Our Planet

Text : Takuto Kashiwagi

The idea of Yamanoko Shopping Street was the first attempt for both children and us Yamanoko staff. In this article, I would like to think about the essence of work that is childcare that I have come to see through the efforts of Yamanoko Shopping Street, while describing what I thought and did from the beginning.

The Beginning
Although there were several discussions among the staff about what to do at the graduation ceremony, the situation continued to be difficult to reach a decision. We brought up a few ideas such as climbing a mountain (= experiencing physical challenges and feeling a sense of accomplishment) but due to seasonal issues, we could not reach this decision. Therefore, instead of the staff deciding the content, we decided to shift our perspective to what the children are doing now. Then we noticed that children were frustrated that they could not decide what to do for themselves. We heard from them, “why do we have to go outside? We want to stay inside” and “why do adults get to eat snacks and we do not!”. Also, money was a watchword that we heard often. “We want to watch movies at a theater but we do not have money” “We want to buy snacks but we do not have money!”. It was clear from these statements and their ways of not being able to be the commander of “I want to do this!”, that they were beginning to be curious about money.

On the other hand, some staff were concerned about how communication through money would affect their daily communication in Yamanoko. Some were worried that it might create a communication based on rewards such as “If you do XX, I will give you XX”.

There was no opinion on the spot that resolved that concern, however, there seemed to be an underlying question among the staff, “what is money?”.  Even assuming that money is a communication tool, the meaning of money for adults and the meaning of money for children may be different, and the meaning of money may be different for each individual. We, the staff don’t have the answer, but we decided to start a money-themed quest with them, who seem to be at the entrance to society with an antenna for money.

The Birth of “We Want to Open Our Own Shops!.”
On March 1, when I asked eight older children, “What do you want to do on the last day of Yamanoko?, “H replied, “I want to eat snacks just by the older children, away from everyone” When asked, “How are you going to buy your food?”, a few people said, “I have money!”. However, S said, “It’s a waste to spend the money you’ve saved. We’ll open our own shop!” KI and H gave their opinions as they were excited about the idea. KA, Y, A, and J were looking down to carefully examine what S said meant.

After the idea of ​​opening a store came out, I consciously increased the play of playing in the store. In that process, I wanted to get a feel for what each person is interested in, whether they all have one store or each has a different store.

First, we played a shop on the bench in front of Sorai. “It’s a vegetable shop. It costs 1 million yen for a carrot!” “It’s an everything shop! There is everything! There are toys, too.” Of course, there are no products or money, so the hands of the shop staff and the customers are empty. Everything went on with the images in the heads of the players.  Another day, we played a shop in Kunekuneyama. With abundant branches and pine needles falling, a shop that used branches as vegetables and weapons had started. After a while, some people stood in front of the guests who sat down, saying, “It’s a movie theater.” After that, stores that offer experiences rather than products, such as game stores and wish-making stores, continued to emerge. We did not have abundant materials, but because we did it in a spatially vast area, it was easy for stores that sell experiences to be born.

Later, I printed pictures of money and handed them to the children. As the money became more tangible and visible, the specific amount was decided as “10 yen per piece”, and the pleasure of being able to realize their achievements as “I got so much money!” was added. In addition, we visited Copia, a supermarket nearby with the aim to strengthen the feeling of “I am really opening up a store!”.

At the stage where each person has accumulated time to play and think “I want to do this”, I started to think how can I make this into a project of 8 and really make it into their own projects.

So, at a morning gathering with the younger children, the elders announced that they were planning to open up a shop. I felt that the existence of other people in the talk became helpful in creating this project, their project. Seeing that this event changed the facial expressions of the older children, I had the discussion time with them afterwards. At the talk, older children began to talk enthusiastically, and some people took notes on who wanted to do what. Also, some people drew a map of where and which stores are located. After that, when we went to Sorai, I saw them keep moving their hands without rest. Going to Sorai, a place rich in materials, as opposed to Kunekuneyama and spending time there concreted their plan of creating actual goods and selling them.

On the other hand, there was concern among Yamanoko staff whether this would be in time for March 30th. Even for senior children, it is very difficult to imagine what will happen two weeks later and adjust the current behavior toward that. Although the children were looking forward to Yamanoko Shopping Street, they were not able to prepare for it because of the spontaneous play that happened on the spot. However, if an adult gives them a “talk” constantly, it misses the entire point of the project. I posted a calendar and drew a map of the actual production so that they could decide their actions with a sense of conviction. In addition, we attempted to make it easier to get an image of the actual performance by creating a “practice day” for the children of the Kogomi class and the staff to become customers.

In the process, I felt that I was preparing an environment where children could draw an image of a shopping street. I was trying to create a situation where the children could decide for themselves what to make in order to realize the image they drew in their heads. It is natural that children are uncertain about their first experience, and some leadership is important, but I think that the emphasis was on children being able to decide their own actions.

At the same time, I find it regrettable that the attention and the care regarding the production of the Shopping Street  that was given to the elder children were not given to the younger ones in the same amount. Even though I knew the movements of their hearts for the elder children, there was not enough to parallel myself to the will power of the younger children. I looked at the entry-sheet with the names of all the children who had desired to participate in the Shopping Street and I wondered what the world looked like if I could lend a hand to all the names, including the ones not written down.

When I am doing the work of childcare, there is the spark of encountering the moment a child thinks, “ I want to do this!”. However, there lies a difficulty to “I want to do this!”. I often wonder how I respond to someone who holds the feelings of “I want to do this but I can’t?” How can adults develop the ability to choose the right means, rather than taking the initiative or teaching them how to do it?

I think there are many ways to achieve this. One of them is to make the invisible visible. After accurately grasping the world that the person sees, devise a way to draw what is in the outer world into the person’s world. When that happens, the person will be surprised, will learn, and will gain a perspective.

Although the sensitivity to “money” was the trigger, the greatest significance of Yamanoko Shopping Street was the experience of going toward their own “I want to do this!” that they had never seen before. We, the educators, want to acquire the power to create a richer world while fertilizing the experience gained in the process.