Challah Braiding 101

The children in Kohavim are always so excited to make challah on Shabbat. So many of the children are interested in braiding challah that we decided to make a step-by-step guide. Last week, Emme used a camera to take photos to document the different steps of how to braid challah. Today, the children came in to find the Kohavim teachers used the photos to create a step-by-step guide. Though braiding challah can be tricky, Kohavim was up for the challenge. And with the step-by-step guide, they created delicious braided challahs!

Taking care of our classroom together!

Last week we learned how to use the Adamah clean up necklaces! Here is how it works...
The children have the same job for an entire week. When the teachers ask the children to clean up the classroom, the children go over to their picture on the wall and place their necklace around their neck( their necklace is hanging below their picture). They are asked to look at the picture on their necklace and clean up that area of the classroom.

Adamah's Classroom Jobs

-Block Center (2)
-Snack helper(1
-Table wiper(2)
-Art Center(2)
-Dramatic Play/ loft(2)
- Librarian (2)
-Sensory Table(2)
-Table 1(1)
-Writing Center (1)

my turn, your turn

Learning to wait is a difficult, but important skill that we all need help with from time to time.  In the Shamayim classroom, we practice this when we want a toy that someone else is still using.  We use our words to ask "Can I have that when you are done?"  Then, we have to wait.  We also practice when we are playing a game with a friend.  We take turns and wait until the next person (or people) have his/her turn.

On Friday, we played "my turn, your turn" at circle.  We each started with two magnatiles.  We took turns placing one magnatile at a time onto a base.  Our goals was to work slowly and use patience to create a building without knocking any pieces off.  

The children did a wonderful job following the circle to tell us who "was next".  It was hard to wait for our turn but we did it!!

Apple Crisp!

 Last Tuesday, the Levana students arrived to find a new recipe taped to the cabinet.  They saw lots of ingredients on the table, and were excited and eager to do a cooking project together!












The Levana students love to cook.  They learn how to follow a recipe step-by-step.  They like to take turns, share the cooking tools, and they learn measuring and counting skills, too.

Of course, the best part of cooking together is enjoying the delicious treat at snack time.  Some students even asked for seconds, saying, "Can I have some more, please?"

...and some thought it was so delicious, that they licked their plates clean!

Taking Turns

 

There are lots of different ways to play this Snail's Pace Race game. In the version Micah Gladstone, Micah Rosin, Noah, and Zachary and I played today, each of us chose a different colored snail. We took turns rolling the color die and if the color matched your snail, you got to move it along one space closer to the finish line. Simple board games like this one allow a small group of children can manage their own process, reminding each other of the rules, helping each other remember to take turns, and encouraging each other. Board games can foster the ability to focus and as you can see, this small group was quite focused as we played the game over and over again.

Sewing Day with Shayna Shusterman

It was a date set up after the Taste of the Town fundraiser. Shayna had decided she wanted to make a skirt for her sewing day project. There were a few things to consider: fabric selection (pattern if any, and color) pattern, and size. We went to Jo Ann Fabrics and Shayna selected a pattern, but when we went to look for it, they did not have her size, so back to the books to select another pattern. Luckily Shayna adjusted and found another skirt she wanted to make. After this selection looked for the number in the Simplicity files and she looked through the numerically filed patterns and found the one she wanted. Now that we had the perfect skirt we had to find the perfect material. Shayna already knew she wanted the color pink so we looked for pink materials and she quickly found the fabric pattern she wanted.

So what else did she need to start sewing? Well, we needed thread the same color, elastic, and the ever important ribbon. Shayna found the perfect ribbon, I must say to embellish the skirt a bit. We were all set for our sewing adventure and headed home to Shayna's house for our fun day of sewing. Shayna soon discovered all the steps we needed to do. First we had to find the letters that matched the skirt pattern she selected, AFE. The pattern pieces have different numbers on them because with this pattern there a various sizes. 3 -8. We cut it along the lines representing size 8. I cut the pattern pieces and then Shayna placed the pattern on the material looking carefully at the instructions for placement on the 'fold' and the pinning began. She was very careful in pinning.

