Table of Contents
Parenting Manga: “The Summer of Getting on a Roll”
Profile
Eiichi
After working for a design company in Tokyo, he became a freelance illustrator. He is a hard-working father who creates animation, manga, and illustrations, including winning the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival’s International Short Film Showcase Division Excellence in Animation Award.
Leave it to Dad! Summer Water Fun at its Best
The sun shining, the heat rising, the cicada rain.
Summer is coming again this year!
It is nice to spend time in an air-conditioned room, though,
Since summer is here, why don’t you go outside and enjoy the fun that only this season can offer?
Among the most popular summer staples are the children’s favorites,
It’s the “splash around in the water” that will take the edge off the heat!
If you get soaked without thinking about anything else,
The kids will be happy and dad himself will feel refreshed!
Children are getting bigger and bigger.
So the same summer will never come again.
Now it’s time for Dad to step up to the plate!
It doesn’t matter if you get soaked to the skin,
Let’s get back to our childhood and have fun together!
It’s a classic, isn’t it? The way you dare to write the word “serious” shows your unlimited motivation. I wonder what kind of water gun they will use.
Water guns in the ocean! They will all be in swimsuits, so this is even more serious. It will feel good to run around the beach and work up a sweat.
Water balloons are fun just to make. There are so many ways to have fun throwing and breaking them, and if you have a large quantity of them, you are sure to get excited.
This is another classic. It is probably the best water activity for infants and toddlers who cannot yet go to public pools.
I’m sure many of you have fond memories of your dad making these for you as a child. The fun part may be the ingenuity required to make it.
They’ll be the most popular at the parks in the summer. Each place has its own character and is a different kind of fun from home.
The great thing about playing in the water is that not only children but also their fathers can enjoy themselves as children.
You may discover something new that you were not aware of when you were a child.
Ask a Childcare Specialist
The Importance of Water Play and Recommendations for Water Play.”
What are the benefits of everyone’s favorite water activity for children?
We interviewed Yasuhiro Kozaki, the first male childcare worker in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, and currently an associate professor at Osaka Kyoiku University’s Faculty of Education.
Water play is an important way to learn about texture and sensation
Playing in water is very important for infants and toddlers.
Water seems to have no shape, but if you scoop it with a vessel, it takes the shape of a vessel; if you scoop it with your hand, it takes the shape of your hand. If you drop it from above, it will fall down. In other words, it becomes what you manipulate it to be. Water does not go against what the player is trying to do. From this point of view, water play is a typical game in which the child can be the master. This is also true of mud and sand.
This kind of play that is enjoyed through touch and sight is called “sensory play” or “feel play,” and is very important for infants and toddlers. This is very important for infants and toddlers because they learn the tactile sensation of water, the sensation of cold and warm temperatures, and the sensation of movement in nature, such as the flow of water from top to bottom, while playing. The more water they play with, the richer their senses become. When they grow up and learn science, if they have a base of senses, their understanding will be deeper and their knowledge will be acquired more quickly.
Dr. Kozaki recommends water play No. 1 “Playing with colored water
Of course, playing with things like water guns is great, but I also recommend “playing with colored water”. Using paints, it is very easy to make water with various colors, isn’t it? Simply mixing them and enjoying the color changes will bring children tremendous joy. They actually try mixing the colors while imagining what color they would get if they mixed this color with that color. As a result, the color turned out like this. I see! and they move on to the next “experiment. This is how children develop their creativity.
You don’t really have to drink it, but you can “play juice” with it. It is fun to make original juices together, imagining the flavors from the colors!
If you are in an environment where you don’t mind getting dirty, body painting can be a lot of fun. You can also enjoy watching the color develop on a white T-shirt, for example.
It also takes a little more work, but I recommend coloring the water with plants and flowers instead of paint. It gives you a chance to get in touch with nature and learn more about plants. For example, make purple colored water with morning glory and green colored water with wormwood. The colors may not be as vivid as paint, but you can enjoy the subtle hues of nature.
In addition to color, it is also fun to add detergent or soap to the water and make bubbles. Although it is fun to make soap bubbles, it is very important to experience the slippery feel of water with detergent and other ingredients and the fluffy tactile sensation of bubbles.
Dr. Kozaki recommends water play No. 2 “Toi (flume) play
It is also recommended to make and play with gutters (toi). Make a simple version of a rain gutter that collects rain and directs it to the ground surface, using milk cartons and other materials. The craft is surprisingly easy. Cut a paper carton in half lengthwise so that water flows from the spout. Arrange these in tiers so that they form a slope. You can line them up on a slope, or if the area is flat, you can make a base with paper cups and adjust the height.
Once the gutter is built, all you have to do is let the water flow from the top. For adults, this is a matter of course, but for children it is fun just to watch the water flow from the top down.
You may change the way the milk carton is assembled during the process. If you change the tilt, how will the momentum of the water flow change? Children can know it sensitively.
Water flows from top to bottom. If the angle is steep, it gains momentum. Children learn about the “natural order of things,” which is so obvious to adults, while thinking it is “strange” and “interesting.
Last message from Dr. Kozaki
Adults tend to think of games and toys with rules, but for children, water itself is the greatest “material for play. We encourage you to play with water from this perspective.
Summer is something that comes every year, but I always look forward to it. Japan has four seasons, but the feeling of freedom in summer is special. I think it is the same for adults and children alike.
It is an important part of parenting to convey to children the joys that await them in each season. If we can convey this information well, children’s sensibilities will be refined.
To do this, adults should play as much as they can. Play dynamically and let the children see that you are really enjoying yourself.
