Suwa Hoikuen Happyoukai 2015

Here in Japan schools seem to be gearing up for the end of the year, since school runs from April to March (I really can't believe its already February!). Today, Yana had a recital at her preschool. It was similar to the one we saw at the ES back in 2014.

The kids have been practising for this for a while. They even utilized some of the games they play during exercise time in the performance, which is quite clever, because it means the kids are already familiar with it and they don't have to remember as much. And, earlier in the week, we had to bring Yana to school early one day for rehearsal.

On the day of the performance we also had to bring Yana early, so we arrived at the school around 8:20am (she normally arrives at 9:00am). We were ushered into the heated library, while Yana was escorted upstairs to her class. After a little while, they let us into the gym, where we picked out seats and then had to sit and wait for 30 minutes until the program began at 9:00am.

At the preschool, the kids are divided into their classes and also into age groups, like this:

Lower Years
Panda class
Koala class
Bunny class

Middle Years
Dandelion class
Cosmos class

Upper Years
Rainbow class
Star class

Yana is in the panda class, and the three lower year classes did their performance all together. They were also the first on the program, from 9:00am to 9:45am. The whole thing lasted until noon, but the gym is pretty small, so we could only stay for Yana's performance.

The first act was musical. They sang two songs. The first song also included bells and drums. Yana did great at singing and remembering when to do her bells!

Yana standing beside her best friend, Shi-chan.

After that, they did a play act (I'm not really sure what to call it?) rendition of Momotaro, a traditional Japanese fairy tale. This is where they had the kids do lots of things they do during play or gym time. They ran around the gym and used hula hoops and danced in a circle.

Hiding during the Momotaro play.

At the end of the performance the kids were each called by their name and walked to make a lineup. Yana did great, waiting for her name to be called and shouting, "Hai!".

Afterwards the school kindly gave the kids some snacks and we went upstairs to collect Yana. Her teacher was very impressed and said she did great. Yana was pretty excited too - she kept telling the other kids her parents were here...during the recital itself!

All the kids in the panda, koala, and bunny classes.