[ACTIVITY REPORT] Let's Make Festival Masks with Kyoiku-kai

On the day before Setsubun, we got together to make Oni masks and Carnival masks. First we watched videos on Setsubun and Carnival (in English) and then started to paint and decorate the masks! 

Each child got two white masks: a round one and a cat one. With paints, pens, stickers and masking tapes, children decorated their masks. Then they ate roasted soy beans, as many as their age according to the tradition, and went out for bean throwing. Daddies put on the oni mask their kids made and played the role of Oni demon. Children threw the beans to drive away bad luck that Oni represents. The weather was perfect and we all enjoyed the event. 

Kyoiku-kai, a daddies' group based in Nishi ward, will have another event in May. More details will be announced later. 

[IMCY Activity Report] Music Together Allegro Demo Session

On a fine day in early June, some IMCY members attended a demo session by Music Together Allegro at their Center Kita classroom.  It's only a few-minute walk from the Yokohama Municipal Subway station (Yokohama History Museum side).  

The Music Together program is a world-wide music program for kids (age 0-5 years old) and caregivers.

http://musictogetherallegro.com

Center Kita is the only classroom where the lesson is conducted all in English. In other classrooms, both English and Japanese are used so you don't have to worry even if you don't speak much Japanese. 

Egg shaker time! Shake shake!

Dancing time! 

Book & song time

The age group of our members' kids was about 18mo to 3yo. Some looked a little shy at the beginning but once the music started, they started to join and enjoy the rhythm and movement. We downloaded their application and listened to the songs (the songs used at the demo are free) before coming to the lesson. It seemed like our children enjoyed particularly making some music with little musical instruments such as egg shakers, maracas, castanets etc... Songs, dance, stories...the instructor never let children get bored. Everyone had a great time! 

Their summer season starts soon and registration is now available. For the summer season, you can enroll with siblings for free.

http://musictogetherallegro.com/schedule/

They offer demo lessons at every classroom:

http://musictogetherallegro.com/trial

They can also provide the Center Kita room for playgroups or meet-ups when the room is available (before/after the lessons). 

For more details and inquiries, please contact Music Together Allegro

http://musictogetherallegro.com/inquiry/

[IMCY ACTIVITY REPORT] IMCY Cooking Party Autumn 2018

It was a Facebook-member-only event but we got together to make some lovely deco-mochi (decorative rice cake) at Furocho Chiiki Care Plaza on November 3rd.

We tried the rose design.

Some kids tried making it with their parents. It was not very easy but a lot of fun especially when we slice it and find the design. 

[IMCY ACTIVITY REPORT] Hodogaya International Festa 2018

We had a booth at Hodogaya International Festa 2018 and a lot of people visited our booth!! 

Many kids enjoyed our bi-color bath bomb workshop, too. Our member sold her beautiful craft projects, which were perfect for a Christmas gift. 

Thank you very much for visiting us and see you again next year!!

[ACTIVITY REPORT] Visit to Yokohama Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center #1

We visited Yokohama Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center near Yokohama station with other families including little kids. The standard tour takes about an hour and it started with a movie in the Disaster Education Theater. We were a bit worried about this part but there were only us in the theater at that time and the children were rather calm. The movie came with English subtitles, too.  

Then we moved to the Earthquake Simulator. Moms have to hold a young one in the arms and also hold the safety bar, so it was harder!!! We experienced from level 4 to 7. We still felt shaking after getting off the machine. 

We went up to the second floor to learn how to use the fire extinguisher, then how to escape in the smoke (Fire Simulator). In the end, we entered the Disaster Mitigation Training Room to learn what to do in case of earthquake and rainstorm. 

Japan recently had a big earthquake in Osaka and rainstorm/flood in West Japan. We learned it is important that each family (especially with young children) prepare for disaster. 

We are planning to visit there again. It will be posted on our FB group so please keep an eye on it!

*For the tour, you can make a reservation beforehand. It seems to be possible to join the tour on the spot if there's a room (but reservation is recommended!). The staff on the day didn't speak much English but he tried to speak slowly in Japanese. The booklet they gave us is bilingual (Japanese/English).

