Expressive art activities with Japanese primary school children

Burcu Ölçer
Juan Kajimura

What did you do?

I selected 3 games (1 warm-up/icebreaker game, 2 expressive art activities) that can be played with primary school children and proposed them to the Kusanagi Jidoukan. They accepted my project proposal and created space for me to organize my event with 15 primary school students. Although 15 children signed up for the event, only 12 came. Jidoukan staff prepared tickets tickets that has Turkey flag on it and there were also some points to gain during the games. First, I introduced myself. I showed the distance between Turkey and Japan on a map. We did a Turkey quiz and asked about the main dish in Turkey, national sport of Turkey, etc. Then we started playing the games. At the end, children went to the small candy store that Jidoukan made (駄菓子屋さん) and buy candies with the points they collected during the games.

What were the outcomes?

The children and their parents who were watching the event were interested in learning about Turkey. Jidoukan said that my event was very different from the ones they organize usually. So I think it's a special experience for kids. For me, it was an incredibly wonderful experience. Since I played these games with children in Turkey before, I more or less knew how to manage, but I was nervous about the language and how they will react, and whether they will have a good time and participate in the games. It was a fun challenge to explain the games to children in a different language. I feel very lucky to have the chance to organize such an event in Japan.

What Sustainable Development Goals does your project connect to?

My project contributes to “Good Health and Well-being” section of the SDGs. It is related to this goal as I tried to create an environment where children can express themselves freely, without worrying about aesthetics or being judged, through expressive activities. Thus, I aim to contribute to the personal development of children.

What did you do well?

I think I was disciplined during the preparation phase of the project. It didn't take long for me to choose the games and meet/negotiate with Jidoukan. I think that the games I chose are suitable for the age of the children because I have already played these games in Turkey before, so I have experience. Jidoukan wrote me directions so that I could explain the games properly. I think I explain the games in a way that children can understand because I have studied them thoroughly.

What could you have done better?

Maybe I could have researched more interesting and different games so that the children could learn more about the SDGs. I think my current project is linked to SDGs, but I'm not sure how strong that link is. This question will be updated after my project date. Maybe it's not a good idea for parents to watch the event because a few moms wanted to help their kids with the clay sculpture game. It wasn't a very supportive move, as the purpose of this game was for children to freely make whatever shape they want. The kids had to toss balloons into the air in the first game and catch a balloon that didn't belong to them and give it to its owner, but instead, everyone played with their own balloon, which didn't help the kids bond with each other. Maybe it would be better if I made the explanation better in the first place. Since I couldn't set the time exactly, I couldn't ask the questions I should have asked some children in the last game. I also wanted to finish the event all together, saying thank you to everybody but again, some children left early because there was no time left.

What did you learn?

First of all, thanks to this event, I learned more about Japanese culture. For example, when the collective painting activity was over, I asked the children to stand up and look at the painting and asked, "What do you think?". No one answered and I asked a few more times, but then I decided to move on to the next activity without forcing. While the children were sculpting in the final play, one of the Jidoukan staff came up to me and said that it was unusual for children to ask "what do you think" because even at school this question was not asked. After the last event, I was asking the children questions about the sculptures they made, questions like does this sculpture have a loved one, does this sculpture have something to say to the world etc. But the children replied, "I don't know, I didn't think about that". I observed that the expressivity concept is an unusual concept in Japan, that they generally do not prefer to express their own thoughts. Also, unlike Turkish children, Japanese children were much calmer while listening to the explanations and playing the games. There were no children fighting with each other. Maybe this time it was like that, but I observed that Japanese children are more docile during the games.

How does this project connect to your future?

I want to continue volunteering and working with children as long as my lifestyle allows, so I think that playing these games with children from a different country will open my horizons and show me things that I may not have noticed before. In the future, I can produce different ideas by using the experience I gained here.

How will this project be sustained/continued?

When I did my project proposal to Jidoukan, they found these games unusual and interesting. I guess expressive activities are not very common in Japan. Therefore, I think I can introduce a new concept to Jidoukan and give ideas that they can benefit from in the future. And one of them is going to be working in an international kindergarden starting from April, so I would be very glad if she was inspired by that event and maybe try to do similar activities in the future. 

What advice do you have for: future students, collaborators, other people?

It is really great to do activities with children, but it is better to have fun with them and be energetic in order to get more efficiency. Making an event with the help of an assistant rather than alone makes the process much easier.

Additional media (photos, videos, documents, etc)

The games for March 18th → https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uLMzWEWdvnt-PpPTgJr5JcP4q1smgWmdficWYSS6EJg/edit?usp=sharing

Japanese version of games → https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e7I2PyzuDUN1DXmLxxry31ill0H-Yhun/view?usp=sharing

The announcement of my project, made by Jidoukan staff→https://r.resimlink.com/x3m6Xw-_o5uF.jpg