Zach Explores a New Medium

 

Zachary was  one of the Levana friends who approached the clay table with caution. He spent time looking at it and watching kids play with it then he would leave and play with animals. He did this two or three times but he wouldn't actually touch the clay. After awhile he was on the other side of the room playing with a plastic puppy and then ran over to the clay table, took a ball of clay and and then put the puppy into the clay and made paw prints!

At that point in the morning we had only been using our hands to explore clay. However, we know that Zach loves animals and found creating foot prints a way to engage with the animals while participating with many on his peers.

Zach then preceded to go back and forth across the room and grab one of each animal to compare their prints. After I awhile he had the idea to get a car. He then zoomed the car back and forth across the clay and exclaimed, "I made tracks!" he had created a neat road. After the car he then got out the bucket of playdough tools and then he chose to hammer the clay with a wooden hammer. After that he shoved his hands into the clay and started to mold it. It was so neat how many different manipulative Zachary used before he felt comfortable enough to dive in and touch the clay. Yet, once he was comfortable he was so exited he didn't want to stop. He made me a beautiful ice cream sundae with a cherry on top and worked hard to learn how to use his hands to roll a ball.

I was also impressed that Zachary had such a strong vision for how he wanted to interact with the clay and he seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do step-by-step. It was so fun to watch each of them engaging with clay and I hope we get to explore with it again soon!

Outdoor Classroom!

One thing is for sure the Kahol children are having a "grand ole time" on the TBSCC playground! The swings, water play, sandbox, and the slides are a few of their favorite activities! Today Alex spent time in the sandbox, on the swing and in the pool filling a buckets with sand and water! Cody enjoyed playing with Rachel in the house, and rode a car on the black top. Grace climbed up and down the swirly, twirly climber many times and walked along the balance beam. When she fell off she got right back on and continued to walk...toe, heel, toe, heel!

Climbing on the TBSCC playground!

Grace and Hannah worked hard to climb all the way up and carefully climbed all the way down, with a little coaching! "Feel with your toes and then bring one hand down, and then the other." They were so pleased with with themselves!

Team Building Games!

The children are learning life skills via playing games!  Balloon-o is a team building game that challenges two children to work together to place all the free floating balloons on the floor into the baskets, using only a noodle or stick.  The children are asked not use their body(hands, feet,head) to place the balloon in the baskets.  The whole group is asked to work together with their partner to collect the balloons and beat the clock!

Build and Crash is a great team building game!  The children are asked to work together to build tall structures with the whole group.  Before they start building they are asked to pick one or two children to be the crashers.  The crashers are the people that knock down the structures.  They can choose the method in which they want to knock the structure down...rolling on their belly on a dolie head first, then crashing into the structure, throwing bean bags or rolling a ball.  Once the structure is knocked down the children are eager to work together to build again so the crashers can do their part!  Everyone takes turns being the crashers!

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".

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!

American Idol 2025

We've got some serious singers in the Shamayim classroom.  Today at circle, the children had the opportunity to sing a song (original or previously recorded) by themselves or with a friend.  Rosie, Sonia, Grayden and Ava all wanted to take part.  This particular group favored animal songs about duckies and cows on the farm.

Having the spotlight is fun for some children.  Taking risks in a safe environment is a priority for our classroom and we applaud the first group of singers.  You did a great job and we are sure you'll be "heading to Hollywood" soon!

We look forward to hearing more vocalists in the days to come.

Where Do I Put My Feet?

 

The Tel Aviv class has been talking about how to make thing stable. On Thursday we were playing with some big blocks and together they built a stable bridge to run across. The bridge was made with five long blocks resting on two big blocks. I didn’t want them to run so I added a challenge to make them slow down and think about where they put their feet; I separated two of the long things blocks from the other three. This created a choice. Should I cross on the think section that is three blocks wide or the long thin section that is only one block wide? What happens if I put one foot on one and one on the other? Kids started to test the different ways they could cross the bridge. 

Elias found out that if he crossed it on the wide part he only needed to take two big steps but he used smaller steps when the bridge was narrower. Josie realized that she moved faster when was walking with more stability but she liked that challenge of balancing more than moving across the bridge quickly. It was neat to watch them take safe risks and navigate a new challenge in different ways to find out what worked best for them. 

We are Thankful for our Things and our World!

Over the past few weeks we have been noticing that more and more of our toys are being thrown over the fence on the playground. This is frustrating for many children because once a toy is thrown over it means that we can’t play with it anymore. It becomes a natural consequence for throwing the toy over the fence. We have talked about how we keep our toys on the playground because they might break and animals could think they are food and eat them and get sick, but most of all because it means that no one is able to play with the toys if they are on the other side of the fence. Since we are thankful for our toys and our world we decided that today would be the perfect day to go on a toy hunt. We went to the other side of the fence on the playground and saw that there were LOTS of toys up and down the big hill. The hill was scary for some and everyone had the choice to stay up at the top of take the challenge of walking or sliding down this hill. It was easier for some than others but all felt accomplished as one by one each toy got picked up and put back on the playground. Thanks Tel Aviv friends! I’m glad that we can take care of our toys and our world together!

Create Your Own Snack

The Hiafa class has really been enjoying the freedom of open snack. The students get to choose when they are hungry or who they would like to eat with, and portion out their food. While we put up signs to let them know how much to take, it is up to the students to follow those signs.

Today at snack we had Cheerios. But for a fun twist, we told the students that they would be able to put the Cheerios in some strawberry yogurt if they chose. We have kid sized spoons (read: espresso spoons) that fit easily into the cups, and the kids get to make their own snack! Some chose to have the Cheerios and yogurt, while some chose to have just Cheerios, just yogurt, or have both separately.