[ACTIVITY REPORT] Co-Events with Hello Kids International School Tsurumi

IMCY had two co-events with Hello Kids International School in Tsurumi, Yokohama, in 2016.
More than 30 families gathered to both events!

Icing Cookies and Uchiwa Craft 

July 9th (SAT), 2016
at Hello Kids International School, Tsurumi

Kids learned shapes and colors.

Icing cookies time! Children decorated the cookies in the shapes of summer stuff in white, blue, green, pink and yellow.

Uchiwa craft! Children made their own uchiwa fan with drawings and origami papers. 

Halloween Craft and Party

October 29th (SAT), 2016
at Hello Kids International School, Tsurumi

 

The school turned into a Halloween haunted house! 

While kids created their trick-or-treating bag with a spider motif, parents prepared a candy lei for their kids.  After the party, children enjoyed a Halloween maze and workshops. They looked all happy with a lot of treats they received!

[IMCY ACTIVITY REPORT] AED and First Aid Lesson in Hodogaya 2016

Hodogaya International Lounge, with the cooperation of Hodogaya ward and Fire Station, held  an AED lesson for foreign families this year again.

You can see two popular types of the AED. There may be patches and a cable for young children (under 8 years old, the cable is equipped with an electricity-adjuster) in the AED box. Even if there aren't you can use ones for adult. For young children, you stick a patch on the chest and the other on the back. Be sure that the person is not wet and to remove all the metal belongings (accessories, underwear with metallic wire etc.) before applying the electric shock, or the person can get burnt around them. There are also groves to prevent infection in the AED box.

For young children, you use two fingers to apply CPR. AED should be applied after trying CPR. 

When you find something wrong with your baby, hit his/her feet and see if s/he reacts. If s/he gives no reaction, get ready to call 119. To see if s/he is breathing properly, see if his/her belly moves up and down for about 10 seconds. If no, you may need to apply CPR. CPR should be "strongly, quickly and without recess" till the ambulance arrives (the average time is in 7 minutes). 

Choking: when your baby was choked, hold your baby with his/her head down (maybe you can sit on a chair), and beat his/her back with your palm like pushing the choking stuff out. 

The fire station staff told us that we should open the door before calling 119 because once you start CPR, you can't stop until the ambulance arrives. And it is important to attend emergency management workshops regularly because we may forget as time goes by.

We would like to show our deep gratitude to Hodogaya International Lounge, Hodogaya Fire Station and Hodogaya ward for having provided us this opportunity.

Here are reactions from some of the participants:

     Becoming a new parent has made me feel a lot of joy and happiness, but also a lot of worry for all the expected and unexpected that might happen.  Things you hope will never happen to your little one (like choking hazards or just stopping breathing for some reason) might occur any time.  Knowing exactly what to do in case of such an emergency might be essential for saving your baby’s or child’s life.   Today’s lecture at Hodogaya International corner was aimed on performing the first aid on an unconscious baby or a child and was not only very informative, but also with a lot of practical hands on experience.  Every participant got to perform heart massage with use of AED on a real size doll, as well as first aid for choking hazards. 
     So even my fear for an emergency is still there I feel more confident of my abilities giving my baby the first aid she might need one day.  Today’s lecture was also a very nice opportunity to get to know and get in touch with other mothers and their babies living in the area and share some interesting information with each other.  And I would like to say Thank you to all who arranged such a great event.
-Ms.T (a mom of a baby girl)


     It was my first time to attend any kind of rescue lessons.I actually see that some places have AED ready to use, but I never knew how to use one.   Especially, when you are living with a small child, there always is a fear that these little lives are just so small and helpless.  Whenever my little boy is sick, or bump his head somewhere, I really feel scared that there always are risks.
     I decided to attend this AED lessons, hoping that this might be helpful one day if any accident occur,or if nothing happens(well, it’s the best thing), but I can still feel confident that I have knowledge to save lives.After learning how to deal with AEDs, or correct ways to help choking children from a professional rescue team, I feel glad to know the correct method, that I won't feel confused when something actually happens.  I think every moms should have this knowledge, it really made me feel better and confident in taking full responsibility to my child's life.
     Also, this gathering was a really good place to communicate with other moms in Yokohama.
-Ms. E (a mom of a boy, and #2 on the way)

[IMCY ACTIVITY REPORT] IMCY Chat Cafe March 2016

We had IMCY Chat Cafe playgroup on March 30th, 2016 at Fukushia.

