Where can we put our pennies?

During the first week of camp, we started our penny drive. Many children brought in pennies from home, but we didn't know what to do with them!

Together, we read the story, How Dalia Put A Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Box, by Linda Heller. In the story, Dalia tells her little brother that she is putting a big yellow comforter, a butterfly bush, and a banana cream pie into a tiny box. She teaches her brother all about tzedakah.


After reading the book, the children discussed how we could make our own tzedakah box. They said we would need wood, tools, and things to decorate it with.


The next morning, we used mosaic tiles and glue to decorate our very own tzedakah box. It took team work, but we were able to cover all of the sides and the top with beautiful glass tiles.


Once the tzedakah box dried, we began filling it with the many pennies the children had brought in. That morning we counted 43 pennies that we put into the tzedakah box. Since then the children have added many more pennies! The penny drive will continue all summer. You may want to collect some pennies with your child to bring in to put into our tzedakah box!

firefighters in training

Rose, Bennett and Josh did some serious firefighting today.  The cleaned and filled their fire hoses, used the fence to hold hoses while they put out flames, and used tools to view potential fires in the area.

When they finished putting out a fire at a house near the climbing structure, they were sure to tell the owners that it was safe to return, "but everything is soaked".  Job well done!

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub...

With the Shabbat shindig coming, the children got out the sponges and got cleaning! They used shaving cream to scrub the tables and then wiped them down with water and sponges. At the easel the children used spray bottles and sponges to polish the easel. Washing the easel and tables are one way the children help to take care of our environment. We can't wait for our Kohavim families to come visit tomorrow and see our sparkling classroom!

Taking care of our environment

In the Levana classroom the children are taking care of their environment by watering the herbs they planted. They enjoy filling up the spray bottle and squeezing the water right out onto each plant. They are taking turns and working together. As they also found out, careful aim matters as the water can squeeze further and past the plant and can give whoever is standing nearby a little squirt! The children found that part very funny!

Science Talk...

Over the last several weeks the children have had multiple opportunities to openly explore how long it takes for beans to change and grow.  We have been closely observing the growth and development of the moist bean in a Ziploc bag.  Yesterday we planted some of the sprouted beans and apple seeds we saved from our group snack, in some fresh potting soil.   The children will continue to water and care for the plants and possibly observe the full life cycle.

During circle time we brought the children together passed around the celery and flowers that have been soaking in green and blue food coloring for over a week.  We talked about the changes they noticed in the in the leaves of the celery and the petals on the white flowers.  We asked the children...
"Do you remember how the celery and flowers looked before we soaked in them in the food coloring and water?"   "How did they change?"

  Most of the children noticed, before we placed the flowers and celery in the colored water, the celery was all green and the petals on the flowers were all white.  After the celery and flowers soaked in the colored water the leaves on the celery turned blue, and the white petals on the flowers where now white and green.

Stay tuned for more SCIENCE TALK...Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to explore a variety of fruits at our Tu B'Shevat Seder!

Shmirat Ha Teva

Hannah came to us and announced that there was 'litter' in the playground.  There were two cups of empty coffee cups on the ground. Thank you Hannah for taking caring of our environment by picking up the cups and putting them in our recycling bin.

Taking Care of Our Planet Together

The Team Bet group went to the woods today and picked up trash! Last week we went to the woods and Noah Sussman suggested that we bring bags with us and pick up trash. Today we brought our bags and picked up plastic bags and candy wrappers that we found in our beautiful natural classroom. The Team Bet kids asked, "Does this belong in nature?" I asked them to ask each other to search for answers. Most of the time if they asked, they agreed that it probably didn't belong in nature. However, Jaedyn found a mushroom and was very curious about what it was and why was it in nature. We were able to examine it a bit and we concluded that even though it was white, and not green or brown, that it was natural thing that we should let grow. After our hunt, we proudly carried our filled bags to TBS and threw them away near Eber's office. It felt great to throw all that trash away.
Good Job Team Bet!
 I am so impressed with your enthusiasm for caring for our planet!