Tag: Kidding Around the Kitchen

“Winter Wonderland” Target Free Family Saturday on December 14th!

Esther Shin Leave a comment

December Target Day 6

Visit JANM for a winter-themed Target FREE Family Saturdays event on December 14th, from 11AM to 4PM! All day activities include: decorating a holiday picture frame; constructing a tiny winter wonderland to fill with seasonal cheer, and folding a winter reindeer in Ruthie’s Origami Corner.

December Target Day 8From 11AM to 2PM join Kidding Around the Kitchen for a simple, yet delicious, Winter Wonderland cereal mix that will make a delicious snack as well as a fun home-made present the kids will be so proud to give away to family, friends, and teachers alike.

December Target Day 5From 12PM to 2PM take a picture with Asian American Santa Claus, and don’t forget to let him know what you want for Christmas!

From 12:30PM to 2:30PM join a guided tour of JANM’s latest exhibition, Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts (on view through March 2, 2014).

December Target Day 7From 1PM to 3PM enjoy a ride on a horse-drawn carriage that will be fun for the whole family!

At 1PM and 3PM don’t miss Star in a Glass Jar, a winter-time story performed through kamishibai (paper drama), a Japanese art form of storytelling. The story is about an incredible adventure of one child’s letter with no address which finds its way to the other side of the world. Paper character craft to follow performance.

Photos by Russell Kitagawa, Richard Murakami, Tsuneo Takasugi, and Caroline Jung.

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Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together.

Check out our other fun and free Family Festivals!

Highlights from November’s Target Free Family Saturday

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Crafts!

On November 9, 2013, JANM celebrated autumn with many guests at Target Free Family Saturdays: Awesome Autumn!

The day was filled with free activities such as putting together a festive fall salad, banging on a drum in a drum circle, sitting in on a reading of Thanksgiving at Obaachan’s, decorating a furoshiki (wrapping cloth) for a mini omanju (traditional confection), and much more!

Go For Broke - Veterans Day Weekend

The Go For Broke National Education Center also held an important event at their monument. 11 veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team were reminded of France’s gratitude for their efforts during World War II and received the French Legion of Honor Medal. Words of remembrance and appreciation, followed by the pinning of the Medals were presented by Fabrice Maiolino, the Deputy Consul General of France in Los Angeles. Afterwards, exciting activities ensued at the Go For Broke Monument in honor of Veterans Day. Guests were able to view the monument, and enjoy various family-friendly activities as well.

It was an exciting Saturday to celebrate the season, and Veterans Day. Check out these photos from November’s Target Free Family Saturday!

Photos by Caroline Jung, Richard Murakami, Russell Kitagawa, and Tsuneo Takasugi

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Don’t miss our next Target Free Family Saturday, “Winter Wonderland” on Saturday, December 14th from 11AM – 4PM! It’s a Winter Wonderland of seasonal crafts & activities including photos with Asian American Santa, a horse-drawn carriage, and kamishibai story-telling! For more information, visit janm.org/target.

If you haven’t gotten a chance to see it already, JANM’s newest exhibition, Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts is on view until March 2, 2014. For more information on the exhibition please visit janm.org/goforbroke.

Save the Date: 2014 Oshogatsu Family Festival

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Taiko Group

Celebrate the New Year and the Year of the Horse at JANM! Ring in 2014 with a FREE fun-filled day of exciting cultural performances, special foods, and fun crafts!

Candy Sculpture

FREE admission all day on Sunday, January 5, 2014 from 11AM – 5PM.

Here are a few highlights to look forward to at Oshogatsu Family Festival:

From 12PM – 5PM, world-renowned candy artist Shan Ichiyanagi returns JANM! Watch as he makes horse & other special candy sculptures! These sculptures will be for children on, and candies will be raflled off throughout the day.
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From 12PM – 2PM, learn how to make onigiri rice balls and participate in our Onigiri Design Contest, presented by Common Grains!

