[Implementation Report] Day 2: We held the Koshine! Christmas Camp.

Well then, it is the second day of the Koshine! Christmas Camp.

In the morning, almost all the children slept soundly until the wake-up time.
At the sound of 'It's morning!', some girls got up easily and started getting ready, while in one boys' room, there was a staff member being scolded with 'You're noisy!' (laughs).

Even though they slept so well, the children often say 'I couldn't sleep at all' every time, perhaps because they are nervous at camp or bothered by other sounds.
I thought, 'No, no, you were breathing quite soundly while sleeping,' but I accepted it by saying, 'I see, I see' (laughs).
Despite the rain forecast, it is very nice weather! Now, let's enjoy the second day to the fullest!

Breakfast was served in the dining hall.
We had a luxurious breakfast from the morning. For meals at camp, we don't say 'don't eat what you don't like,' but rather have them decide the amount they want to challenge themselves with.
Even at breakfast, they adjust the portions themselves to learn how much they can eat.

Morning meeting

Now that their stomachs were full, various questions started flying, such as 'Tago-tago, what time are we going outside?' and 'Are we eating lunch on the train?'
Thinking that everyone must be full, I told them what I wanted them to do before we went out to play.
When I asked how many minutes they needed for all 22 of them to finish and gather, some tough kids said '15 minutes!', while others said '45 minutes!' or '1 hour!', with reasonable answers coming regardless of their grade level!
Since they had been going full speed since yesterday, I decided on 45 minutes, which is a good amount of time to do things without rushing.
At camp, we want them to create their own fun time, so we leave the schedule that can be decided to the children.
So, when I asked what they wanted to do about lunch, most of the children answered 'on the train,' so we decided to eat on the train.
Of course, those who want to eat at the school first are welcome to do so, but once they start playing, they forget all about that (laughs).

Even when we can't predict things well like this time, we value the experience of trying it out and learning the sense of time, like 'It takes about this much time to complete these tasks.'
Being able to make such estimates is also useful for daily life, such as getting ready in the morning.

As a result, 16 children were able to gather at the meeting place after 45 minutes✨ Wonderful~!
Those who finished early were doing crafts they wanted to do yesterday or playing card games while waiting.

While I was checking for any forgotten items so I could check out of the room before gathering, W-chan helped me look for them.
Thanks to that, I was able to return several lost and forgotten items. Thank you!

The real thrill of a sleepover is being able to continue what you did yesterday.

Now, let's start playing!
When we went outside, they split into the bonfire team, the secret base team, and the exploration team, just like yesterday.
Some members were the same, while others joined completely different activities.

The exploration team also went fishing, just like yesterday!

R-chan, who was enjoying fishing with a staff member yesterday. At the end, her friend M-chan was also fishing with her, but today it had changed to S-chan.
Apparently, she wanted to try it after watching R-chan fish.
She came to attach a string to a long branch with R-chan, and they headed straight to the stream!

S-chan, who was sitting still with her fishing line in the flowing water, and R-chan, who had been watching the flow of the water with her for a while, suddenly started throwing stones with a splash! (laughs).
Are they trying to lure the creatures out?
S-chan, who was trying by casting her line here and there, and R-chan, who was enjoying throwing stones while watching without fishing. They were two people with an interesting relationship, as if they were playing together but not quite.

Responding to the wish of 'I want to explore the school!'

M-chan, also a second grader, said at yesterday's 'Oyasumi' meeting, 'I want to explore the areas (of the school) we haven't been to yet!'
Exploring the school with a staff member!
They went to the edge where they couldn't go any further and found a large open space.

Then, K-kun, a first grader who was interested in M-chan's exploration team, joined in.
The two, who had almost no interaction yesterday, joined together and enjoyed playing tag.

Two people connected through their shared interests. They didn't play together for long, but I think it was a great experience that they were able to connect over the desire to do something together.
Perhaps this will lead to them interacting again at the next camp.
I'm looking forward to it!

A summer souvenir found while playing tag

Three first-grade boys went on an expedition after trying their hand at making a fire.
There was a corner where a lot of moss was growing, and they started picking at it.
I watched from a distance, thinking I'd just have them put it back later, when...
“Whoa! Look! A stag beetle or rhinoceros beetle horn!” They found a summer insect souvenir in the soil!!!

