小学校5年生の女の子が企画に初挑戦！シール交換会を実施しました！

　初回の準備では、イメージをばっちり持って臨んでいました。「ただ交換するだけじゃなくて、ゲームにして楽しく交換できるようにしたい！」「幼稚園の子にも来てほしい！」と、自分のイメージを絵にかいて説明してくれました。

　今度はそのイメージを企画書に落とし込んでいきます。言語化することに苦戦しながらも、自力で作成していきました。

　会のイメージが伝わるように、チラシもこだわって作りあげました。最初のチェックで終わるかなと思っていたけれど、「もう少しチラシをみた人がどういう視点の動きをするか考えてみようか」「文字の大きさは基本的に伝えたいことが一番大きくなるよね。これだとタイトルじゃなくてなにが一番目立つ？」とひとつひとつみられてビックリ。すぐに終わるものと思っていたけど、チェックが続きました。それでもよくなるように、少しずつ手を加えて素敵なチラシを完成させました。司会にも初挑戦。「学校でもやったことがある」と自信を持って、何度も声に出して練習しながら原稿を作成しました。

　当日は参加者との買い出しからスタート。「シール見せて！」「交換しよう！」と、車中からさっそく交流が生まれていました。お店にはたくさんの種類のシールが。ぷっくりしたものやキラキラしたもの、大きさやキャラクターも様々。「これもかわいい！」とみんなで目を輝かせながら選びました。セルフレジに初挑戦する子もいました。慎重にバーコードを読ませ「ここにお金入れたらいいん」と確認しながら支払いもしました。レシートとお釣りが出て来た時には、嬉しそうな表情を見せてくれました。

　プロジェクトを実施する前、企画者はこれまで自分の意見を言うことが苦手ですぐに「できない」「わからない」と言いがちでした。今回も初めは予想以上の大変さに「疲れた」と漏らす場面もありましたが、準備を進めていくうちに、だんだんと自分で時間を区切り、集中して取り組むようになりました。

　交換会では、村外からの参加者も含め、学年・性別関係なく、シール帳を見せ合ったり、交換を楽しんだりと大盛況でした。参加者も「楽しかった！」「次もまた来たい！」と大満足の様子でした。会の最後には企画者の女の子が「第2回もやります！」と自分から宣言。「今年中にやりたい！」と意気込んでいました。

　今回の最後までやりきった経験と参加者の表情が、自信と次へのモチベーションにつながっているようでした。

[“Yattemin Project: ‘I Want to Have a Sticker Exchange!’” — A 5th Grader’s First Big Challenge]

A fifth-grade girl took on the challenge of organizing her very first project: a Sticker Exchange Party!

Right from the initial planning stage, she had a crystal-clear vision of what she wanted to achieve. “I don’t want us to just swap stickers. I want to turn it into a game so we can have fun exchanging them!” and “I want kindergarteners to come, too!” she explained, passionately illustrating her ideas with drawings.

Next, it was time to turn those visual ideas into an official project proposal. Although she struggled at times to put her thoughts into words, she pushed through and completed the proposal entirely on her own.

To make sure everyone understood how much fun the event would be, she poured her heart into designing the flyer. She thought the first review would be a quick sign-off, but she was surprised by the detailed feedback she received: “Let’s think a bit more about how a reader’s eyes will move across the page,” and “The most important message should have the biggest font. Right now, what stands out the most instead of the title?” Even though the revision process took much longer than she expected, she kept refining it step-by-step until she had a wonderful, eye-catching flyer. She also stepped up to host the event for the first time. Confidently saying, “I’ve done this at school before,” she wrote her script and practiced reading it out loud over and over.

On the day of the event, the project kicked off with a shopping trip with the participants. “Show me your stickers!” “Let’s swap!” Excited chatter and connections were already blooming in the car on the way to the store. The shop was filled with countless kinds of stickers—puffy ones, glittery ones, in all shapes, sizes, and characters. “This one is so cute!” they cheered, their eyes sparkling as they chose their favorites. Some of the younger children even tried using a self-checkout register for the very first time. They carefully scanned the barcodes, asking, “Do I put the cash in here?” to confirm before paying. When the receipt printed and the change clinked down, their faces lit up with proud, happy smiles.

Before starting this project, the young organizer had struggled to express her opinions, often defaulting to “I can’t do it” or “I don’t know.” At first, faced with more work than she had anticipated, she occasionally sighed, “I’m so tired.” But as the preparations progressed, a beautiful shift occurred: she began setting her own time limits and working with deep, self-directed focus.

The Sticker Exchange Party was a massive success! Children of all grades and genders—including participants from outside the village—gathered to show off their sticker books and enjoy swapping. “That was so much fun!” “I definitely want to come again!” the participants exclaimed with delight. At the very end of the event, the young organizer proudly declared on her own, “I’m going to host a second one!” showing her burning enthusiasm to make it happen before the end of the year.

The experience of seeing her hard work through to the very end, combined with the joyful faces of the participants, has clearly given her a massive boost of confidence and sparked her motivation for the next big challenge.