the special Osaka Expo 2025 mascot ! The children had seen the image on stickers donated by Elias‘ dad and there were very eager to put the stickers onto their shirts to greet Miyaku Miyaku.
And then, out came the mascot and send our children’s pulses soaring ! ( Miyaku means Pulse in Japanese).
Seeing the small mascot on the sticker and seeing the big mascot in real was a different story for our little Pre–Kindergardeners and tears were shed by some until they realized what a gentle and soft giant they had encountered.
A big thank you to the Expo organizers for this special collaboration with DSKI !
And there was yet another event in store in this exciting week : Our book day !
The children came dressed in their pajamas and brought their own favourite books to be read and shared. There were some inspiring stories and lots of interesting pictures to look at and the Pre–Kindergarten class all learnt from each other.
Later in the day, we were fortunate to listen to more stories with our friends from K1 and K2.
Nicholas‘s mum read a heartwarming story about a boy learning what kindness means and we all were reminded that kindness comes in many ways and forms.
Then Malin’s mum read a fun story in English and German and she had an adorable helper, a little butterfly puppet.
Inspired by the Book Day, something special was also created by the Pre–Kindergarten children throughout this whole week : their own little book !
People might know that I am an avid reader and books hold a special place in my heart. I raised my own children without TV, but with lots of art, music, sports and of course books so they could feel the comfort of cuddling up with a special story and the magic created by words and pictures, but leaving enough space for their own imagination.
Last week the Pre–Kindergarten children had done some food research and we had some pamphlets left over. Teaching the children to be sustainable and resourceful is another passion of mine, so we used the old pamphlets to create a booklet.
I spoke to the children first as a group, then individually about the topics which should be featured in the book: their own image and favorites : a book, food, an animal and a toy.
How wonderful to see the enthusiastic response of the children to the idea of making their own book and to witness how eagerly they drew their own ideas.
It was also amazing to see how well they have learnt to draw since our last unit and how adapt they have become at using crayons and glue!
We displayed some of the finished books in the entrance, together with a photo tutorial on how to make your own books and there has been a wonderful response by the school community on how fabulous a job Pre–Kindergarten did. I hope we can help with creating a culture of reading and please stay tuned for some additional books.
The handmade books are protected in a clear folder, so you are most welcome to look at them, but kindly handle with care.
The Pre–Kindergarten children also decorated the entrance to the EY with books and their forest diorama, showing that books can help being creative in many ways !
After such an exciting week, please enjoy a tranquil weekend, maybe make a book or a diorama and restore your energy for more adventures ahead including our DSKI Culture Week !
With kind regards, Mit herzlichen Grüßen,
Anita Ursula Mönch
DSKI Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher Playgroup / EY Deutsch & German
German Saturday School homeroom teacher
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