Celebrating Shabbat Together!

Celebrating Shabbat together always feels so good! We said the blessings together and then we

all enjoyed a delicious Shabbat snack!

Shabbat Shalom!

Frozen Fruit Smoothie Pops

The frozen fruit smoothie pops were a" big hit" ! Try them at home. Just pick your favorite fruit, add vanilla yogurt, a little apple juice, place ingredients in blended and then freeze pops for five hours. Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Finger Painting



Josh made red hand prints.

On Tuesday, children were finger painting on a large piece of paper. Children used paintbrushes at first, then just one finger, and then their hands! They mixed colors and made hand prints. Painting with our fingers was a hands-on experience that provided the children with tactile input.

 



Julia painted her fingernails purple!

Ilan used a paintbrush
to paint a train.

Sophie mixed red and blue
paint together to make purple.

Building with Magna-Tiles

All summer we have enjoyed playing with
Magna-Tiles and toy animals! The children
had so many ideas about how to construct
 and play with these toys.

"I'm building a house for him (dog). Woof, Woof!"

Audrey: Do you wanna look inside?
Sophie: Animals! A whale and a cow!



Ilan said, "My truck doesn't work. It's
broken up. I'm building it!"

Rose said, "I have a package. A kitty!"



Even Ellen joined us to build with the Magna-Tiles!

Irresistible Treats on a Stick!

Maria stopped by the Temple yesterday to let me borrow her new book...Ice Pops. Every single recipe in the book looked simply delicious!

Jesse, the children, and I looked through the book together and decided to make smoothie ice pops. I brought in my Magic Bullet and we all went to work! We made pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberry, peach, plum and blueberry smoothie pops! Some of the children decided to write their name on their stick so tomorrow when go into the freezer to eat their pop, they will be able find the one that they made with ease!

On Thursday we will eat our smoothie pops with our Shabbat snack! I can't wait!

We made pizza today

The children helped make pizza for lunch today and it came out great! Thank you for the teamwork!

Playing with the sand

Zachary, Noah and Gabriel played at the sand box for a while today. Not always together necessarily , but they made sure they were playing in the same space together. It was interesting to see them interacting at times with one another.They played with the sand and with the sand toys and called me over when they wished to show me what they were making.

Making Pizza Together!

The children worked together to make a delicious lunch! They rolled out the pizza dough, added a little red sauce and sprinkled on some mozzarella cheese. Eli cooked his favorite green pasta, to share with his classmates and friends.

The "Friendly Fruit Salad" took a bit of time to prepare, but it sure was a sight for sore eyes when we were done! It was yummy! The fruits that grow during the summer months are so sweet and juicy!

What can you do with a cardboard box?

Rose and Julia took a closer look at the inside of the cardboard box.

We noticed we had many large, empty cardboard boxes after we recently received new wooden chairs for our classroom. The children investigated the boxes and had many ideas about how we could play with them: we could climb inside, build with them, and decorate them.


  

Sophie turned a box on its side and found she
could climb right inside. It was the perfect size! 

 

After discovering we could fit inside the cardboard boxes, the children asked the teachers to cut some holes in the boxes. Suddenly, we had "windows" and "doors" to climb in and out while we played.

 The children used the cardboard boxes
to open a pretend ice cream shop.

Ilan and Jack connected all of the boxes
to build a large tunnel to crawl through.

So, what can you do with a cardboard box? The children discovered there is no one way to play with a cardboard box. Providing the boxes as open-ended materials supported the children to creatively think about how to use the boxes, inspired imaginative play, and provided opportunities for constructing. The children used team work when moving and building with the boxes, and also negotiated space when multiple children decided to play in one box together.



How do you play with mud?

Adam took charge of the Mud Ship! Guess who he pretended to be? Captain Adam Mud, of course! He sailed the Mud Ship all morning long! Allison decided to take a bath in the mud. She announced, "I am a pig taking a bath in the mud so I don't get a sunburn!" Eliza and Hannah packed mud on big rocks and called them "slippery rocks." Eli made delicious "mud cupcakes."

Everyone had their own ideas as to how to play with the mud! I can honestly say that a good time was had by all!

Pumping up

Avi and Elias are playing in their pretend gas station. They are both role playing in the act: one is the driver and the other is pumping up the gas. It was nice to see two boys from two different age groups and from two different classrooms, finding a common ground for a play.

Tree art

Children were painting on the tree: a new and different sensation and experience! Children came over to check it out and try it as well. This way, children explore new ways of making art and expanding their horizons!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...

How do you make mud? Eliza, Eli, Allison and Sadie came up with the Mud Recipe! "First you cut open the bags of dirt with scissors. Then add some water. Last you add more water and start to play."

The children filled the ship and sensory table and started to play the day away!

Fresh air and water

The children dig a tunnel almost every day to let the water from the pool flow out when it's time for clean up. Children from different classes tend to work together on this digging activity. They are sharing the joy of playing with water outside in the fresh air.

Collaborative Building

The children built a collaborate bridge and worked on it throughout our morning. The children engaged either together and took turns to make this friendship bridge. Then they enjoyed walking through it together.

