On August 2 and August 9 (Saturday), we held the family program “Water Journey.”
We began the program by inviting the little Frog-chan to appear and saying, “Today, let’s imagine that we have become Frog-chan, who loves water. Let’s look not only for water we can see, but also for the traces and signs of water.”

In the morning, when Frog-chan was already in the lecture room, the participants naturally chose to sit closer to the front. We could also see families who had arrived early start playing freely. One second-grade girl placed Frog-chan on her lap, gently moved its hands toward herself while staring intently, and then showed Frog-chan to her mother sitting next to her.

Conversations followed, such as:
“It’s so cute.”
“I love how different parts are shining.”
(While sketching together as parent and child) “You even drew the mushrooms properly.” / “And you drew its hands too.” / “It’s standing on a wooden base, isn’t it? (→ adding the pedestal to the drawing).”
Other children also said things like: “Hey, can I touch Frog-chan?” / “It’s really well made.” / “I wonder if the clay was dried.”
They looked like they were having a wonderful time, also taking commemorative photos together.

In the latter half of the program, one girl bumped her head on the glass in the dark exhibition case room on the fourth floor and started crying.

On their way out, when we had Frog-chan hold out its right hand and say, “Please come again,” the girl suddenly smiled and asked, “Huh? It can talk?” She even leaned in to carefully check whether its mouth was really moving or not—it was a very amusing moment.

At the Education and Public Programs Department of the Artizon Museum, there is a hand puppet affectionately called “Kaeru-chan” (Little Frog) that is available for lending. When children from kindergartens and schools visit the museum, Kaeru-chan welcomes and bids them farewell. It is also used to engage with the children by wearing it on their hands and discussing the artwork together.

Here is a charming story from a kindergarten visit:

“For all of the children, it was their first time visiting a museum, and also their first time riding a single-person escalator. They were so excited to ride it alone, stretching out both arms to show off their bravery. It was incredibly adorable.

When they were about to leave, one of the children asked, ‘What’s this little one’s name?’ I replied, ‘I just call it Kaeru-san (Mr. Frog).’ The child then tried saying different names, like ‘Kero-chan,’ ‘Kiru-chan,’ and ‘Keru-chan.’ Finally, as if murmuring to themselves, they settled on ‘Keru-chan’ and told me that was the name.”