Japanese Language and Origami Storytime at the National Building Museum

contributed by Naoko Kamioka

SJA was delighted to participate in the National Building Museum’s monthly "Storytime" event on May 29, hosted by the Socratic School of Language—a DC-based language immersion school offering early childhood education in Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, and soon Japanese.

About 12 children (ages 2–6) attended with parents and caregivers. Naoko Kamioka from the SJA Origami Team read a bilingual children's book, I Love to Help in Japanese and English, highlighting words like otetsudai (help). After the reading, she taught the children how to fold an origami rabbit face, inspired by the rabbit family in the book. With some adult help, even the youngest participants completed a rabbit puppet, sparking impromptu puppet shows.

We’re grateful to the Socratic School of Language and the National Building Museum for the opportunity to share Japanese language and culture with young children in such a warm, engaging setting.