From 1PM – 5PM be sure to try some lucky zaru soba (buckwheat noodles) with Kidding Around the Kitchen. From 1PM – 5PM you can also meet and ride some real live ponies in celebration of the Year of the Horse!

Mochitsuki

Don’t miss Kodama Taiko at 2:30PM & 4PM as they perform a demonstration of mochitsuki, a traditional rice cake pounding ceremony. Mochi samples will be passed out at the end of the performance!

For JANM members, there will be a special gourmet osechi-ryori tasting from 12PM – 1PM where members can sample traditional Japanese New Year foods, while supplies last!

The day will also include all-day activities such as a horse bounce house, a toddler room where our youngest guests can hang out, Fukubukuro (lucky bag) sale at the Museum Store, and fun horse crafts.

While you’re here, be sure to check out the Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 (through February 9, 2014) and Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts (through March 2, 2014) exhibitions.

For more details, visit the 2014 Oshogatsu Family Festival page: janm.org/oshogatsufest2014

Stay tuned for a special series of Oshogatsu blog posts that will explore some of the cultural activities in more detail!

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Kaeru reindeerYou don’t have to wait to enjoy holiday fun at JANM!

Join us for Target FREE Family Saturdays: Winter Wonderland on Saturday, December 14 from 11AM – 4PM.

It’s a Winter Wonderland of seasonal crafts & activities including photos with Asian American Santa, a horse-drawn carriage, kamishibai story-telling, and more!

For schedule, visit: janm.org/target

Celebrate autumn this Saturday at JANM’s Target Free Family Saturday!

Esther Shin Leave a comment
Enjoy autumn-themed crafts and activities at our November Target Day!
Enjoy autumn-themed crafts and activities at our November Target Free Family Saturday!

Join us this weekend for our Target Free Family Saturdays event on November 9th from 11am to 4pm! The day will feature a variety of autumn-themed crafts and activities, in addition to celebrating Veterans Day with the Go For Broke National Education Center.

Assemble your own "Festive Fall Salad" with Kidding Around the Kitchen!
Assemble your own Festive Fall Salad with Kidding Around the Kitchen!

The day will start at 11am with Kidding Around the Kitchen, as they will lead a fabulous make-it-yourself  Festive Fall Salad, using the best that fall harvest has to offer. Also beginning at 11am will be a Comic Book Lounge, where guests can relax and read comic books in celebration of the Marvels and Monsters exhibition.

 

At 1:30pm (and again at 2:30pm) you can join in on an energetic drum circle by playing on a drum (no experience necessary)! Then at 3pm, join us for a reading of Thanksgiving at Obaachan’s with author Janet Mitsui Brown. Then stick around to decorate your own furoshiki (wrapping cloth) complete with your own mini omanju (traditional confection) to snack on!

Meet Japanese American WWII veterans at the Go For Broke Monument!
Meet Japanese American WWII veterans at the Go For Broke Monument!

Most importantly, don’t forget to visit Go For Broke at their Monument, just outside of the National Museum. Not only can you view the monument, but there will be lots of family-friendly activities. You can even get baseball-style cards signed by Japanese American WWII Veterans!

Have Japanese American WWII veterans sign their baseball cards for you at the Go For Broke monument!
Have Japanese American WWII veterans sign their baseball cards for you at the Go For Broke monument!

This Saturday’s Target Free Family  Saturday is not limited to these activities, but will feature even more FREE crafts and activities ALL DAY! Including a camoflouge-print jump house in honor of Veterans Day, Ruthie’s Origami Corner, coloring, and more!

 

Photo Credits: Russell Kitagawa, Richard Murakami, Tsuneo Takasugi, Caroline Jung, and Esther Shin

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Be sure to check out Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics: 1942-1986, on view through February 9, 2014. Marvels & Monsters illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians through a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades. For more information please visit: janm.org/marvels-monsters

For the full schedule and updates on the November Target Free Family Saturday (or to see what’s coming up for the December event), visit: janm.org/target.

Don’t miss our comics-themed Target Free Family Saturday!

