PHOTO BY KELLY SIKKEMA

Connecting Grandkids to Nature

Green grandparents enjoy creating a “tokonoma table”

by Catherine Gannon Taintor

August 2022

WHAT THE DICKENS IS A TOKONOMA TABLE?

A tokonoma is a recessed space in a Japanese home in which the most important and beautiful items are displayed. It might include ikebana pottery, bonsai, flowers, or a calligraphic scroll.  A tokonoma table is a Nature Table.  It is an honored place with natural items on display. Grandkids and their green grandparents collect the items outdoors.

Sharon Lovejoy describes a tokonoma display in her book Camp Granny. “…[We] find an opening flower, the castanet seedpod of a jacaranda, a scattering of mermaid’s tears (sea glass, or whatever is wonderful and new…” Lovejoy and her grandchild place each item on the tokonoma table and admire it fully.

Set up a tokonoma table in your own home. You can buy a kids’ explorer table, but any table will do. Place it within easy reach of your grandchild. Now the fun of collecting begins.

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EXPLORERS’ WALK

Put on your wellie boots, take your grandchild’s hand, and go on an explorer’s walk. It can be as easy as rambling through your own backyard, a forest with a shallow creek, or a tide pool at low tide at a beach. The important part is to walk slowly. Bring a pail with you, and let your grandchild collect objects that interest them.

Flip logs, lift rocks, and explore tree holes in the forest. At the beach, watch the seagulls float on the ocean waves or the sandpiper chicks scurry in the sand. Explore a tide pool during low tide. Watch the anemones, sea urchins, starfish, and tiny red-clawed crabs in their natural habitat.

Ask questions, and allow your grandchild to ask questions too. Don’t freak when your grandchild finds a worm or a snakeskin. You might say, “I wonder what kind of snake that was?”

Put their treasures in the pail to bring home: rocks, sticks, leaves, bones, dead bugs, moss feathers, shells, sea glass–whatever takes your grandchild’s fancy. Add items you like as well.

After you come inside, ask your grandchild to tell you which items they liked best. Put one or two special items on the tokonoma table.

TOKONOMA TABLES CHANGE WITH THE SEASON

Add items to the tokonoma yourself. Usually, the art in the tokonoma is changed with the seasons. A fall tokonoma table might include acorns, pinecones, gourds, or wheat stalks. A spring tokonoma table might include bulbs or pussy willow branches. Change the display frequently to keep the design fresh and stimulate the senses.

Next time your grandchild visits, one of the first things to check out is what’s new on Grandma’s tokonoma table.