Afterschool Programs- The Art of Japan

I will be the first to admit that these types of programs aren’t my forte. I work with teens as well as doing toddler storytime so I seemed to work the polar opposites of the youth services spectrum (but you are more than welcome to comment that teens often act like toddlers) I feel kinda of “flubby” when I have to meet in the middle and do programs for kids in Grade K-5. I came back from maternity leave and got put on the spot to do a program to fill our “Book A Trip” after school programs. I wanted to do a more arts oriented program because trying to teach…well makes me feel like a teacher. And I’m not a teacher! (Nothing against teachers but I wasn’t train to be one. They do a great job at their job. I do not)

I was nervous about making the kids draw and anticipating the usually frustrations that comes with art projects. I once had a 10 year old yell at me that “He can’t use a paintbrush”

And….it was an amazing program! I had a blast and so did the kids. I also had a full house which was impressive because it was subzero temperature that day.

I did a quick slide show about different art forms from Japan. I did some that were new and unfamiliar like ink wash painting and woodblock printing, but I also included familiar stuff like origami and anime.

Then came out main craft were the kids drew they own Koi fish. I found the instructions for the project here from an art teacher. I figured there would be apprehensions when I showed them my painting of the fish and told them we were going to make one just like it. There were whispers of doubt, but once they started, they were completely focused and made beautiful creations.

We used watercolor paper and sharpies for the drawing. For the water color effects, the kids scribbled on the paper with washable markers and then used paint brushes with water to spread the colors around. It worked just like watercolors with half the mess and double the control.

My last activity was Bento boxes. I did bento boxes as my first teen activity the first summer reading I was hired and it bombed. Hard. I had teens tell me they were throwing away their food because they hated it. This time however it was great. I made hot dog octopus, rice balls, olive and cream cheese penguins and rice crackers with cheese cut out. Not only did the kids gobble up everything without complaint, they even took up my dare to eat nori (dried seaweed) and some of them even liked it!

The kids got to take home their own bento box to decorate at home. Since we are no longer ordering VHS tapes, we had plenty of clear VHS boxes available for crafting and they are most useful.

Ah if only all my programs could go this well…