Continuing our journey with food

Our classroom was buzzing with excitement as we prepared for our prepared for our bracha party! Kita Gimmel had learned about food all summer; where it comes from, how to prepare it, how to use food creatively, and finally, which bracha to make on each food that they eat!! We invited Kita Bet and Kita Daled Hay to join us and set up tables for everyone in our classroom so that they could celebrate with us. Kita Gimmel friends taught everyone the Bracha song which reminds us to thank Hashem for our food and of the correct bracha to say for each category of food. From youngest to oldest, each class was assigned to lead the rest of the room in their bracha and everyone else answered with a resounding Amen! Kita Gimmel pointed out the foods on the table that they could enjoy as each individual bracha was said. Then they got to enjoy all the delicious treats Kita Gimmel friends had set out for them! A yummy and glorious way to celebrate their knowledge!

 At the same time, Kita Gimmel friends were hard at work preparing their culmination project of spice making. What a journey it has been! The children picked rosemary from our IJP rosemary bush and then put it in a brown paper bag to dry. Every day they would shake it to listen for the rustling sounds that meant it was dry enough to use.

The children then explored garlic. They peeled the garlic by putting it into glass jars and shaking it all around. They were astounded to see the peels just pop off!

"Slippery and smooth" were Emmett's feelings.

" So stinky!" said Maddy and Shane agreed!

" I don't wan to smell it!" were Gabi's general sentiments, but even he couldn't resist taking a try at peeling it! 

Brave Kita Gimmel friends removed whatever peel was still left. Others lay the garlic on a baking sheet and put it in the oven to bake. It took a long time and lots of "peeks' to see if it was ready, but by end of the day it was finally baked through and crunchy! Now it was time to grind it into garlic powder. This was a task they all enjoyed! using a mortar an pestle the children took turns grinding the garlic and while they were at it, they also ground sea salt into fine granules. 

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Kita Gimmel watched the transformation carefully and then were introduced to pepper. Using a pepper mill for the grinding, the children were amazed to see "real pepper" come out! It even smelled like real pepper! Ahhhchooo!

We realized that we now need almost enough spices for a whole meal. So meal. So we set about making a menu:
 Rosemary chicken/fish... just add lemon juice and olive oil for a delectable dish...
Gently spices potatoes...perfect to compliment our main dish...
Salad with toppings... to complete our meal!
But wait! We need seeds!
Kita Gimmel worked together to open sunflower seeds. They helped their friends and gave each other tips on the best way to crack open the seeds without breaking the seed inside. Cooperatively they finally filled the bowl.

Now it was time to make our spice mixes. Given general instruction, the children used a funnel to pour their desired amount of each spice into their respective spice jars.
They spoke excited among themselves about how proud and happy their parent were going to be when they cooked with the spices that THEY, Kita Gimmel, made all by themselves!! And we know they're right!!
B'tayavon! Enjoy!!

Summer Splashin'

SUMMER SPLASHIN'

Every day during the summer in IJP, we get to spend time outside splashing in the water, going down the water slide, doing messy activities, and squirting water at the sky. 

We love to paint and draw on the clear walls with markers and watercolors.

One of our favorite spots is the mud pit, where we can get as muddy we want!

Shaving cream is such fun to spray on ourselves and wash off with a squirter.

We love squirting friends...with permission!

 

Colored water is so different and exciting to fill our spray bottles with.

Sometimes we mix some baking soda and vinegar into our sand to make FIZZY sand.

Here we are, body-painting with foam paint. 

We are always making new concoctions with water and other elements. 

 

Here, we are doing some animal ice exploration.

We're using our fine motor skills to paint the ice with pipettes. 

With teamwork, we mix in paint and water to make delightful colors.

We pour paint on a GIANT paper and then ride bikes and trucks across to make cool designs.

We made loose-parts sailboats using slices of pool noodle and skewers.

We love splashing in our water pad!

Wrapping and Weaving in Extended Day

Our next foray into three dimensional art was weaving and wrapping sticks. 

The children crossed two sticks and then wrapped the yarn around them. 

Then this is repeated with another color.

The children made so many that we were able to string them together like garlands across the ceiling!

After making so many small ones, the children were ready to wrap on a larger scale.

KG All You Can Eat

A major focus for us this summer in Kitah Gimmel has been food. Starting with fruit and vegetable paintings during the first week of camp, we transitioned into learning about the differences between perishable foods and non-perishables. We made murals of beans and rice and we later even made our own soup, filled with all different types of ingredients of the class's choosing.
More recently, we've been discovering all the different ways which we can paint using everyday foods!
One of the ways we've learned how to paint is with using egg yolk.
On Monday, there was one center available for painting. There were paint brushes and paper available, however there was no paint.
How were we to paint without paint?
Morah Devorah sat down by the table and described the process to whomever was interested, and assisted those who needed help. She taught us how to make our own paint using eggs and food coloring.

(left to right) Gabi, Eli S., Sarah, and Daniel starting the egg yolk process with Morah Devorah.

First we cracked the eggs. It was tricky to crack the eggs without getting any shells inside of the bowl, but most of us were able to do it.

Eli S. cracking an egg into glass bowl. Gabi and Daniel (left) are watching.

Next, we mixed the yolk with forks and then added a little bit of the mixture into different glass bowls on the table.

Eli is whisking the egg with a fork, after dropping green food coloring inside.

Finally, we added a couple drops of food coloring into each of the bowls to create color.
After creating the paint, we took our our brushes and made our own paintings.

Daniel is painting with red, blue, and green egg mixtures.

Sarah is painting with red egg  mixture.

Eli S. is painting with yellowish-greenish mixture.

The egg yolk painting resulted in beautiful and colorful designs, with an added shiny touch and smooth texture.

Logan, Emmett, and Gabi enjoying showing off their egg paintings

"I like mine because it has all the colors of the rainbow." said Emmett.

"It is soft like an animal." added Gabi.

"This one is bumpy and scratchy." said Logan.

We still had some extra egg mixture leftover, that we hadn't put food coloring in yet, and decided to make some scrambled eggs with it which we later got to eat during snack. Yum!
All this talk of food has sure been making us hungry, leading us to take a greater focus on where food comes from, when we eat, and the Brachot of thanks and gratitude we say over our food before every meal, at camp.
Stay tuned to hear about our class Brachot party that we are having on Friday, trying all different kinds of food and learning about the Brachot that are said on them, and more in our next newsletter!