As it was in the middle of the Spring break, there were many older kids playing cheerfully. It's amazing that kids can be friends so quickly and have fun together. Of course, moms had a lot of fun, too!!













As always, we installed a give-away stand with some biscuits.

Our next Chat Cafe will be Wednesday, 22nd June.

[ACTIVITY REPORT] IMCY Chat Cafe January 27th 2016

It was a warm sunny day like Spring. We had the very first Chat Cafe playgroup in 2016.

More than 10 families (including grandparents this time!) joined and enjoyed chatting and letting children play with others.

Self-introduction

One of our members kindly read a couple of books in French. Children (and adults, too!) were interested in the sound of a "different" language and pictures. We welcome book time volunteers. Please don't hesitate to bring and read books at our Chat Cafe! 

We placed a "Give-Away" table as usual, too, and there were also some cookies. We also welcome cookie volunteers. Please contact us if you're interested. 

The next Chat Cafe will be March 30th (WED) 2016 in the afternoon. Please come and join us!

[PLAYGROUP] IMCY Chat Cafe January 27, 2016

We will hold the first Chat Cafe of 2016 on Jan 27 (Wed) !


Even Tokyo is covered with snow and the weather is becoming wintry. IMCY will hold the now annual Chat Cafe again this year. Chat Cafe is a casual meet-up for child-raising mothers to gather and interact. Those who want to become friends with more mothers to share child-raising problems with, those who want to interact with international mothers, those who are interested in the IMCY's activities but have yet to join, are all welcome. Please feel free to join!

For more detail & sign up

In the last event, over 10 pairs of parents and children gathered and enjoyed interacting with each other.



Last time, we had a simple introduction session in the middle. It was also an opportunity to start conversations with each other, and it was a lively and fun event.

Some volunteer members baked sweets that were delicious snacks for the children.  (100 yen per serving as a cost).

You can join from the middle too. Please contact us here to apply.

We hope to see all your smiley faces there!

[IMCY ACTIVITY REPORT] Cookpad & IMCY Recipe Sharing Party Autumn 2015

We had the second Recipe Sharing Lunch Party at Cookpad kitchen in Ebisu on November 30th.

This time, the theme was: Autumn / Kids-friendly or Holidays.

Children were rather younger than last time, so mostly moms cooked the dishes, but the oldest helped us, too (which was really cute).

Some prepared desserts at home and brought them for the lunch:

 

Spiral cookies and a stollen (German/Alsacien Christmas bread)

And we cooked following dishes:

-Chickpea cocktail salad
-Potato Mochi (imo-mochi)
-Osechi dishes (Red and White Namasu, Datemaki, Kombu-maki, Sweet potato chakin, Kuri Kinton and Kamaboko)




Some participants haven't prepared Osechi (a boxed Japanese New Year meal) before and were excited to learn how to cook some of the typical dishes. They're not so difficult at all!

We prepared three flavors of imo-mochi (cheese, nori and purple potato-colored).

And we also tried the Kamaboko cutwork!

And enjoy!!! 

Imo-mochi, Namasu, Chakin and Kuri Kinton.

Imo-mochi is not a traditional Osechi dish, but with these colors, we found that it is also good for Osechi!

Chickpea cocktail (yogurt and plain) and kombu-maki.

Osechi dishes (Kamaboko, Datemaki, Imo-mochi, Kombu-maki, Kuri kinton and Red ad White Namasu) served in the O-jyu box. 

We really enjoyed cooking, chatting and eating the food together!!

Why don't you try these festive dishes for the holiday season?

Please find the recipes at Cookpad English version:
https://cookpad.com/us

[IMCY ACTIVITY REPORT] Bazaars Autumn 2015

This autumn, we attended two local festivals in Yokohama: Hodogaya International Festa and Kaminoki Chiku Center Festival.

