A Special Visitor for Hanukkah

We had a special visitor today in the Kohavim class. Molly's grandmother, Barbara Krupat, came in and shared a wonderful Hannukah story with us called, The Hanukkah Trike, by Michelle Edwards. In the story a little girl gets a new tricycle for Hanukkah. When she tries to ride the trike for the first time, she falls off and scrapes her knees. Though she feels afraid, she finds the courage to try riding her tricycle again by remembering the bravery of the Maccabees. After hearing the story, the Kohavim children shared things that they have tried even though they might be challenging or scary. Some of the responses were trying the monkey bars backwards, riding a bicycle, and putting together a hard puzzle. We then danced to music form the CD, ShirLaLa Chanukah. What a wonderful way to start our morning! Thank you to Molly and Barbara for sharing one of their favorite Hanukkah books and music with Kohavim!

Etzim/Shamayim Party!

As always, the Etzim class had wonderful time singing along with Josh and the Shamayim class.  It may seem early, but we started learning some Hanukkah songs today. We won't see Josh again until next month, so we need to start practicing.  Here we are spinning dreidels!  

3...2....1...BLAST OFF: Our Hannukah Rocket Ship!

Yesterday in lunch bunch Max, Nathan and Jared created an intricate rocket ship made with sleeping mats and the furniture they had in the unicorn classroom. The boys had been resting on their mats and once they got restless they decided to see if they could build a for out of their mats. It was hard to make them balance on their sides but after a few tries they got them to stand up! After they fell down each time they tried to make the inside of their for bigger and bigger by using more mats. Then they got all of the mats to stand up, once this happened they decided to turn their "fort" into a rocket ship! They brought in blocks to create an indoor kitchen and food so that they could eat in space. Jared decided to decorate the outside of the rocket ship by drawing pictures and taping them to the outside. Nathan decided to use crepe-paper to add to the decorations. Max decided that the rocket ship needed a menorah and then the group decided they needed to have a Hanukkah part on the rocket ship! We all yelled "3..2..1..blast off" and then we sang and danced to the macabeats and other Hanukkah songs in the new state of the art Hanukkah rocket ship. I loved seeing how this project developed over an hour and a half. These boys used so much teamwork and creativity to create a neat structure and a really fun experience for all! I can't wait to see what they create next!

Magic Noodle Menorahs?

We created menorahs with magic noodles (styrofoam). Avery joined us today in Lunch Bunch and she showed us the way! Avery took her time and placed the magic noodles together piece by piece and created a beautiful, colorful menorah. When the Kohavim children stopped into play, Avery took the time to show them how she created her menorah. Eli decided to make a pattern with the noodles. I said, "Eli can you tell me about your menorah?" His response was, "Yes I have made a pattern purple, yellow, orange, purple, yellow, and orange."

Latke's Galore!

Today Molly's Mom, Brother and Nanna came and joined our class today for some fun latke cooking. Together we peeled and grated potatoes, cut up onions and mixed in eggs, flour and baking soda. Making lakes took a lot of steps so we had many helpers throughout the lake making process. We all loved watching the lakes change color from white to light brown to dark brown as they were fried! Its so need to see all the hard work come together and we are excited to eat our latkes tomorrow for snack! Thanks Colleen and Barbra for all your help today! We really appreciate it and had so much fun with you in our class!

Happy Birthday Eliza!

Today we celebrated Eliza's Birthday! We sang Happy Birthday and danced around her in a circle. Karen, Eliza's mom, joined us for this fun celebration. Together we read the birthday book the class made for Eliza, then Karen shared a special dreidel book with the class. Afterwards, we played with dreidels. The book was so fun we might even read it again tomorrow. Thanks Karen for joining us so we could celebrate Eliza's big day together!

Games that Foster Cooperation

Today in Lunch Bunch we invited the Unicorn children to join us for some organized gross motor activities that foster cooperation.

Blastoff

We placed colorful rubber shapes all over Simon Hall. We told the children which color to look for ,then we put on some Hanukkah music and let the rockets blast off to a planet/shape. When the music stopped they were asked to land on a yellow, blue, orange or green planet(each time it was different). If there was not enough green shapes/planets for each child, they had to work together and figure out how they could share the space on the the rubber shape.

We also played Squirrels Change Trees which was a big hit again and Mr. Fox a popular game as well.

Giving on Hanukkah!

The Tel Aviv children have put a lot of time and energy into creating a beautiful menorah for their family for Hanukkah. They are so excited to give their family the menorah they made, on the first night of Hanukkah! Yesterday we wrapped our menorahs and today we will continue to make cards for the holiday!

Menorah Making Day 3: Hot Glue

Today we worked on finishing up our very own menorahs. Each child had the opportunity to help hot glue on nuts so that we would have a place for each of the nine hanukah candles. We used hot gun which was a neat material to learn about. Everyone learned which parts of the hot glue gun were hot and which were safe to touch. We also touched the glue sticks that went into the hot glue gun and many were surprised that the sticks were neither hot nor sticky, yet when we pressed on the hot glue gun the glue became both hot and sticky. Some children were eager to give the hot glue gun a try and together we squeezed the handle until glue came out. Others were very excited to simply point to where they wanted each fixture and I was able to apply the glue for them. Hannah liked the hot glue and later turned the plastic drill in dramatic play area into a hot glue gun and she was trying to fix the "broken table." All the children were excited about adding places for candles and can't wait to use their menorahs for Hanukkah. They have made some beautiful creations!

