Etzim Welcome Spring with Nancy and Josh

Yesterday we were springing around (the girls are holding springs) with Nancy, followed by Jumping around with Josh today.  It's been an active two days and we have been having a wonderful time welcoming Spring through dance and song!  It has been wonderful to watch the growth in our gross motor abilities, our attention span, and our relationships with Josh and Nancy as the year as progressed!

We've Got That Chanukah Feeling

The Etzim class has been abuzz with Chanukah activity over the last two weeks.  We've made every variation of chanukiah imaginable - paper strips, stamping, gluing, playdough, snack, and, finally, our gorgeous menorah tiles!  We're learning new songs, reading new books, and playing Chanukah Bingo (check out Ben and Josh!)  What a joyful time of year!

baby baluga

in the deep blue sea...swims so wide and he swims so free!

Always more fun to have sea creatures swimming in bright blue sea water!!!

Building A Song Jar

What's more fun than choosing an egg from our song jar?  Bringing an item from home to put inside an egg!   We choose our songs based on what is in our eggs..  Olive brought an egg with a baby and we sang "Rock-a-bye-baby."  Jacob brought a birthday duck and we decided to sing "Happy Birthday."  Nathan brought a soccer ball and a fish and taught us a song he made up!  Madison brought in a picture of an owl, which we are going to make a home for tomorrow.  Our next job is to find a song about an owl.  Great "homework" everyone!  The more items we bring in, the more songs we have to choose from so keep them coming!

Frogs here...Frogs there

The Sunshines have been learning a fun new song as we get ready to celebrate Passover. See if your child can sing along!!

One day King Pharoah awoke in his bed

There were frogs in his bed

And frogs on his head

There were frogs on his toes

And frogs on his nose

Frogs here

Frogs there

Frogs were jumping everywhere!

We've been having fun painting with frogs, playing hopping frog games and learning about the 9 other plagues that were sent to try to convince Pharoah to free the Jewish people.

Reading With Rohan

Rohan joined us this morning, and at snack time, as we were enjoying our Shabbat celebration, Rohan read/sang the felt story, The Itsy Bitsy Spider. A felt story is a book with felt pieces that go along with the story. The kids enjoyed hearing the story as well as following along with the felt pieces as visuals.  She also read, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The kids were captivated by her reading and singing which led to her reading several other books as well. We had a fun morning with you, Rohan.Thank you for sharing your stories and singing, and we hope that you come again soon!

A Childhood Classic- From Israel!

We have been learning a new dancing game played by children in Israel, along the lines of "Ring Around the Rosie."  We hold hands and walk around in the circle, then drop to the group and pop back up.  It can be a challenge to sing the new words in Hebrew and move around together at the same time.  We'll continue to work on the dance over the next few weeks.  Stay tuned.

Uga, uga, uga

Ba-ma-a-gal na-chu-ga

Nis-to-veyv ad kol ha-yom

Ad a-sher nim-tsa ma-kom

La-she-vet la-kum

La-she-vet la-kum

La-she-vet v'-la-kum.

Translation: We play in a circle.  We spin around [the circle] all day. Until we find our spot. Sit [down], stand [up]! (3x)