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986

Zap! Pow! Bam! Sounds like our comics-themed Target Free Family Saturday is coming up!

Visit JANM on October 12th from 11AM – 4PM to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986, with comics-themed crafts and activities!

Superhero cape & mask making
Make your own superhero cape and mask!

 

JANM has planned an action packed day!

From assembling your own popcorn snack with Kidding Around the Kitchen, to making your own superhero costume and capturing it in a photo booth, there are activities planned for kids of all ages and interests. You’ll even be able to watch vintage Japanese anime at its earliest roots from the 1920s and 1930s!

Make sure to catch a special Marvels & Monsters Gallery Talk at 11:30am by Jeff Yang, the curator of the exhibition. You won’t want to miss Jeff Yang share special insight into the creation of Marvels & Monsters!

 

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Join curator, Jeff Yang, for a special Gallery Talk on the exhibition, Marvels & Monsters!

There will be an interactive activity shortly after the Gallery Talk where you can “Build a Hero” at 12PM, or “Build a Villain” at 2:30PM.

Jeff Yang will lead the audience in collaboratively creating an ORIGINAL comic book super-character who’ll be drawn in real time by comic artists from the Secret Identities and Shattered anthologies! There will also be a book signing after each of these sessions!

Batman Caricature by Cartoon Slinger
Batman Caricature by Cartoon Slinger

Don’t leave the Museum before getting a chance to turn yourself into a comic-book character with a caricature drawn by Cartoon Slinger! (*for children only, line ends at 2:30pm)

Make sure you top off your day by teaming up with your buddies to take down villains in superhero video games brought to you by Game Truck!

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Photos from the July Target FREE Family Saturday

Emily Leventhal Leave a comment
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One young guest proudly shows off his family portrait

We all had a blast at the Target Free Family Saturdays event on July 13! It was great to see so many families hanging out and working together to make family portraits and journals! The audience was packed for all of our book readings, especially Allen Say and his daughter Yuriko’s telling of The Favorite Daughter. While some of our young visitors made tasty and fresh summer salads with Kidding Around the Kitchen, others worked on recording their family stories in our writing workshop.

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Allen Say reads from his new book “The Favorite Daughter,” accompanied by his daughter (and inspiration) Yuriko

If you missed this Target Day, come on out to the next one, Zap! Pow! Bam!, on October 12th. And don’t miss our upcoming free Natsumatsuri on August 10th!

Thanks again to everyone who showed up, and all of our great volunteers who helped out. Check out more photos on our Facebook page!

Photos by: Caroline Jung, Russell Kitagawa, and Tsuneo Takasugi

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A young visitor works on her family portrait with a little help!
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Author Heidi Cole reads from her book “Am I a Color Too?”

 

 

 

 

 

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We Tell Stories performs multicultural tales in Proud to Be Me!
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Family members work together to record their stories in our writing workshop
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Two guests with their very own memory books

 

 

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Visible & Invisible curator Dr. Duncan Williams leads a tour of the exhibition
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Guests with their tasty creations from Kidding Around the Kitchen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April Target FREE Family Saturday — Monster Mash!

Vicky Murakami-Tsuda Leave a comment

Our next Target FREE Family Saturday theme is Monster Mash! Join us on April 14th from 11am-4pm for a full day of monster related fun & crafts for the whole family. It’s FREE ALL DAY!

At 2pm, artist, toy designer, and unofficial Kaiju* Toy and Art Ambassador Mark Nagata will talk about Kaiju toys and how they are made.

You may remember Mark from his participation in our Dreams to Dreams Custom Vinyl Toy Show in 2008 and the Year of the Labbit Custom Show in 2011.

Mark wrote an article for our Discover Nikkei website in 2007 that shared how he got interested in vinyl toys & monsters. (Read “Beyond Ultraman” >>)

 

In addition to Mark’s talk, join us for monster crafts, Kidding Around the Kitchen‘s Healthy Monster Mash Mix, face painting, caricatures, and origami.

Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together.

Check the full schedule >>