Menorah Making Day Part 2

Over the last two days the Tel Aviv class have been using makers and oil pastels to add accents and color to their mod-podge menorahs. They have enjoyed using a variety of media and adding a little but of something every single day. We even found some shiny dradial sequins to share and decorate our menorahs with! I am impressed with their dedication to this project and it is neat to see how hard each child is working on creating a beautiful and meaningful piece of art. Tomorrow we will start to add the nuts and bolts in which we will place the candles. We are so excited to add this step so our menorahs will be ready for Hanukkah!

Menorah Making: Day 1

Today the Tel Aviv class got started on making their very own menorahs! We started off reading the book Melly's Menorah during circle. It showed that anyone can make a menorah and how special it is to contribute the menorah to a family's hanukah celebration.

Our menorahs are made from blocks of wood. Each student got their own block and together we spent some time sanding out blocks. After it was smooth and soft we added color by decorating our blocks with tissue paper and mod-podge! I was impressed at how had each child worked as they decorated their blocks. There were a lot of steps to the process: put mode-podge on the wood, tear a piece of tissue paper, place it, and then put more mod-poge on top! Step by step, every student covered the whole top of their block. Ezra worked hard until every bit of wood was covered! All the blocks look beautiful. Eliza worked hare to make her block very smooth. Lily liked bunching up the tissue paper because she thought it looks like flowers. Eli loved using purples and yellows, his two favorite colors! Tomorrow we are going to add paint and oil pastels! I am excited to watch these menorahs evolve over the next fe days.

Visit with Rabbi Jay!

We had a great time visiting with Rabbi Jay today! Rabbi shared with us that Hanukah is a festival of lights, both the light of the candles and the light of our smiles and laughter. As a class we shared eight things that make us smile. We would love to have Rabbi Jay come joint us for a play-date again!

Experiencing the Story of Chanukah!

Each Winter, all over the world, Jewish families polish the Chanukah menorah until it gleams. Now is the time to prepare for the Festival of Lights!

Jewish children love the menorah, with its small candles that burn the eight nights of Chanukah. The bright lights remind them of the Jews' fight to worship God in their own way.

Children also love to hear the story of Chanukah over and over and over again! Each time they hear the story of how Judah the Maccabees beat the mean King and his big army, they learn something new about the holiday. Today, Ellen came outside with us, sat down on the ground, and began to read/act out the story of Chanukah. She called a few children over and within a few minutes, she had about ten children listening and acting out the story. The children took on a variety of roles, Judah, the Maccabees, the villain Antiochus,and his army of men. There was sword fighting, the restoration of the Temple and a search for the oil! What a great way to learn and experience the story of Chanukah; by acting it out with friends on the playground. It does not get any better than that! Thanks Ellen, that sure was fun!

Lunch Bunch had a Chanukah Party!

"Lauri come to our Chanukah Party!" That was an offer I could not refuse. There was music, dancing, fresh onions,potatoes to make the latkes and Daniel made fresh coffee. Sandy was kind enough to get the candles out and place them in the menorah. Avery and Sam R were in charge of the music. Joshua, helped his friends get their costumes on, as we danced around the room pretending to be Judah and his brave Maccabee Army! Oliver was the head chef, and wow what a menu! Everyone agreed, Chanukah sure is a fun holiday!

Menorahs you can eat!

Who wants to make edible menorahs? Now that was a silly question to ask preschoolers! ME, me me .................! The All Star Lunch Bunchers enjoyed making their own edible menorahs with bread, pretzels sticks,tiny marshmallows, jelly and/or honey. Everyone created their own version of the menorah. Some had their candles and flames standing up and others placed them flat down on the bread. The artistic juices were flowing!

I asked the children, "Who knows how many candles (pretzels sticks) we need ?" Jay said,"Nine!" Then I asked, "Who knows how many flames (marshmallows) we need?" Sam P shouted, "Nine!" Next time the children want to use carrots, graham crackers, sun butter, raisins and chocolate chips.

What is Hanukkah all about?

Rabbi Jay joined the Rainbow class and spoke to us about the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah. We heard that long ago there was a mean king who made a law that said being a Jew was no longer legal. Judah Maccabbee and his brothers fought to regain the rights of the Jews to practice their religion. When the people cleaned up their temple, they found just enough oil to last one night. When the oil miraculously lasted for eight nights, the Jews decided to always remember their victory and this miracle in the celebration of the Festival of Lights!

The Rainbows enjoyed decorating paper dreidels with markers and stickers. They also made menorahs with playdough and adorned them with Hanukkah candles. Later, at lunch bunch, the Rainbows and a few Unicorn children also had great fun spinning a large variety of dreidels together. Now that's a chance to work on a tricky fine motor task!

Fine Motor Development with a Festive Flair

The Rainbows explored small, medium, and large bowls in the sensory table which was filled with water and sprinkled with cranberries. They practiced spooning, scooping, pouring, stirring, and draining with the berries that are regularly shared at the traditional Thanksgiving table. Perhaps some of the children will get a chance to help out at home with some food preparation projects over the coming days!













Today's play dough creations were adorned with Hanukkah candles. Forming the base for a menorah was a challenge, and little fingers worked hard at inserting, arranging, and balancing the colorful candles as well.