Hearing the Purim Story

 

 

The children gathered around to hear the Purim story. They were particularly interested in which of the characters was good and which one was bad. We booed when Haman’s name was said shaking our recently made groggers loudly and we clapped when Queen Esther made her appearance.

Noisy Purim!

One of the most fun aspects of the Purim holiday, is having permission to make lots of noise!  We have been making groggers (Purim noisemakers) in the Levana class, as we prepare to learn more about the Purim characters in the Megilah, the story of Queen Esther.

We have been decorating paper plates with markers and stickers, folding and filling them with beans, so our groggers will make a nice loud noise as we boo the evil Haman.

To fill a Grogger

The sensory table contained three bowls, a few spoons with very short handles, and a funnel.  It was time to put something into the bottles we decorated on Tuesday.  The kids spooned colored rice, black eyed peas, and red kidney beans into the funnel and watched them pile up in the bottom of their groggers.  Next, they tested out the sound and decided when they had enough things to make a satifsying sound when shaken.  

The short handles on the spoons make it impossible to use the palmar grip, so the children must use the pincer grasp to hold the spoon.  This grasp is the basis of the pencil grip which the children will develop over time.  We're always working muscles to help develop coordination and strength.  There was also a challenge in keeping the rice in the spoon all the way from the bowl at the bottom of the bowl to the top of the funnel.  

At circle time, the Purim puppets told the story of Haman (boo!!!!!) and of the brave Queen Esther.  We practiced shaking the groggers when we heard Haman's name - and stopping together in order to hear more of the story.  We plan to share the story of Purim again and again in the next few weeks.  

Let the Purim preparations begin

Since we are looking forward to sharing several aspects of the celebration of Purim with the Keshet class, we have already started sharing the story of Purim with the children.  We also started work on creating our groggers today.  Step one: decorate the outside.  Allison and Isabella took particular interest in this activity, spending a very long stretch of time working on attaching a beautiful variety of colorful stickers to their groggers.  Both girls were very focused, and as you can see in the photos, very happy with their creations.

A Playful Purim

The Rainbows played a great Purim game called Pin the Jelly on the Hamentaschen this morning. It was fun to choose a favorite jelly flavor and spin around before trying to find the hamentaschen to attach it to! We also watched as the puppets told the story of Purim in our new puppet theater. Everyone had a chance to try out the puppets themselves. Our newly completed groggers made loud noises as we shook them on hearing Hamen's name throughout the story. 

Painting Groggers for Purim

The Sunshine children painted their Purim groggers this morning. Now we are ready to make lots of noise when we hear Haman's name. Everyone is totally enthralled with the telling of the story of Purim with all its elements of kings, queens, good and bad characters.