What does yeast do?

 This morning, we made challah dough. The children watched in awe as the yeast reacted to the sugar and formed bubbles. One child noted that if we didn't have yeast, "challah would be flat." We mixed up 1 batch and placed it in a zip lock bag and began our second batch. When we put the  next batch in the bag, we noticed  that the first batch was much bigger.  The yeast  made our dough rise!Tomorrow, children will have the opportunity to make a challah to bring home.

Busy Baking

 

The Keshet class was hard at work today on a special surprise for a special day. The children love to bake and enjoy referring to a recipe to identify ingredients and quantities. "Power tools" also interest the children and today they waited patiently for a turn to use a hand mixer. They were able to turn the mixer on and off, and to adjust the speed--always helpful when we are trying to keep the ingredients in the bowl. Then a trip to the kitchen and the excitement of seeing (and smelling) the finished product!

Muffin Baking

The Rainbow class made their own snack today.  They measured, poured, stirred, and baked some very tasty banana muffins.  The children were excited to participate in all of the steps, and have learned to trust that they will each get a turn to help.  The muffins looked, smelled, and tasted delicious.  We also shared some mandarin orange slices and dried apricots for snack.  Baking is so much fun!

Let's make some scented play dough!

Gak To Go!

The Tel Aviv, Haifa, Unicorn and Sunshine children made a a bit of gak to go! We mixed and measured the ingredients together and make some of the best gak in town!

A Tasty Fall Snack

On Monday the Rainbow children enjoyed making pumpkin muffins with Savita. The children took turns scooping, mixing, and pouring the batter into the muffin tins. It took a lot of hand-eye coordination and dexterity to scoop up the batter from the bowl and get it over to the empty circle in the muffin tin without spilling. There was a lot of excitement from the children when it came time to walk down to the big kitchen to put the muffins into the oven. Then the best part...getting to eat the pumpkin muffins at snack time along with some delicious apple cobbler made by Ilan and his mom. We would like to extend a special thank you to the Bernstein family for such a yummy fall treat!

OOOOObleck...

The Rainbows had fun measuring, mixing, and experimenting as they created a strange substance known as Oobleck. Is it a liquid? Is it a solid? It feels rather strange when you try to pick it up. Some liked the sensation, while others didn't care for it. The kids tried using a fingertip to write in it, squeezed it, and plunged their hands into it. If your little one came home with a bit of white powder on his or her clothes, it's just cream of tartar and should wash right out... Rose spent a lot of time helping Savita with cleaning up once we finished.

Pumpkins and Gourds- Measuring Fun!

Today in the unicorn classroom, students walked in to students measuring.... and measuring... and measuring... with pumpkins and gourds!

First we started with the big pumpkins (they are craft pumpkins-- not real! So very light to move!) then added the medium gourds (We learned what medium meant) and then small gourds! Everyone needed two big pumpkins but some children had more medium gourds than others. Some people (like Rachel-- our adult volunteer) used just about all our pumpkins and gourds! It was interesting to see how different heights people were!

After awhile, the children saw how we measured using the pumpkins and gourds and I was able to take a step back to observe the children. They really took on the jobs of marking where the child's feet were and head and carefully laid out the measuring device. Someone brought over the baby dolls and we measured them too! The children explored with the materials a little more and began outlining students in pumpkins! It required a lot of patience, waiting turns, and careful placement so not to bump our person being measured!

Special thanks to Rachel for allowing the children to measure her!!

Enjoy!

Pumpkins and Gourds- Measuring Fun!

Today in the unicorn classroom, students walked in to students measuring.... and measuring... and measuring... with pumpkins and gourds!

First we started with the big pumpkins (they are craft pumpkins-- not real! So very light to move!) then added the medium gourds (We learned what medium meant) and then small gourds! Everyone needed two big pumpkins but some children had more medium gourds than others. Some people (like Rachel-- our adult volunteer) used just about all our pumpkins and gourds! It was interesting to see how different heights people were!

After awhile, the children saw how we measured using the pumpkins and gourds and I was able to take a step back to observe the children. They really took on the jobs of marking where the child's feet were and head and carefully laid out the measuring device. Someone brought over the baby dolls and we measured them too! The children explored with the materials a little more and began outlining students in pumpkins! It required a lot of patience, waiting turns, and careful placement so not to bump our person being measured!

Special thanks to Rachel for allowing the children to measure her!!

Enjoy!