O-Soji and Ikebana for Children

When I lived in Japan, at the end of each year, I would follow tradition and spend several days scrubbing the house from top to bottom. O-Soji (大掃除) or the “big cleaning” would usually take place a few days before the New Year. As well as a deep clean of our house, we would also sort through anything that was old, broken or unnecessary. This year, as we prepare to move house, our O-Soji has started early.

Materials

While cleaning out the ‘ikebana garage’ my daughters and I came across some painted Agapanthus flowers. They immediately asked if they could use them before we had to throw them away.

Placing the painted Agapanthus and Orchid

After selecting their vases, they played around with the painted Agapanthus, creating forms by inserting them together. Once they had placed the forms in their vases, they added a small orchid flower (leftover from a previous arrangement).

Adding more Agapanthus

Having finished her arrangement, my youngest daughter stepped back to look at her arrangement.

Adding a touch of paint

We both agreed that the two sides of her arrangement weren’t quite talking to one another. To give a little more unity to her arrangement, she painted a few of the tiny flower stems on the right-hand side arrangement gold to tie in with the arrangement on the left.