Nature's Menorah - KB

As the overriding theme in our class for this year has been nature, children apply nature to many of our curriculum units.  For Chanukah, children requested to make a menorah out of sticks collected from outside.

After gathering as many sticks as they could from the playground, children decorated them with blue-toned paint and glitter. 

After the paint dried, we worked together to arrange them on a large black poster board and glue them on with lots of sticky glue.  “I need more glue!” one child called.  Using paint brushes, children spread the glue in long strokes across the poster board.  “There’s a bunch of glue there!” another child noted, pointing to a large spill of glue with her paint brush. 

We reviewed how many days there are of Chanukah, how many days the oil lasted in the Chanukah story, and how many lights there are on the menorah.  The answer to all of them is 8!  In response, we made sure that our stick menorah had 8 “branches” (plus one for the tall shammash candle).

Adorning our menorah with fire-colored nature “lights” was next.  Taking pine cones and large seed pods we collected from outside, we dipped each in flame colored orange paint.  Our menorah now looks ready for Chanukah!

Reflecting on our work centered on the bulletin board, children pointed, “Look—our menorah!”  Regarding the black poster board paper which stands out sharply against the colored sticks and flame-colored pine cones, Morah Adi explained, “Black reminds us that we only light the menorah at night, not during the day.”  May the Chanukah lights we kindle this year bring sparks of light, hope, and joy to the dark nights.

Chanukah--and More!

Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah--(and some other topics, too!)

     The beauty of Intown Jewish Preschool's Extended Day program is the carryover of the morning's instruction into the afternoon's free play.

     So what have the children been learning about recently?  We all know--it's Chanukah!  They know the story of Chanukah from their morning Morahs, and they know plenty of songs, too.  During the day, they experience the holiday with hands-on tray activities, singing, movement, art, craft and more.  In the afternoon, we have some additional Chanukah activities, and some time for the multi-age group to interact.   They like to come up with some of their own original programming.

     Last week, the kids got together and made a band.  They had their instruments ready:  old pots, pans, spatulas and ladles.  Their song?  Chanukah was in the air, so you guess their choice of performance.  The song Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel was their big hit.
     Avraham Chaim told us, "I can make the tune of Dreidel, Dreidel!"  He demonstrated by pounding on his drum.  We spoke a little bit about tune and rhythm.
     Orli said, "I want a flute!"
     Eli gave us some more information:  "Sylvia is dancing for the show!"
     Leah responded, "I'm the singer for the show!"
     Eli:  "I'm the drummer for the show, too."

     Meanwhile on another part of the playground, there was some more pretend play in action. 
     Hendrix explained his structure (below):  "This is our tire shop."
     Avraham Chaim had moved from the musical "band" to the tire shop.  He answered Hendrix:  "Yeah, this is where we get our tires!"  Then he added, "These are from an airplane.  I heard on the news that an airplane got the tires changed."

     Sylvia and Eli had moved, too.  Sylvia was now painting with acrylic paint.  (Very, very carefully, wearing a smock--we know how to use acrylic paint!)  A Morah reminded her that acrylic paint comes off the skin easily enough, but it's not so easy to get it off clothing.
     Sylvia:  "The acrylic paint comes out if you wait 20 years. I heard it from my science podcast!"

     Lily found an interesting chunk of wood.  We asked her where she got it.
     Lily:  "It's dirty, so probably it came from the sand."
     She decided to paint it with the acrylic paint.

     Eli joined along with painting the log.  Lily reminded him, "I found this log, Eli.  But don't paint over other people's artwork!"

     So, we're busy with learning and fun everyday.  In the afternoon, it all comes together:  the integration of the morning topics, the social skills and so much more!

                                                              Happy Chanukah!
                                            Fondly, all the Extended Day Morahs and Yeledim 

   

Chanukah, oh Chanukah!

Chanukah is here in Pre-KA! All around the classroom you can find the the themes and traditions of this special holiday.

We've created new Chanukah-themed sensory bottles with different weights and sounds. The children experiment by shaking them, rolling them, stacking them, and even sliding them down our tube.

On our table are our find motor activities. The children can fit large and small Chanukah candles into menorahs and pop them through small holes cut into a container. We also reinforce counting by counting the candles as we place them in the menorah. 

A Chanukah puzzle gives us the opportunity to talk about Chanukah themes while working little fingers to pinch the pegs. 

Our Chanukah sensory bin is full of dreidels, wrapping paper, candles and different textures. The children can practice spinning dreidels on the floor, or use one in particular that buzzes when you pull the string!

We have a blue pin art toy that encourages focus and creativity as the children explore the many possibilities of shapes they can make in the plastic needles. 

 On Chanukah we celebrate the light that emits from the menorah, so we incorporated lights into our play. Click-on lights change colors as the children press down on the middle. You can see their pleased and excited expressions when they successfully change the colors.

For art we painted with - dreidels! We spun them and slid them around in blue and silver sparkly paint.

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To complete our Chanukah fun we baked Chanukah cookies! Carefully and patiently we performed each step of the process - rolling the dough flat, pressing a Chanukah-shaped cookie cutter in it and sprinkling on colorful sprinkles!

We are so excited to share all of our special Chanukah take-home items with you! 

Happy Chanukah!

Let's Build! Creating a Sense of Wonder through Construction, Play, and Friendship

In Kitah Gimmel, there is plenty of work to do. We have bolt machines turned to paint machines, moon mountains, and monster traps all under construction. With all helping hands on deck, sometimes two of us want to use the same material, or three of us have a different idea for the blueprints. Given these unique perspectives, it's natural when a disagreement arises. We stop, observe the situation, note the problem, decide whether it's safe or not safe, and assemble solutions! By openly discussing our various visions and how we would like to implement them, we build and strengthen our problem solving skills, communication abilities, and what it means to be a team player. What are innovative ways you construct solutions?

Whether they're building friendships or structures, the Kitah Gimmel Yeladim are getting creative with their masterpieces and helping each other grow along the way. Did you know that constructing and collaborating using various types of building materials fosters independent thinking and decision making? They're actually continuously challenging themselves and each other with endless 'What ifs', and 'I wonders', drawing a new and greater understanding of the world around them. 

We are so fortunate to have an Atelierista (art teacher), Morah Jessica, on staff! She shows us how we can expand our knowledge and building creativity using various materials. We had an excess of styrofoam on hand so we took the time to learn how to connect the pieces together using gold tees and wooden mallets, tape, bamboo skewers, and tooth picks!

Small world play consists of acting out real-life scenarios in a miniature play scene, created with small objects. Here children can learn life skills, turn taking, routines, processes, and much more. 

In light of all our in-class building, we had and idea to build with our special visitors who came for our Thanksgiving Feast! Given an array of wooden materials, glue, gemstones, and buttons our guests and master builders worked together to create detailed and elaborate pieces.

Following our special event, the children wanted to do more assembling of the wooden pieces. For days and weeks now, the structures are becoming more elaborate, friends are working together and we are creating our very own BUSY TOWN (named by Alex). You can read more about it in our next blog!