Date: Saturday, December 12th and Sunday, December 13th

Location: Mitake

Participants: 26 campers, 7 care workers, 3 LITs, 12 Mirai no Mori staff (over 2 days)
Sponsor: Morgan Stanley

Program: 

At Back to Nature Christmas Special, smiley faces gathered in Mitake to enjoy the last program of 2020. To have a smaller group, we had programs on both Saturday and Sunday to share our holiday spirit.

The concept for this program is “time for giving,” to share the idea with the children that it’s not just about receiving presents from Santa, but also giving and sharing something with your loved ones.

In the morning, we did team quiz about the Christmas trivia, followed by nature crafts to make ornaments to decorate our tree. We went outside to collect twigs, leaves and rocks that gave us inspirations, and everyone made their very creative and special ornaments.

After enjoying delicious stew lunch, we made cards and stocking to give to our loved ones. The campers again were so creative and also eager to make more for their friends, families and care workers that they wanted to say “thank you”. Mirai no Mori also had small gifts to everyone; snack full of stockings and handmade snowman cards generously made by volunteers from Morgan Stanley. We shared how some people treasure their Christmas stocking for a long time, and some campers said that they would keep it forever!

Our last activity was a party with good music, cakes, and apple cider to share the festive spirit in Mirai no Mori atmosphere.For those who could not join, Mirai no Mori made Activity Kit and sent them to the children’s homes. It contains the video that explains how Mirai no Mori cerebrate Christmas, cooking videos for cookies and apple cider, and instruction posters of cards and nature crafts. The children will be spending lots of time at home without their usual events and gatherings this Winter, and we hope that these items will brighten their days and encourage them to be creative to continue their experiential learning.

We would like to thank everyone for their continuous support for making this special event possible.