Tip 80: Getting involved in activities of the season

At the start of each season in Japan, there will be processions at many different cities and this promotes awareness to cherish the beautiful and uniqueness of each season. Japanese take the extra mile to catch the beautiful sights at the best places, even if it means spending more money or waiting in long queues. But, to a certain extent, that's something we ought to consider doing. When the playcenter near my home organized Nagashi Soumen as part of it's summer activity for just 300 yen per person (USD$3), we seized the opportunity to let Haruka have her first Nagashi Soumen experience. She is too young to cherish this memory, but the photos and comments posted here can do that job.

Nagashi Soumen or floating/flowing noodles is usually done during summer as an outdoor activity where the soumen noodles are let to flow down a long flume of bamboo on cold water (sometimes ice cold). I had my first experience at a garden of a home in the company of adults aged 20 onwards. Its actually quite costly as you have to order a clean bamboo as you do not see any grow wild in Tokyo. The second experience was equally fun in the company of kids and mothers. There were some additional items besides the soumen which were quite a challenge to catch using a chopstick or fork such as the fast rolling baby tomatoes and mochi. Of course, I had to hold Haruka's hand the whole time and she probably did not know what was going on except the time when I put the items in her mouth. I am looking forward to try these activities again as Haruka grows older and with my future other children. Hopefully, God willing I would still have time to blog about them. And may all this blog post be a special present to my children of my love to them as well as a testament of how much fun I put into parenting in the midst of the sweat and commitments as well.

Are there any fun activities related to seasons and cultural festivals that you do with your children? Do share them on the comment section.