Obama Kendama Goes to the White House

Dear Mr. President,

I'm sure you have received many gifts during your campaign and presidency, but I bet this personalized kendama is unique! This toy is popular in Japan and one of the many skill toys that I teach to children. During your presidential campaign, I realized that "Obama Kendama" had a nice ring to it. I sent it to artist Christopher Bordenca to paint your face on it and thus the Obama Kendama was born. To my knowledge it is the only one like it. During your campaign it traveled to Washington, D.C. and to one of your campaign rallies in North Carolina (there are videos of its travels on YouTube).

I have decided to send the Obama Kendama to you now because playing with the kendama exercises and develops the important 21st century skills that you outlined in your September 8th Back to School speech to students. At the same time, it draws attention to an important aspect of education that should not be overlooked - the critical hours between 3-6pm.

In 1999, I created a business called Flow Circus. Initially, the focus was performance - juggling, magic, and physical comedy. As an entrepreneur, however, I realized that the growth potential of the business and real need in the market was for programs to teach these skills to kids between the ages of 10-16 years old. The kendama is one of eight different skill based toys that we teach (juggling, flower sticks, and diabolo are a few of the others). As kids play with the kendama and other skill toys, they learn important skills such as:

• problem solving - What do I need to do differently to land the ball on the cup next time?


• creativity and ingenuity - What new tricks can I do with this simple toy? What series of tricks can I do to create a routine?


• goal setting - What trick do I want to master this week? What skills do I need to practice in order to get there?


• practice, practice, practice - The more I practice these toys, the better I get!

By introducing kids to eight different toys, we always find that students will do better with one toy over the others which reinforces the idea that you articulated on Tuesday that "every single one of you has something that you are good at" in a playful and non-threatening way. Our programs also emphasize that an important part of the learning process is dropping/missing. What can we learn from it? What adjustments will we need to make next time? As you so eloquently stated, "You can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you." Hopefully, you and your family will take time to play with the kendama, feel a little frustration, but then celebrate success as you land the ball on the cup or pin!

The kendama and other unplugged toys that we teach convey these important lessons that you have outlined, but unfortunately there is less and less time in the school day for this type of play. Because of pressures on classroom teachers, taking time to embrace these "teachable moments" is falling on out-of-school providers - afterschool programs, libraries, parks & recreation programs, museums, etc. These are the places where kids can still be kids and learn the valuable personal character and interpersonal skills that come from play. Having quality programs available during the critical hours of 3-6pm is vital to the success of our students and our country.

Clearly your focus on September 8th needed to be on academic success, but please do not forget to encourage kids to get involved in programs after school and provide your support to programs that provide these much needed services. Flow Circus does most of our teaching in these informal learning environments and we have seen phenomenal programs that have made a huge impact on their students and the community. Unfortunately, many of these programs are facing severe budget cuts.

On October 22, 2009, the 10th annual nationwide celebration of afterschool programs will take place in more than 7,500 communities. Over 1 million Americans will take part in Lights On Afterschool to help call attention to the afterschool programs that keep our kids safe, inspire them to learn, and help working families. More information can be found at their website, and I am sure the Afterschool Alliance which is based in Washington, D.C. would appreciate your support. Flow Circus will be in the DC area that week and would be honored to help you celebrate Lights On Afterschool. We could teach juggling or skill toy workshops at the White House for kids from a local afterschool program. A workshop would help reinforce your message from your Back to School speech in addition to showing your support for the important work being done by afterschool programs across the country.

Flow Circus would be thrilled to come to the White House for any occasion to entertain audiences and teach your family how to juggle. Please feel free to contact me at (919) 426-9157 or paul@flowcircus.com or visit our website www.FlowCircus.com for more information about our programs. Thank you for your consideration.

Enjoy the Obama Kendama!

Sincerely, Paul E. Miller