Everyone put their heads together to observe it!
“I wonder if the body is nearby?” “No, maybe a bear came and it broke off when it hid here.” Their imaginations just kept expanding!
The imagination children have is so interesting!
In the end, they decided to make a grave for this horn, so they dug a hole and buried it.
Maybe the owner will come to get it. It was a heartwarming bit of play.

Secret base play also leveled up. Expanding on yesterday's image even further

This is secret base play.
It looks like they are making something new next to the base they built yesterday.
The members who were fishing earlier joined in here.
Apparently, the fishing line S-chan was using earlier snapped because it couldn't handle the current!
So, when they stood that branch up at the secret base just like yesterday...
“Let's tie this,” they said, tying the broken string to other branches. Then, “Wow, it looks like an entrance! Let's make this the entrance to the secret base!” and a new secret base was born.

From here, a new base is created, led by K-chan, who has been obsessed with the secret base since yesterday.
As they are making the entrance to the secret base, the first-grade boys who were exploring run over to play tag.
This is just like yesterday; I wonder if K-chan will get mad?
Then, a suggestion was made: “How about we make a course for tag?”
Wow, one play activity connected to another! 👏 A new development was born from the very play she had disliked yesterday, when she told them not to get in the way of her base building.
The staff who were witnessing this were also surprised! The conversation just kept moving forward.

They pick up short pieces of wood to make a course.

“No, it's like this.” “It goes from here to here.” While clashing their individual images together, the creation of the tag course from the secret base was finally nearing its end. When I rushed over, K-chan suddenly handed me a long branch and said, “I appoint you as the gatekeeper!” and even gave me lines to say, but the role of gatekeeper never actually came up (lol). When I was called away to something else and left the spot, they decided to create a final boss for this course! And who appeared there? It was K-kun, a second-grader (lol).

He was making a fire just a moment ago, but before I knew it, he had been invited into this fun game (lol).
In this way, the secret base play kept expanding, and people kept rotating in and out.
Various people came, and through that chemical reaction, a base and a course were completed in the end.
When it was time to clean up, K-chan said, “Wait, can't we leave it as it is?” It seemed she was sad to break it down.
They had spent two days building it, after all. They had created a masterpiece they were so attached to.

The Bonfire Squad, a gathering of foodies ~The Marshmallow Battle~

Many members who said “I want to eat roasted marshmallows!” at yesterday's closing meeting gathered here.
Some kids were in the fire-starting squad from the beginning, and others joined in halfway through after doing other activities, so this bonfire became like the base of operations for the Koshine! camp over the two days.
Coming back, leaving again.
A place that was outside but felt like home, a place where someone was always there.
And there was a warm fire burning, and things to eat.
I felt like that was the kind of place it was for the children.

For the fire-starting, everyone from kids who had done it yesterday to first-timers cooperated to prepare.
Y-chan and H-chan, who had been starting fires since yesterday. They seemed to have worked together to get the fire going, and they came to report to me while I was watching the craft corner, happily saying, “The fire is lit!!” just like yesterday.

At other stoves, fire-starting beginners listened to staff explain how to start a fire and also tried their hand at making kindling.

Since it's their first time, their hands are a bit shaky, but their expressions are serious!
Seeing the children, I'm reminded that first-time experiences are truly exciting.

Each of the three hearths had a fire-starting challenge, and at every hearth, there were problems like it not catching easily, not burning, or being about to go out, but every child kept trying until the very end without giving up.
Some children even managed to start a fire with a high-level fire starter! Continuing from yesterday, those who succeeded reported it very proudly (laughs).

When children can do something difficult or something they couldn't do before, it really builds their confidence.
Once they grasp the trick of 'I couldn't do it before, but I can do it if I do this!', they want to teach others and show off by teaching them.
I believe that by explaining the skills they've acquired to someone else in their own way, they truly master them for the first time.
I try to be creative with how adults talk to and interact with them so that they can acquire these skills themselves, but I think there was a lot of interaction between the children this time!

We saw that kind of behavior everywhere on both the first and second days, and I could feel the growth of the children who keep coming back.

Marshmallows must be made from skewers!

Once the fire settles down, it's marshmallow time!
It was the time everyone had been waiting for since yesterday. We had two bags, but since so many children wanted them, I actually felt like it wouldn't be enough, so I bought more (laughs).
You can't eat marshmallows right away.
I'm not very kind (laughs), so I basically don't bring bamboo skewers; they have to make their own.
If given bamboo skewers, children sometimes just leave them after eating. But if they make their own, they take care of them until the end, and since they put them in the fire when they're done, they don't become trash. Based on my own statistics (laughs), I always have them make their own skewers.

