Tanoshii Hawaii (Joyful Hawaii) is a culture camp
hosted by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii
offering children from ages 8 to 13 hands on learning
of Japanese and local culture through music, art,
crafts, food, language traditions and history. lkebana
International was invited to have an ikebana session
for about 60 children. This was quite a challenge with
so many children. They were divided into age groups
assigned to 8 tables. Each table had an I.I. helper
who provided one-on-one assistance.
Caroline started with a short talk on the safe use of
garden shears followed by a brief history of ikebana.
A short demonstration on how to get started with the
placement of different heights of green material using
straight lines and curved lines followed by the
placement of flowers. The students were to be creative
in the use of all the materials, then they immediately
went to work. What a sight to see these excited
children working so diligently. The time passed so
quickly as the children were amazed at the ikebana
arrangement that they had created to take home on
their final day of camp. We had a bunch of very happy
kids! Thanks to our hard-working volunteers.
