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Main theme: "Joy in Creation and Watching"


Participants created their own winter stories from photographs of daily life. They also experienced the enjoyment of presenting their creations on various kinds of media.

The program allowed staff members to show flexibility and give consideration to the inclinations of each child in the program if, for example, any wanted to rest during the activities or be left alone. The story-making activity encouraged improvisation and creativity, and through this self-expression, focused on interactions with others and ensuring that everyone (adults and children) felt the playful spirit.

This playshop was held as the first session of a two-part playshop, the second which was to be held in March 2002. The program's activities incorporated (1) the cycle "creation - talking - reflection", (2) using five senses, (3) open structure that allows participants to come and go freely, and (4) intercultural communication.

Method


After checking in, parents and children were separated from each other, and all participants were divided into artificial families.
The introductory activity was held as an approach to the creation of the story. The photographs with the meanings of words attached were combined and sentences were created out of the wordplay.

In the main activity, participants imagined and created a story from certain photographs. In the end, they added sound effects and presented a digital picture-story show.

After watching a video of the day's events and reflection, they wrote their thoughts on strips of paper and placed them on the Christmas tree.

Program
11:00-11:20 Opening
- Greeting from chairperson and facilitators of each groups
- Explanation on the whole program of the day
- Santa Claus appeared and motivated participants to create a story and show it.
11:20-12:00


Introductory Activity: Creating a S.V.O. story
Thirty "story seeds" (photographs with labels attached) were distributed to each group. Using these seeds, participants practiced creating a story for the main activity.
- Thirty "story seeds" were spread on the floor. Participants chose 2 "story seeds": one noun and one verb written on the label. They were used to make sentences (stories) with a subject, verb, and object. (e.g., WHO DID WHAT, WHO DID WHAT TO WHAT/ WHO)
- Then, series of 4 photographs of the same person were chosen. The four photographs were arranged like a four-frame comic strip. Participants made dialogues for each strip as practice for the story creation. The facilitator in each group wrote down the story that children had made up. The stories were presented within each group.
- Finally, the stories that staff members created as a model was shown.
12:00-13:00
Lunch
During lunch, participants enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere and became more acquainted with their artificial families. Participants also noted the appearance, taste, and smell of the dishes that stimulated the five senses.
- Dishes that staff members prepared were placed on the table in the center of the room.
- Each group gathered by their table. The roles were decided within the groups, and they went to pick up their meals from the center table based on their roles.
- Food was placed on the table of each group. Participants shared the meal in groups. They served themselves, using colorful napkins and toothpicks.
- After the meal, all group members participated in clean-up.
13:00-15:00




Main Activity: Creating a Story
Participants created a winter story and make presentations with photographs they had taken and the provided photographs. The facilitators supported them in performing their roles and creating original stories.
1. Creating a Story
The staff provided the participants with a set of approximately 20 photographs and stories were made with about 12 photographs.
- Photographs and sound effects were chosen to suit the story. The first photograph and the last photograph with the "The End" were pre-determined. A maximum of eight could be used from the photograph set.
- Participants went out to take photographs that they might want to use besides the photographs in the photograph set.
- Narration was added to complete the story.
2. Adding Sound Effects
Sound effects and narrations were recorded to the story.
- Participants checked the flow as they recorded the sound effects and the narration.
3. Presentation
The presentation was entitled "Nagayama Christmas Theater". After Santa Claus appeared, each group presented their story.
15:00-15:45
Free Time
- Participants enjoyed free time unrelated to story-making. Facilitators playfully interacted with participants.
- In the last 30 minutes, the observing team explained the interview method to parents and guardians.
15:45-16:20
Reflection Time
- Parents/guardians interviewed children about what they enjoyed most in the workshop and wrote down their answers on the questionnaire sheet.
- Participants watched a 3-minute video summary of the Playshop Day called Playshop News.
- Santa Claus appeared again and distributed sheets for writing comments to the participants. Meanwhile, the chairperson brought a Christmas tree decorated with candy. Participants hung the strips of paper with comments onto the tree, and took candy from the tree.
16:20 End, Sending off the Participants