Halloween 2018: Music, Games and a Costume Parade
The children had spent days excitedly planning their costumes. They arrived dressed as many different characters, while parents helped create the festive atmosphere with costumes and Halloween-themed clothing of their own!
Teachers wore costumes inspired by Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and M&M’s. One especially eye-catching costume belonged to Minoru, CGK’s founder: the crocodile from Peter Pan. He was completely hidden inside, so the children could not tell who it was! With its long tail and impressive size, the crocodile made quite an entrance.
Our event began with special guests: the gospel group Be Choir. Around ten members performed songs including “Joyful Joyful,” “Oh Happy Day” and their original “Hands up!” Their wonderful voices moved everyone. Mountain class especially enjoyed standing up, singing and clapping along. The whole room came together through music.
During “Oh Happy Day,” the crocodile (Minoru) joined the performance. Moving along to the music as if singing, the crocodile had everyone laughing. We hope the experience helped spark a love of music and singing.
At the game stations, children enjoyed Ring Toss, Monster Mouth target throwing, a Slimy Cauldron treasure hunt and a temporary tattoo booth. The trick-or-treat room was dimly lit and a little spooky, but the children were delighted to say “Trick or Treat!” and receive their sweets.
We finished the games with a cakewalk. Similar in some ways to musical chairs, children walked over Halloween character pictures on the floor while music played, then stopped when it paused. Whoever stood on the character selected afterward won a reward sticker. The game takes its name from the cakes traditionally awarded to winners in the United States. Every round brought anticipation: would the chosen picture be the vampire, Frankenstein’s monster, the wolf or the character under their own feet? Winners celebrated with excited cheers.
Our final activity was a Halloween parade. Still in costume, everyone walked from CGK to Kannai Hall, where the event ended. Passersby looked surprised and called out how cute the children looked, making them feel very proud.
The fun passed quickly, but families stayed to take photographs and enjoy the atmosphere after the event. Everyone’s smiles showed how much they had enjoyed themselves. Another wonderful memory together!
With gospel music, games and a parade, it was a busy Halloween celebration. In the days afterward, we received many lovely comments about how enjoyable it had been.
Thank you, everyone! Happy Halloween!
Be Choir was founded in October 2010 by its leader, 長谷川雅洋, as a choir and mass-chorus group.。
The group’s profile at the time reported a combined audience of more than 30,000 for its live performances, particularly headline shows at venues such as Tokyo Kinema Club and Kawasaki Club Citta.
The group also pursued collaborations with a variety of artists, challenging expectations of choir music through its concert series, “Moshi-kura: What if the gospel group Be Choir performed a collaboration concert with…?” The first featured AeLL., the idol group including Ai Shinozaki (February 2014), and the second featured vocal duo D-51 (January 2015). These collaborations created new kinds of performances and attracted considerable attention.
In addition, “LOVE LIFE” by Kaoru Kurosawa of The Gospellers, following a joint appearance at a headline concert, was included on Kurosawa’s tenth-anniversary single.