Time flies! I feel like the new year has just begun. However, it's already the middle of February. It has been snowy sometimes and seems like the winter is still here.
This winter season, I have introduced Japanese Healthy Stories. "Health" is not only a word for our body. So I have been trying to teach the children how we keep ourselves healthy.
One day, I introduced a Japanese story Kasajiso. Kasa means Umbrella or Hats to protect yourself from the rain or snow. Jizo is a statue of bodhisattva in Japanese Mahayana Buddhism.
I told the kids about the story. And we made the hat with a paper weaving for a jizo. Weave the paper strips into the slits cut in a paper. Starting from the back, bring the first strip up through the first slit and down through the second slit. Continue weaving the strips up and down through the slits. It was a bit difficult for the children, but they tried! Then we made up the fancy hats!
The story of Kasajizo
Once upon a time, there lived a poor old man with his wife in a distant place in the mountains. One day, the old man found five Jizo statues that stood silently on the roadside. He brushed away the pile of snow that covered their heads, and put on the hats on their heads one by one. After that, somewhere around midnight, the old man and his wife were awakened by a strange dragging sound on the snow. And they saw the jizo statues are bringing a lot of bags of rice, and foods for them.
There are always a hero and bad demons in old Japanese stories. And the hero is always right. However, this story is about a friendship between two nice demons. When I read this, I almost cry every time.
We read the story and made the demons! Used toilet paper rolls, and put a face on it. I was amazed that the kids liked the demons in the story.
Storytime will enhance children’s imagination and their potential for their future.
The story of the Crying the red demon
Once upon a time, there were a red demon and a blue demon in a mountain. The red demon wanted to make human friends. He tried not to look scary. Even made a sign in front of his house. It says ” I am a very kind demon. Please come in and have a cup of tea and treats.” but nobody came because people were scared of demons. The red demon was so sad. Then the blue demon said, ”I have a good idea. I'm going to pretend to be a bad demon in a village where people live. Please come pretend to hit me in front of the people.” Both demons did the plan. People thanked the red demon so much. Finally, the red demon made friends with humans. After a few days, when the red demon went to the blue demon’s house, and found a letter instead of him. It says, ” I have to go away because if people knew that I am your friend, they will run away again. I'm going to be fine. I'm your best friend forever. Bye” The red demon read the letter over and over again, and cried and cried.
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