How do you make it? Children doing it for the first time or those who joined in halfway ask the experienced ones and get taught.
Children who know from previous camps how thin it should be to make it easy to eat take the lead in making them and teach the first-timers.
H-chan made her skewer faster than anyone else and even made another one, asking if someone wanted to use it!!

Here, too, there's a child engrossed in making their own skewer!
S-chan was making and eating with a bamboo skewer yesterday, too. Remembering how she did it yesterday, she worked busily on making her skewer.
I made it thinner than yesterday! she reported with a very satisfied expression.
Well done. That's proof that what you learned yesterday has really stuck!

When they take a bite of the melted marshmallow with a skewer they made themselves, the children's faces soften and they look so happy.
Why does a marshmallow over a campfire make you so happy? It's a mysterious food (laughs).

While eating marshmallows, people around were drinking hot cocoa or making and eating popcorn...

It became a time for everyone to enjoy the campfire in their own way, and before I knew it, various children and adults were gathering, coming and going.

Even the final cleanup, done thoroughly. With responsibility.

Well, it's almost time to clean up.
The children, having filled their stomachs with marshmallows, play until the very last moment.

In the open space where the secret base had been set up, a pretend battle broke out at the very end.
While being very careful with how they handled the branches, adults and children fought together.
H-kun was a first-time participant. When asked at yesterday's closing meeting what he wanted to do tomorrow, he said, 'I want to go wild!'
While having a pretend battle, he showed off a cool spinning kick, saying, 'Watch me!' 👏
While being teased by the adults, 'Hey! Go wild!', we were able to see many smiles that we didn't see much of yesterday.

Third-grader M-kun wandered between crafts and the campfire, and when he was drawn to the fun voices and came to the open space, he stuck a branch into the wood the final boss had been holding and was doing some kind of craft work.

They seem to be enjoying the difference in the sounds they make when they hit it!
They found a fun game to play! (laughs)
They played right up until the very last second.

Even though some teams have a hard time stopping when the time is up, we gather once to decide on cleaning duties.
Since our motto is "take responsibility for what you start," everyone participates in cleaning the areas they played in. If they participated in multiple areas, we ask them to choose one.
Every child, without complaint, worked hard to clean up so that the next person could use the space comfortably.

Thank you, everyone. Thanks to you, it became very clean. 👏

The long-awaited souvenir time.

Well, the fun camp time flew by and it was time to go home.
Feeling a bit reluctant to leave, we said goodbye to the school staff and left the Katsushika City Nikko Forest School.

At Tobu-Nikko Station, it was time for the souvenir shopping the children had been looking forward to!
They used the pocket money they brought to buy souvenirs for their favorite people and for themselves.

Here, we intentionally split them into four teams to go shopping so they wouldn't just stick with their friends.
It was time to choose souvenirs for themselves or for people they wanted to buy for.
While adults supported the children who still find calculations difficult, they took their items to the register and paid for them themselves.
It's an experience they don't often get. They all calculated well and bought what they wanted.

On the express train ride home, we ate lunch and played, and before we knew it, we arrived at Kita-Senju!!
The children were still full of energy until the very end!
By the time we reached Kita-Senju, some were saying, "Oh, we're back to the city air." (laughs)
These 16 children truly enjoyed their nature-filled Nikko life.

Well, this has become a massive report starting from Day 1.
Thank you very much for reading this disorganized report.
First, I would like to thank the 5 staff members who played with the 16 children. Thank you.
And to all the parents who sent their precious children to Nikko, which is a bit far away. Thank you so much. I'm sure the children have returned feeling something special.
I would be happy if you could use the photos and videos as a conversation starter.

Finally, thank you to everyone at the Katsushika City Nikko Forest School for kindly accepting us in all our chaos and playing with us. Thank you as always. Please let us come and play again!

With this, all 12 Koshine! camps for 2025 have concluded.
Every activity was made possible thanks to the children who came, the parents who sent them, and all the staff who helped with the operations. Thank you very much.
There are still many areas that need improvement and many things I need to work on, but I will continue to strive so that we can meet even more children in 2026 and continue to be a place where everyone who comes can feel at home.
I look forward to your continued support.

The activity schedule for 2026 is planned to be released within the year! Look forward to it.

Well then, until the next camp.
See you later! Have a great year!

Koshine! Tago-tago