Sentan Nursery Room Hour and Children Sports Time（2023/3/24）

　The Sentan Nursery Room, the sports ground and the basketball court were opened up by the Center for International Students and Scholars (CISS) on March 24th so families on campus could get together and children could have fun playing together.

　When the event started children and some parents (10 people in total) started playing at the ground, some playing soccer and others creating their own running game with orange cones. Other children went to basketball court and had fun playing basketball as the basketball courts are not usually open for children. With all the areas open, children got excited and enjoyed running to different areas and trying out different things.

　At the Sentan Nursery Room, a student, his wife and 7-month-old daughter family visited the room and looked around to see what was available, such as the kitchen and rooms with futons where children can sleep. They settled down in the playroom and their daughter slowly relaxed, playing with the toys there and getting used to the new environment. During that time the parents were able to talk to CISS staff about topics like vaccinations in Japan and city hall procedures. This was the first time the family had heard of the nursery room and they were interested in reserving it for private use as well.

　An international student living off-campus brought his family to participate in the event and they were able to make new friends as many children got together to play and run around the campus. One of the goals of these events is making a community that supports child-raising and work-life balance on campus.

　Towards the end of the event about 15 children who originally played outside gathered in the nursery room and explored the rooms and the toys that were there. When Mr. Robert King (UEA, CISS) announced that the event was coming to an end, all the children helped clean up the room and close everything up.

　This event successfully brought together the children to play and make new friends and their parents to make new ties in our international community. We hope to plan more events that were not possible due to the pandemic in order to strengthen these ties and assist families as they try to balance their work, studies and family life.