Seasonal Sensations

The Things We Love . . .

     It's fall, and seasonal items are readily available in our room.  How did this happen?  We collected a variety of leaves, acorns and pecans from our yard.  Pine-cones, magnolia leaves and pods, and ears of corn were brought in by the Morahs.  (Above, Eli dips an ear of corn in paint.  He creates an interesting effect on the bulletin paper by rolling the corn back and forth.)

     We go for a Leaf Hunt.  We notice some maple leaves, some oak leaves.  Some of the leaves are still green.  Many are brown, and some are red and yellow.  We collect our leaves and place them in a pot.  By venturing out in an intimate half-group, with the other group in Play-Ball, we are able to engage in some meaningful discussion:  What have we noticed about fall?

     We place our leaves on clear contact paper.  By taking the leaves out of the pot and hanging them up, we will be able to get a good view of each individual leaf. 

     It's beginning to look a lot like fall in our Painters' Porch!  We can look outside, see the seasonal changes on Monroe Drive, and enjoy our collection of leaves.  What about that clay "maple" leaf hanging from the window frame?  We made those with cookie cutters and our own salt dough, scented with cinnamon.  We had passed around some cinnamon sticks during Circle Time to experience the feel and smell.  (Above, Sylvia's dough leaf is on view.)
Salt Dough Recipe:
  1 cup salt
  2 cups flour
  1 cup water
  coloring--optional, your choice, we used some tea
  scent--also optional, we used cinnamon
  air dry for a week or so, or bake for 2 hours at 150 to 200 degrees

     Our home-made dough (above) reminds us of our YomTov pomegranates.  We roll it out, and place "seeds" in the dough.  The squishiness of the dough is appealing and we like to stay at this table a long time. Yet, we learn to share.  A friend comes along and asks, "Can I have it when you're done?" We learn to be patient, and to invite a friend to join us.
Play-Doh Recipe:
  1 cup four
  1/4 cup salt
  1/2 cup water
  1 to 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  coloring, scent if desired  (just a tad bit of a fruit drink did the trick) 

     A collection of citrus fruits is on display at our nature table.  Can you find the etrog?  The lemon?  There's some grapefruit and a tangerine, too.  This is not a hands-off activity--the children are expected to handle the fruits.  During Circle, we cut up the fruits and participated in a quick compare-and-contrast discussion.  Now it's our opportunity to get a close-up view of each one, while working individually or in pairs at our small table.  (Maddy examines the citrus fruits.)

     We can handle our small pumpkin, too.  (Emmett uses tweezers to move pumpkin seeds from one bowl to another.  What a fun way to experience the seeds--and increase our fine-motor skills as well.)

     Sensory experiences are everywhere in Kitah Gimmel.  The Days of Creation are introduced with a collection of trays.  We are independent and responsible.  We take a tray to investigate, and then return it when we are finished.  We learn about light and dark,  the sun, moon and stars, trees and flowers, fish and other animals, people and, of course, Shabbat.  The trays reinforce our Circle discussions and the books that are shared during Lunch.  (Above, Ben works with "grass" and "insects."  We learn that Hashem made our World.)

     (Above:  Annabel, Maddy and Ezra working cooperatively at the light table.)

(Gabi, experiencing soil, trees and turtles.)

(Leah and Sylvia, noticing the moon, sun and stars.)

(Rafi, hard at work, is involved with his forest of trees.)

(Harper, noticing that even small animals are important in our world.)

     (Book recommendation:  Above, we borrowed the book We're Going on a Leaf Hunt from Kitah Dalet-Hey to jump-start our actual Leaf Hunt.  This book is a take-off on the traditional Going on a Bear Hunt chant--but in this book, a skunk appears!  It's fun. The chant is a great activity if you're going on a car trip, hanging out in a park--it's easy to memorize, and you can change the action-words for extra interest.)

Enjoy your week!

The Morahs of Kitah Gimmel