Kindergarten children interact with the elderly on old-fashioned handmade stilts Shizuoka Kakegawa

5/22/2023, 7:49:13 PM

Highlights: Children in Japan are learning to walk on stilts for the first time. They were taught by a group of children in the city of Yokosuka. The children were taught how to walk with their hands on their sides. They also learned how to stand on their tiptoes and balance on their stomachs. They are now learning how to use their legs and arms to walk. They will be able to do this for the rest of their lives, if they want to, according to the children's parents.

【NHK】An event was held where children attending kindergartens in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, interacted with local elderly people on old-fashioned handmade stilts.

An event was held where children attending kindergartens in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, interacted with local elderly people on old-fashioned handmade stilts.

At Kakegawa Municipal Sakagawa Kindergarten, children hold an event every year where elderly local volunteers teach them how to make and play stilts.

On the 22nd, 70 people in their 12s visited the garden and first showed how to make old-fashioned stilts using bamboo and wire cut in the local mountains.

After this, stilts were played on the playground, and the children practiced walking with the support of the elderly and teachers.

At first, some children could not balance well and fell off stilts, but little by little some of them got the hang of it and were able to walk alone.

A girl who rode stilts for the first time said, "It's difficult, but it's fun, and I want to be able to ride alone as soon as possible."

Chieko Sano, director of Sakagawa Kindergarten, said, "I would be happy if receiving praise from the elderly would lead to confidence and motivation."

Masayuki Yamazaki, the representative of the volunteer group, said, "I want children to feel the joy of being able to do things that they cannot do little by little."