Status of elementary school student efforts on bento day

Abstract

　We conducted a questionnaire focusing on "Bento Day", which inquired about children's involvement in the making of bento lunches and parents' views about their children's participation. The results of our survey indicated that more than 80% of the 184 participating children looked forward to "Bento Day". Regarding the making of lunchboxes, significant differences were observed in the number of items worked on, with higher grades corresponding to a greater number of items worked on. Sixth-graders tended to spend more time making bento boxes than other grades. In addition, the percentage who worked on was low, although all grades were able to participate in the preparation and cleaning up of lunchboxes and chopsticks. In order to help children develop a sense of independence on Bento days, schools need to respond to the following two points:

　1)　the need to use post-teaching and lunchtime to teach children the importance of preparing and cleaning up in their daily lives.

　2)　the importance of clarifying the content that can be worked on and aimed for depending on the grade level and sharing this information with parents.

　Implementation of 2) in particular will avoid excessive intervention and lead to appropriate parental support for their children.