1) Hodogaya International Festa (Nov. 15)

We sold handmade items (by our volunteer members) and some imported items from India, Mexico, Hong Kong and France. Hair accessories for little girls were very popular! Our booth is always on the 4th floor where there are an exit from the hall and the kimono trial and photo shot room, so there are always many international people in their ethnic costume or kimono. We also enjoyed some ethnic foods from the stands downstairs.

This time, we also had a Christmas ornament workshop for children. Children loved it a lot and were happy with their project!

2) Kaminoki Chiku Center Festival (Nov. 22)
Kaminoki Chiku Center is close to JR Oguchi station. There were exhibition of art and craft works of those who use the center for their projects. There were also workshops and dance/music performances. Food stands and fresh fruit and vegetable sale were very popular, too.

We sold handmade items and imported items as the last time, and we also baked waffles there with Lebkuchen spices. Next to our stand was a chocolate fondu stand, so the sweet smells attracted the passers-by. As it was our first try, we didn't prepare much, so the waffles were sold out before noon.

 


We would like to show our deep gratitude to the visitors, the HIEC and Kaminoki Chiku Center staff for letting us join the festivals, and our volunteer members.

Thank you!!

[IMCY Activity Report] Deko Maki Sushi Workshop October 8th,2015

Deko Maki Sushi, they are too cute to eat. By putting some to your child's lunchbox for sports day or even an ordinary day, the lunch becomes bright and spectacular, doesn’t it?

This time, we learned how to make cute little rabbits. The previous Deko Maki Sushi workshops were quite popular and we received many applications this year as well. 12 participants were chosen following a lottery draw. The instructor was Ms.Emi Maeda, JLL Japan Deko Sushi Association Master Instructor. The lessons began in a peaceful atmosphere.

We started with demonstrations from our instructor. She showed us how to make the rabbits, the subject of this time, and also how to make a jack-o'-lantern, as Halloween is just around the corner.

Deko Maki Sushi can be very creative with a variety of choices of ingredients to "built up" a design. The rabbit we learned this time is a design that uses the basic deco-maki techniques. The instructor told us that if we master the basics, we will be able to make all sorts of designs.


The instructor quickly finishing a deko maki sushi, explaining what she is doing.



The shiny side of the nori comes outside and the rough side is inside.



When cutting, make sure to clean the knife and wet its blade with water.


The instructor finishing The rabbits and jack-o'-lanterns in short time!

After watching the demonstration, we started making the sushi at each table: 3 groups of 4 people. It looked easy when we were watching, but it was hard to spread the rice evenly on top of the nori, and we can't roll it well when we put too much rice on it. Our instructor went around a table to another to carefully provide advice for us. With pleasant conversation and smiles at each table, everyone enjoyed making sushi until the end.

There were also free babysitting service in the next room, so we believe many moms were able to have their own time to refresh. We would like to continue to have events to connect people.

Thanks for those who joined the workshop! We are looking forward to seeing you at next event!

Ms.maeda emi's blog: http://ameblo.jp/momoayayu/

[ACTIVITY REPORT] Exchange & Chat Cafe July 1st&20th, 2015

Following from June, we had Exchange & Chat Cafe twice in July!

Although July 1 was a gloomy rainy day, about 10 families turned up for the event. In the play area, the children enjoyed themselves playing with the volunteer staff.
Some moms brought us a homemade cake, and it was a day where many moms were able to enjoy leisurely chats.

 

July 20 was a public holiday, and about 15 families turned up for the event.

As it was a public holiday, there were also some dads and working moms.
At the play area, we could see the children having fun.

Many moms brought ideas with them for our next activities and made suggestions about what kind of information is necessary for international moms in Yokohama/Japan. Ideas closely linked to daily life, such as things that need to be prepared at home in case of disasters like earthquakes, and comparison of food delivery services, were also shared.These ideas will be put together and we will decide new events.

Then, we enjoyed "Exchange" late in the event.

 

*About detail of "Exchange" please read this post.

http://international-mothers-in-yokohama.blogspot.jp/2015/06/activity-report-exchange-chat-cafe-june.html

Thanks for those who joined the Cafe. We had a great time!!
Next event will be in September. Have a great summer vacation!