"When will we actually start sewing?" Shayna wondered. Soon, but there are many steps one needs to take before the sewing begins. We looked at the string and on the sewing machine did not match the skirt. So we needed to change the string and prepare the bobbin. Shayna could put the foot to the metal and go very fast when preparing that bobbin. That was fun! It was a lot of work, but as one can see Seamstress Shayna did an excellent job making her skirt. Thank you Shayna for a fun filled day!

Labor of???

We have been busy creating our class gift for the Taste of the Town auction. First came the prep work...the sanding. This took lots of strong muscles. Matty, Oliver, and Johua were enthusiastic helpers Thank you for all your hard work.

After the chair was sanded many of the boys and girls commented that the chair was "ugly." Well what could we do to make it look better? It was decided we could paint it. Then came the questions of planning our design. We presented the possible colors, blue, orange, yellow and green. Some thought that the "girls" could use some colors and the "boys" could use other colors, or we could "rainbow" it. Stay tuned for the process designing our beautiful chair.

Follow the Recipe

The Rainbows were happy to welcome Rohan to our classroom today. She came to make challah dough with us. First, there was a trip to the kitchen to gather all of the ingredients. The kids helped Rohan bring them back to the classroom on this cart. Do you see there is flour, sugar, oil, salt, honey, and vanilla? There is some yeast there somewhere as well.

The recipe that Rohan is holding will help us to measure the correct amount of each ingredient and tell us which order to combine them to make a tasty challah.

The kids took turns stirring and measuring. They were quite excited!

Once all of the ingredients were combined, it was time to store the dough in the refrigerator for next time. We can't wait!

Yoga with Ruby's Grammy!

Ruby's Grammy (Sandy) came in today to do a bit of Yoga with us! We went into Simon Hall and Sandy (with a little help from her assistant Ruby), showed us how to move our bodies in new and interesting ways! We tried out a variety of animal poses: the down dog, up dog, butterfly, camel, and lion. We were trees, flowers and tried breathing with one and then two nostrils.

Sandy thanks for coming in to spend time with Ruby and her friends! We really had a great time with you!

Rosie's Place

The Rainbows came back to the Children's Center ready to go! They worked hard at preparing our regular monthly donation of a cheesy tuna casserole for Rosie's Place. From feeling the hard texture of the uncooked noodles to watching how they cook in a pot of water and all the way to the final assembly of the noodles butter, cheese, and tuna fish, the Rainbows were very engaged. The children reviewed the recipe and made sure that all of the required ingredients were prepared and thoroughly combined. Given how much the children enjoy macaroni and cheese themselves, it is quite a gift to share this special meal with folks who might not get a tasty, hot meal otherwise.

"I want to make a pillow"

Daniel has been watching from a distance the previous sewing projects, and preferring to participate in the other activities available.
Today he said he wanted to sew a pillow which was our very first project. He followed all the steps, tracing, pinning, cutting, sewing and stuffing and viola a beautiful pillow was created (: !!!

Introducing Tailor Noah

This was Noah's first sewing 101 class. He was an eager participant, pinning, cutting, and patiently waiting his turn for the sewing machine. We had one technical difficulty, the "bobbin" ran out of thread. He watched patiently as we re threaded the bobbin and told us when it was pretty full again. Thanks Noah....

Noah was making his pillow for his dog "Bosco". Noah, we hope Bosco enjoys his comfortable pillow made with love !

Introducing Tailor Jake

Another sewing 101 class for the Scientist friends. We presented a few choices for activities: cooking, playing outside, and going up to the Unicorn classroom.

We took a vote and decided there was plenty of time to accommodate all the interests.

Jake carefully cut his rectangle cloth piece, pinned it together, then proceeded to go to the sewing machine. As he started to push down on the pedal to make the needle move, the needle moved very quickly. As this was Jake's second sewing 101 class, he remembered that if he could "feel" the pedal with his foot, it was easier to control the speed and you move along. The shoe came off and viola and beautiful pillow was made (: !!!