Making Impressions

 
In my training as an art educator, a materials-based approach was stressed. This is the notion that different materials provide different experiences and accomplish different learning objectives. The one objective that is constant in all art experiences is problem solving. At some point, the child looks at what the teacher has placed in front of him or her and asks themselves, "How do I use these?" The next question is, "How do I use these...to make what I want?" This is why exploration is so important- allowing children to handle materials, get frustrated, try again, and experience true success.

And as the teacher, watching closely and knowing when to interject with some helpful words, and when to hold back. This is why teaching is an art. It's knowing when, how, and what to say. It takes lots of practice, you can do it your whole life and still not perfect it, it's impossible to get it right every time, but that's what keeps it interesting.

How does this relate to today? On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I spend the day with Kitah Gimmel. This morning at the art center, the table was set with a bowl of chunky crayons with the paper peeled off, texture rubbing plates (like this), and white paper.

Iyar sat down, placed a paper on top of the plate, and moved her crayon across the paper. She happily made spiraling lines on the paper, holding the crayon in the traditional vertical grip. She paused for a moment and seemed to be thinking of what to do next.

Seeing a good moment to join the process, I pointed out that these crayons have the paper peeled off, and I wonder what would happen if you held them sideways, with your thumb on the bottom, pointer and middle finger on the top, and moved them over the paper this way?

  

Iyar tried it and was delighted with the results. She started out holding the paper still with her left "helper hand," and then began turning it around and around as she colored. "I'm making a rainbow!" she said. 

I watched her make a few more rubbings, trying different colors and different techniques before moving on to the next station. 

What do we learn from this seemingly small encounter? That school is one big conversation between the teacher and student; The teacher can "teach"- show or tell how to do something- but it only becomes meaningful through the child's interpretation.

Face Painthing

What would  masquerade day be without face painting??! To add a new twist to this Shushan Purim activity, KDH children made their own face paint from scratch. The recipe is:

¾ teaspoon of cornstarch

½ teaspoon thick/heavy facial lotion

¼ teaspoon of water

1-2 drops of food coloring

What do you think is most frequently requested to be painted on a cheek? Rainbows! 

Theo and Enaiv help make the face paint

Morah Ruth

Purim Self Portraits

The children used water soluble pastels to draw their pictures. These pastels are fun to draw with. The children dip the pastels into water before drawing and then they glide on and look like paint. The other method used is to draw with dry pastels, then take a paint brush dipped into water and soften and blend the colors.Purim self portraits just added to our Purim fun!

Making Mishloach Manot- In Dramatic Play, and for Real!

Giving Mishloach Manot (sending food to friends) is one of the four mitzvot to do on Purim. At our morning table stations, we had pretend food and baskets set out so we could compose our own.

Max: "Excuse me, what bracha is this?"

Eden: "Can you find the hamburger?"

Later in the morning, we got to make Mishloach Manot baskets with real food! Thanks to the wonderful items contributed by our fabulous parents, everyone will have delicious treats to eat on Purim.

Jonah: "This is a super good mitzvah!"

"Mmm Yumm!" (Felix as drops chocolate coins in the bag.

Luba and Motty pack their Mishloach Manot

We hope you enjoy delivering these packages as much as we enjoyed making them!

Grape juice for Puim

Each holiday has traditional foods that we enjoy. If someone gave you two seconds to answer the
question,” What food do you eat on Purim”, what would you answer? Probably, Hamantaschen.

Is there a special drink for Purim? Wine or grape juice.

KDH made grape juice.

We washed the grapes, then carefully took them off the vine so that no pieces would be left attached to the grapes. We put them into Ziploc bags and mashed and squeezed and mashed and squeezed, getting out as much juice as possible. We poured all of it into a big pot and cooked it. After it cooled down, we strained it. Then we taste tested! Yum! Good enough to bottle and label and put into Mishloach Manot to be enjoyed at the Purim Seudah/feast.

 

Happy Purim!
Morah Ruth

Heavenly Hamantaschen

Today was hamantaschen-baking day in Kitah Alef Bet! Together, we mixed together all of the ingredients and turned our dough into delicious cookies.

"You have a lot of tools!" Perly observed, when he saw all of the measuring cups and spoons I had gathered for the activity.  This was a great opportunity to review the vocabulary word "recipe," as I followed a slip of paper with the ingredients and cooking instructions on it.

Each class member had a turn to pour in an ingredient

 

 

 

 

The potato masher really came in handy!

 

Our recipe is unique- it calls for orange juice!

 After the dough was mixed, it was time to cut the cookies and fill them.

In my opinion, these are the best hamantaschen in the world. But you don't have to take my word or it- you can take a bite of the one we sent home, or make a batch yourself!

World's Greatest Hamantaschen:

1/2 C margarine
1 C sugar
1 large egg
1/3 C orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
Cinnamon-sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Beat margarine at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add egg, orange juice, and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to margarine mixture; stir into a uniform dough.

Shape dough into a flat disk.  Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes (may be made 2 days ahead).

Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut 3-inch circles with a cookie cutter or drinking glass.

Place 1/2 tsp of filling in the center of each circle. 

Shape into a triangle by folding 2 sides of the circle to the center and pinch together at the sides.  Fold remaining side up to the center and pinch together at the sides.  Some of the filling should be visible in the center.

Place hamentashen 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet.  Brush with egg and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes (I baked for less than 20 as my oven gets pretty hot).

The Purim Story: Kitah Gimmel-Style

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Kitah Gimmel megillah:

Felix, Asher, Ezra, and Max reenact the king's party

Nina and Motty as Esther and Mordechai having Shabbat dinner.

 

Dovi W. as Mordechai being led through the streets of Shushan on the king's horse, and wearing the king's crown and clothing, as Jonah, Sholom, and Luba (townspeople) cheer him on.

We can't wait to see the finished product!

KDH is Busy

With Purim in the air it is an exciting time at IJP. KDH celebrated Rosh Chodesh Adar on Monday, baking hamantaschen, then eating some and saving the rest for Mishloach Manot. On Tuesday, Morah Sara came in and taught us about scales and rhythm (see previous blog post). 

Wednesday was the big day! We all buckled into our car seats and were off. We arrived at Sanford Porter Community Center and were shown to our seats. Wow, fancy seats that spring up and down. Be careful, don't slide back. The program included our being introduced to all the instruments, singing of an operatic, jazz and rock and roll nature, music to Dr. Seuss' Gerald Boing Boing and a march, singer Wendy Bennett and two dancers. What an interesting program!

Ask the KDH children about an orchestra. They will tell you about the different families of instruments that all make beautiful music together. 

Thursday, we all brought in costumes for show and tell. We acted out the Purim story and the four mitzvot of Purim. 

Today, Friday, a Fire Truck and puppet show is the excitement. Hey, we can be Firemen too!

Morah Ruth