It's great to see the children so confident in their ability and knowing themselves well enough to know what they do and do not like and what they will or will not try!

-Alison and Sauci

The Whole Wide World is Our Playground!

Nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and the full use of the senses. ... In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy: a place distant from the adult world, a separate peace." — Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, Algonquin Books, 2008, p. 7

Yesterday the Tel Aviv class spent their entire morning outside, much of it in the woods!  When the class arrived they were excited by the abundance of leaves covering the forest floor, even more than last week! The class immediately started to explore, sticks, rocks, trees, sticks.  The group went to touch, smell and explore all the materials they could find. They went to try balancing on the log and some went to climb the “mountain.” Each time they go into this wooded area they are excited to try these safe risks and improve upon them with every visit. 

After some exploring time we re-grouped to have an outdoor circle time! Together we sang our welcome song, loud enough that even Adam’s house could hear it! We decided that circle was extra fun outside because it meant we could use our outside voices! We then did a class Havdalah that was beautiful and intimate and we each shared something special we did over the weekend. Lastly, we had a lovely group snack of animal crackers and grapes.

As soon as snack was over individuals began to explore play. By now the class had become accustom to their environment and all dove deeper into imaginative play. A group of boys took the bag of grapes “camping” and made a circle and went on a pretend hike. Some girls decided to take a plane (a log!) to Cape Cod where they played house.  Later there was a group of water skiers on a boat! Adam and Joshua were superheroes! Their imaginations were filled with ideas and soon the sticks and leaves became props to further their imaginative play. It was a beautiful sight to see the group deep in rich play while exploring the world around them. The weather was perfect and all of us enjoyed our time outside together. Toward the end we created a big class leaf pile and soon enough even I was covered in leaves. We all had a blast and we hope that you will enjoy the fun video of our trip!

The Passover Play!

What a way to learn the story of Passover! By acting out the story of Passover the Tel Aviv children have had the opportunity to experience the story first hand in a very special way! They know their lines/roles and know the songs well! Each time we act-out the story the children take on a new part or character. Today Jacob took on the role of the mean Pharaoh, Rachel-G-d voice, Hannah-Moses, Molly-Miriam, Lily-Frog 1, Eliza- Frog 2, Ezra-Aaron, Max-Slave 1, Eli- Slave 2, Dylan-Slave 3.

Happy Birthday Trees!!

In honor of Tu B'shevat we went on a walk to the woods! It had been awhile since we had visited our tree friends in the woods behead TBS and the class was so excited to hear we would be visiting them today! In the woods there is lots of experimental play with balancing, running, jumping and exploring nature. It's great to see how each child experiments with risks. I always notice very careful behavior when we are in the woods. Also games like "star wars" and "baby sister" were played just with an outdoor twist. It was great to spend sometime in nature after we had spent so much time talking about trees and their importance in our world. It really was a beautiful sight watching the Tel Aviv class interact with nature in an authentic way and I know we will take another visit to the woods soon.

Balancing on the Playground!

The children enjoyed balancing as they walked backward and forward on a long thin wooden board, placed on the playground. Some children moved quickly and others took their time as they walked across the wooden plank.

Tel Aviv takes a Fall walk!

Since it was such a beautiful day we decided to take a Fall walk. We took a few bags with us and ventured out over to the wooded area, on the outskirts of the TBSCC parking lot. The children walked and picked up colorful leaves, acorns, sticks and believe it or not Jacob found a shell that you would find at the beach. As we filled the bags with interesting items from nature, we noticed there were large tree stumps that made great seats. The children took turns balancing and walking along the large thick branches that laid on the ground. At first some of the children were apprehensive and unsure of themselves as they attempted to climb onto the tree branches. With a little bit of encouragement the children climbed up on the branches, walked across the branches, climbed up the steep hill to the Temple parking lot and then climbed or scooted on their tush (what ever worked best and made them comfortable).

The risks the children took today were amazing! They were so proud of their accomplishments! Lily kept saying "Lauri are you going to tell my dad I did this?" All of the children kept saying, "Look at me!"

When we arrived back at the Temple everyone was tired and hungry including the teachers. We asked the children to share with the group their favorite part of the Fall walk...

Rachel-"Finding acorns and sitting on the tree stumps."

Max-"I liked hearing the dog ruffing and ruffing(we heard a dog barking as we explored the wooded area)."

Hannah-"Going onto the path."

Lily-"Climbing and balancing on the tree."

Jacob-"Climbing up the tree."

Dylan-"Climbing up the mountain (hill)."

Ezra-"Balancing on the tree."

Aviva-"Climbing up the tree and up the mountain."

Eliza-"Climbing in the tree."

Eli-"Climbing up the big mountain."

What a special day we all had!

Risk Taking Fun in the Community Room!

Today, due to the drizzle, we went to go play in the community room! The class was so excited to go, their faces lit up as soon as they saw the brightly colored play equipment that filled the room. As they played, I was amazed by the risks many of the children took while playing with some of the equipment. All children played in a safe way, yet it was interesting to see which children felt comfortable to try new things, to jump high or to do a summersault. This safe physical space was inviting and made children feel comfortable. Max, who spends much of his time outside in the sandbox or looking at nature was the first to go down on the slide on his tummy. He loved how it felt and showed other kids how to do it so that you would go fast. Both Ezra and Jacob enjoyed climbing up the bridges and worked hard to turn their bodies around so that they would climb down feet first. The Tel Aviv children are learning so much about how their bodies relate to the environment around them which is helping them navigate the play equipment in safe but challenging ways with very little help from teachers. It was neat to watch them play so well independently and now I am on a search to find how and when each child takes risks throughout our school day.