Fun with bugs!

On Monday Elias spotted a spider on the wall, so we put it in a cup observed it for a while and let our little friend go free! 
The Lunch Bunch children enjoyed creating insects with small wooden tiles, markers and glue.  Playing with play dough and bugs has been a popular activity  all week long!

Spending time at the Shuk!

In Israel everybody stops by the shuk sometime or another! Today we spent some time at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv.  There was a tiny place inside the shuk that had an attractive display of ground  spices! From left to right there was was garlic salt, garlic powder, paprika, ginger, oregano etc....

The children were introduced to all the spices and then had opportunity to smell and or taste the fresh rich spices.    

A Feast To Celebrate Israel

Yesterday we celebrated Israel's birthday by exploring some of the foods of Israel.  We made an Israeli salad and our own hummus.   After our delicious feast we made flags of Israel and read a book about Flags of the World (including Israel) that Steve had made.  We are also talking about our 5 senses, and we explored this topic while making our hummus (especially our sense of hearing as the food processor was a little loud.)  The scents of lemon and tahini received a thumbs up!

Edible Snowman?

Everyone enjoyed making edible snowmen for snack!  We diced and sliced bananas, placed them on a stick, added raisins, a few pretzels and there you have it...a delicious snowman to eat!

Smell, Touch, Eat!

When we carve a pumpkin we use all our senses!  We felt the bumpy and smooth surface of the pumpkin.  We stuck our hands in to feel the cool, smooth seeds.  Our favorite was to smell the pumpkin, with some of us almost falling in!  We graphed how many children liked and disliked the pumpkin seeds we roasted.  It was almost even, until Sophie G. changed her mind and decided she liked them after all!  Delicious.
 

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!

Creating with Fruit!

Building structures with toothpicks and grapes was quite treat! One grape went into their mouth and the next grape they attached to their creation. Eli and Eliza built a radio tower and Hannah built a playground.

The children also had the opportunity to make jewelry by stringing grapes, blueberries and strawberries with a real needle. Molly spent a lot of time creating a colorful tasty necklace!

Mr Sun where are you?

We carried on with our summer fun even without Mr Sun!

We made a delicious tuna noodle casserole for Rosie's Place, made fresh play dough, created framed nature art (this was a big hit last week), play a few games of UNO, at the end of the day we all enjoyed popcorn/pops and stories! What a day!

Sensory Fun!

The children were so excited to submerge their feet and hands into the colorful buckets of paint!

"How does it feel?" "Wet, slimy, mushy, funny and cold!" Some of the children dipped their feet and walked on the mural paper and others just ran or danced around showing off their colorful feet!

Respect all living things!

In honor of Tikkun Olam Day we have had many discussions about how we can take care of our world? The children came up with some great ideas! No matter how big or how small we need to respect all living creatures and things... Put the garbage in the trash where it belongs, plant lots of trees, fruits , vegetables and last but not least recycle at home and at school too!

Exploring with insects and reading a variety of books about living creaters in our world have really made us all aware of how we can take care of our world.!

Hooray for the pool!

The children asked, "Where is the pool? You said the pool was going to be out today." " We thought it was not going to be warm enough for the pool today." Ellen was listening and responded with, "We have a new pool, let's go get it." Ellen and the children proceeded to open the pool and fill it up with water.

Olive thought the pool water was "burr" and Eli G sat down in the water and said, "I think it's just right!" All the children had lots of fun playing in the pool!

Did you know a fruit is a suitcase for a seed?

Yesterday we read A Fruit Is A Suitcase for Seeds ,By Jean Richards. The book talks about how, many seeds travel inside fruits. The fruit is like a suitcase for the seeds. It protects them on their trip. Some fruits have one big seed inside them (plum, cherry, peach). Some fruits have many small seeds inside them (apple, pear, melon, lemon). Some fruits have , many, many tiny seeds inside them (blueberry, banana, kiwi). Many berries, carry their seeds on their outside (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries).

When circle time was over the children were invited to take part in a sensory experience, by exploring a variety of fresh, sweet, colorful, and delicious fruits!

It was "Prince Pasta Day" in Lunch Bunch!

Last week I asked the children, "What is the next thing you want to cook in Lunch Bunch?" The children that come on Thursdays suggested we make pasta!

We watched the water boil, put the pasta in the pot, gathered the toppings( butter and red sauce), waited for the pasta to cook and last but not least had a pasta feast! Every single child ate up a "storm"! They all had seconds and some had thirds! What a fun day we all had in Lunch Bunch!

Finger painting fun

Finger painting is a wonderful activity for children offering endless opportunities for open ended self expression. It stimulates the senses, sight and touch, strengthens hand and finger muscles, and contributes to fine motor skill development. Here Mia, Nathaniel, and Hadley enjoy this rich experience. Just rubbing the paint over your hands is soooo soothing and relaxing.