"Basketball"??

Today the Keshet class played a new game--their own version of basketball.  They took turns throwing small balls into a big basket.  Some stood behind a "line" of tape that was put on the floor and tried to throw the balls into the basket.  Some walked up closer to the basket and placed the balls in.  The children enjoyed trying something new, and did a great job waiting for their friends and taking turns.  When they finished throwing the balls into the big basket, they even helped each other bring the balls back to the line of tape for the next friend to have a turn throwing.

We're building a Bigger tower !!

We are seeing an evolution in the style of play in our classroom.  You can see in the photos that a small group worked at building a very tall tower.  What started as one child's project changed as others joined in and made their own contributions to the construction.  There is also some discussion as the children work together.  The blocks vary in size by color.  Notice how the kids sort them and arrange them in their project.

Rainy day fun!

 

Snow and More Snow

The Etzim children were super excited to play in the snow today.  It was perfect snowman/snowangel snow, and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Mr. Fox in the snow?

That's right the children played Mr. Fox in the snow today!  Charlotte and Samantha asked Josie, Adam and Josh if they want to play Mr.Fox...Samantha started out as the fox and the rest of the children were the chickens.  If the fox tags you, you join the fox team.  Chickens are the runners and the fox team are taggers.  You go from one team to another!

  Ask your children to teach you how to play!  The whole family can join in on the fun!  

Lunch Bunch Rocks!!

The children and I had a rocking time in Lunch Bunch today!   We played music from Pandora...Kids Bop Kids and Radio for Kids really hit the spot!  We all gathered around and listened, danced and had a jam session with "home made" drums...Wooden sticks and the classroom garbage can.  At the very end of the day we took out Mr. Parachute and played a few games "Cat and Mouse", "Switch", and "Popcorn".

Let the Purim fun begin!

We introduced Purim today and enjoyed some Purim fun!  We took out Mr. Parachute, made groggers, played with shaving cream, enjoyed a Purim story and listened to Purim music!

Indoor Play!

We are not going to let the cold weather stop us from moving and grooving!  In the Community Room had a lot of action this week!  We scooted on the dollies on our tushes, bellies and knees.  Bounced on balls, ran up and down the ramp/stairs,  jumped and rolled on the matted cylinder.  In the classroom we played "Squirrel in the Tree".  Which is a non competitive movement game that encourages cooperation, problem solving and sharing.

Hopefully this cold weather will "brake" over the weekend!

It's Electric!

Levana and Etzim spent the day together in the Community Room today.  One of our favorite activities was playing under the parachute and watching everyone's hair stand on end !  It was nice to be back to school, and even more fun to spend the day with Levana! 

Afternoon in the Woods

The Tuesday Kohavim and Haifa lunch bunch decided they are going to be naturalists. After eating lunch and doing some yoga, we decided to go for a walk into the woods right behind our school. As we walked we listened to the crunching of leaves under our feet, smelled the fresh air, and looked around to see what we noticed. Max immediately found a tree branch that reminded him of antlers, he put it up next to his head and said, "I'm Fred the Moose" (Fred the Moose is a start of a favorite song that we often sing together!). Ezra walked along a fallen tree as if it were a balance beam and used his arms to stabilize his body as he walked. Many children pretended with found materials. Brett, Max and Ezra acted out Star Wars together, while Nathan, Eliza, Drew, and Lilly collected large sticks to construct a birds nest. Eliza and Lily used team work to move large rocks into the bird's nest to be the "hatching eggs." What a beautiful walk into the woods!

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!

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!

In the door and out the window!

That's right, most of the time people go in a house through a door and out the same way. Today Zach and Noah decided to go in the door and out of the house through the window? They went out the window and crawled forward onto their hands until their feet hit the ground. They also figured out how to do a safe forward roll out the window of the house, by tucking their head.

We have the photos to prove it!

Exploring Nature!

The Gimmel Team went on a walk to explore in the woods! We found a variety of insects/bugs (beetles, worms, snails, ants). We brought magnifying glasses so we could take a closer look! Some children were comfortable looking at the tiny creatures from a distance and others were eager and ready to hold them in their hands.

The children climbed the long thick tree trunks, played house, climbed up and down the steep hills and lifted rocks to find bugs and insects.

Creative Play options

The kids had a wonderful time rearranging the bubbles in the community room late this morning. The balance beam presented some challenges as well as two dimensional building options.  The group enjoyed exploring different ways to use the bubbles, the star and hand shaped mats, and the soft play house with tunnels.   Molly decorated and hosted a party.  Rose, Molly, and Jake played catch with Nancy.  The rain didn't dampen the spirits of this group!

Indoor Gross Motor Time!

Working together...Cooperation!

Well stranger things have happen...Snow now on the last day of February? Better late than never I guess? Well, one thing is for sure everyone did not have their winter gear with them today! So we had a friendly game of "Squirrel in the Tree". When the music stops the squirrels have to find a tree to sit in. There are always more squirrels than trees. The squirrels learn to share space(their tree) and cooperate!

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.

Unicorn Dance Party

Unicorn Dance Party