A Mezuzah Story from Cantor Jonas

Have you ever sensed someone’s presence before actually seeing that they were near? On a Tuesday morning this past winter, while working at my desk, I could sense that someone was standing at my office door, although I never heard anyone approach. When I looked up from my computer, standing at my door was a young boy from the Children’s Center. He had waited for me to recognize his presence and when I did, he stood in the doorframe, pointed up to the right side of the doorpost, and said “You don’t have a mezuzah.”

I stood up from my desk, walked over to the door and acknowledged that yes; my doorpost was in fact missing a mezuzah. I introduced myself to him and he said his name was Eli. I thanked Eli for noticing, and I did my best to explain that my office space is relatively new, but that he is correct; we are commanded to affix a mezuzah to the doorpost. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9). As quietly and as suddenly as Eli had appeared at my office door, he then took off down the hall with his teacher back to his classroom.

When I returned to my desk, I could not help but continue to think about that interaction. I was impressed that Eli had noticed that a mezuzah was not there. It would be one thing if the mezuzah had been there, and he had recognized it and known its purpose. However, it is something very different to recognize that it was missing. In fact, a mezuzah had never been there in the first place. I had just witnessed what our text teaches us:

You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your might.
Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day.
Impress them upon your children.
Recite them when you stay at home and whey you are away,
when you lie down and when you get up.
Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
          (Siddur Mishkan Tefillah, taken from Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

For Eli, it appears that those commandments have been so impressed upon him, that as he walks through his day, he is acutely aware of the words of Torah, even when they are not there physically in front of him.

Eli reminded me that being able to recognize the absence of something is equally as important as acknowledging when things are right in front of us.

There is now a beautiful mezuzah on my office doorframe created by Eli, and mezuzot are now present on the all of the Temple office doors, lovingly created and affixed by Eli and his classmates under the artistry of one of our teachers, Sasha Kopp. 

As our text states, “impress them upon your children…” After what I experienced that winter day, I can say that the children of our Children’s Center have impressed that upon me.

Cantor Marcie Jonas

Nemo and Bruce!

Nathan brought Nemo to school yesterday. He could not wait to take Nemo into the pool to swim in the "cool" purple water! Nemo never swam in purple water before. Bruce heard that Nemo was visiting, so he stopped in to say hi. It was quit a reunion!

Basketball Fun!

Hannah challenged me to a one on one game of basketball! When Sarah and Nathan saw us playing they asked, "Can we play too?" Hannah took the lead and showed them how to play defense, dribble and shoot the ball! We all had a lot of fun!

Celebrating Shabbat on Thursday!

We always enjoy celebrating Shabbat on Thursday ! We make challah, say the blessings and enjoy a special Shabbat snack (challah of course).

Yesterday Sarah asked if we could "decorate bags for the challah we take home?" I looked around the Children's Center for brown bags and could not find them. I gathered paper, markers and staplers put them on the red table and asked, "Do you think we can make our own challah bags with paper, markers and the staplers?" Sarah's response, "Let's cut the paper in half, staple it but leave it open at the top, and then we can decorate it."

Body Art!

The children had the opportunity to use face paint crayons to create designs, pictures, lines and patterns from head to toe! They had a ball drawing on themselves, classmates, friends and the counselors (EMILY was covered with beautiful Body Art).

The children drew on their on their face, arms, legs and belly! It seemed as though the children had an idea in their head as to what they wanted to create, and they went to work! They were so proud of their finished art!

The children enjoyed playing in the water table with the different toys. They engaged in social play. Children learned to share toys and space with their peers!

Lindsey the explorer

Lindsey tends to explore most of the activities we have offered around the classroom and around the school as well. Lindsey is determined to do things on her own and act like a big girl. Lindsey is improving her self help skills everyday. Good job, sweetheart!

A guitar we play

Gaberiel is moving around the classroom while wearing his 'class made guitar' . His peers then asked , later on , to have a guitar from the same kind!

Staying Cool with Giant Puzzles!

Since it was so hot yesterday 1morning, we decided to play in the community room instead of outside. One option was doing puzzles, which many kids enjoyed. They worked together on a fire truck puzzle and a transportation puzzle. Each time they completed a puzzle, they took it apart and did it again, and we did them so many times because everyone worked so well together!

Spending Time in the Community Room!

We decorated visors, played on the sit-and-spins toys, created structures with blocks and magnetiles, worked on puzzles together, read books, enjoyed a cold juice pop, played with pipe cleaners and buttons and danced the day away!

Experimenting with color!

The children once again asked if they could color the water in the pool with water colors! Nathan asked if he could go inside to find some"cool" water colors to experiment with. Orange , pink and green are the colors Nathan picked! We took a few empty bottles and filled them with water and water colors so everyone had the opportunity to pour the water colors in the pool. When the water colors ran out Hannah suggested that everyone get in the pool and mix the colors by walking around in a circle, in the pool. When the colors were all mixed up, all we could see was "orange water". Our hands, feet and legs turned orange!