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!!!!!!!!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

An Orange Pool?!

What happened today when everyone dumped bottles of watercolor in the pool? It turned orange! The kids wanted a slide to go into the pool and proceeded to pour water on the slide to make it slippery, so they could make a big splash when they slid into the pool!

Nathan's birthday celebration

Nathan and his Mom shared two wonderful books about trucks in honor of Nathan's birthday!  Both books had big colorful pictures and exciting facts about trucks that we see on the road and at construction sites.  The whole class got very excited while Nathan and his Mom showed the class the Richard Scary book about trucks.  Nathan showed how on every page there is a hidden character named Goldbug that everyone can find.  All the children were so excited to try and find Goldbug on every page!

 Thank you Nathan and Jenny for sharing the Richard Scary book with our class for the day, and for sharing Nathan's love of trucks!

Noah's story song.

On Monday this week, Noah S. asked if he could sing for the class after lunch.  For his request, after we all cleaned up, we all excitedly headed for the rug to listen to what song Noah wanted to sing for us.  To our surprise Noah had created his own storysong!  Noah's song began about a dog that was running in the street and soon transformed into a whole story about a bulldozer, and dog and the funny things they got into together! Thank you for entertaining us Noah! We loved  your storysong!

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!

Summer Fun!

It sure was the day to play with water! The staff filled the pool this morning with soapy water and when Hannah arrived she suggested that we add purple water colors. Instantly the pool water turned purple!

The water slide was a big hit as always!

The children attached two long clear plastic tubes to the water wall and experimented with the flow of the water! Fun was had by all!

Keeping Cool!

The children that stay for the afternoon program sure know how to keep cool! They spent some time in the Community Room building with magnitiles, listening to stories and drawing from underneath the big tables. The fact that the tables were a little too high did not stop them! Some children found that kneeling was more comfortable and others sat on their bottom when drawing.

Shooting hoops together!

Let's shoot some hoops!

TBSCC Band!

After a fun filled day outside at the Bike Rodeo, the children embraced a nice long leisurely lunch together! When lunch was over Hannah, Sarah, Eliza and Eli put on a music show with the instruments. They sang a few of our favorites...Down by the Bay, ABC's etc.

They invited the Bet Team in to join them. The Bet Team had a choice to be part of the show or the audience.

Summer Bike Rodeo #2!

The children had a ball riding their bike or scooter all around the TBSCC parking lot! Because the weather was so hot we took plenty of water breaks and had snack available to the children over in the shaded area. We ended the Rodeo by sitting down all together on the playground, to enjoy a nice ice cold pop!

Shabbat Shalom from Russia!

So last week I had the amazing opportunity to Travel with the JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) as a participant on their young adult trip “Inside Jewish Moscow.” The goal of the trip was for young adults to be exposed to the hardships and successes to the post Soviet Jewish community in Russia. Throughout the past fifteen to twenty years the JDC has implemented and helped financially support hundred of programs throughout Russia. During my trip I got a sneak peak into a variety of the programs including many preschools!

Tuesday I had the opportunity to explore a Jewish Russian overnight family camp which they called an “Eco Moshav.” This camp was for about 10-15 families and was organized through the local JCC.  The families rented out a large retreat center and throughout the week they were guided by Jewish educators to find connections between their Judaism and the nature around them. They planted a garden, went on hikes and took care of horses in a local stable. I was intrigued by their programs which were for children ages 6-12 and was amazed by how well older and younger children really worked together. I saw many older siblings being very protective of their younger sibs. Together we went on a hike to a “river” and then explored through a large field back to the center. It was quite the “field” trip!

Friday morning our group got a chance to see the JCC in action. Just like at TBS, the year-long preschool program was complete, but there were plenty of kids enjoying the JCC’s summer program.  I was thrilled when I heard that we would have a chance to sit in and participate in the Shabbat rituals of this children’s center. The oldest girls came up to light the Shabbat candles, with real fire and tea candles! After we blessed the grape juice and challah we had a quick snack while watching a show that the oldest campers performed for us. After the show and snack, we sang and danced to Shabbat songs in Hebrew and Yiddish. I tried to teach them the Dinosaur song, but it was met with many confused looks. However, I am pleased to share that “Bim Bam” is universal and all the children threw their hands up in the air as they screamed, HEY! It was quite a sight to see how the same joy and enthusiasm for Shabbat carries with that song across the globe.

Throughout my visit I saw four different children's centers and probably a dozen different classrooms and as many differences as I saw, I think I saw far more similarities: children playing with blocks, dressing up, singing songs and braiding challah. It was a reminder of the beauty of the global Jewish community and an eye opening experience to see how, from even such a young age, each child is truly a part of this community.