IJPeek 👀 Chanukah!

Chanukah is in the air! Can you feel it? If your daily email pics are any indication, you'll see that each class at IJP is overflowing with the sights, sounds and stimulation of deep Chanukah learning. Let's take a look!

                                                                                                                                        ~ Rena

KA/KB 9-1
KA/KB 9-1 is all about art! There are endless possibilities for Chanukah-themed art experiences.

Did you know you can paint with dreidels? Combining pre-writing skills with open-ended art, the children took turns dipping plastic dreidels into blue sparkly paint and spinning them on their papers! No two patterns were alike.

In the same vein, cookie cutters are not just for cookies! By tapping them in paint, children duplicated Chanukah shapes onto butcher paper on the table in their classroom. At this age, we like to offer exposure to Chanukah's basic themes: the menorah, dreidels, olive oil and special foods.

To decorate their menorahs, this class chose to add some science in the mix. After coloring the base with permanent marker, they drip-dropped rubbing alcohol on top and watched the colors spread. They topped them off with hex nuts to hold the candles.

KA/KB 9-3
The table toys in this class are all menorahs and dreidels! There are endless types of menorahs and dreidels, and KA/KB 9-3 has made sure to provide multiple varieties for manipulation. Each design offers built-in opportunities to exercise various skills.

A wooden menorah offers two levels of difficulty in dexterity. Placing the colorful wooden candles into the menorah exercises fine motor skills and one-to-ton ratio. But wait - there's more! The wooden flames are removable too, adding another aspect of challenge. A different wooden menorah displays the many thematic elements of the holiday for discussion - gelt, dreidels (adding in Hebrew literacy). You can even make your own menorah out of paper towel rolls! 

Dreidels call for fine motor practice by definition. Little fingers pinch the stems and twist them to make them spin! It is also a social game that brings friends together and encourages turn-taking and communication. The morahs also created a sorting game for the children to match the colors of dreidels with the corresponding colors in a recycled egg carton.

KG/KD 9-1
KG/KD 9-1 is blessed to have their very own resident musician - Morah Dina! Morah Dina has been incorporating as much music as she can during this Chanukah season. She plays the keyboard while the children play their instruments. Some of their favorites include Chanukah is Coming, Dreidel, Dreidel and:

How many candles x 3

Do we light

On our Chanukah x2 

The first Chanukah night ?

One x6 

One candle burning x2 

The first Chanukah night .

Using this song as a springboard for math practice, the children use their fingers and candles to count the ascending number of candles that we light each night of Chanukah.

The class also learned about the brave Maccabees and marched around the room to the repetitive beat of a drum:

The Maccabees x2 

We are here x3 today.

To the Beit Hamikdash yes we say

Fighting for our rights to pray .

We will March and shout “hooray”  the Maccabees are here to day.

We are here we are here we are here today!

Music plays an important part of child development, promoting language emersion, self-expression, and regulation. Through music the children differentiate between loud and soft voices, fast and slow tempos and work to match the movement of their bodies to the rhythm.

On the literacy side, the class has been learning the letter M. M for menorah and for Maccabees! After tracing the letter on their papers, they created monster M's by adding pieces of fur, googly eyes and other collage materials.

KG/KD 9-3

KG/KD 9-3 is bursting at the seams with Chanukah provocations. In the block area, tea lights are provided for an open-ended exploration of light and dark, a central Chanukah theme.  One day, the children built their version of the Beit Hamikdash and sang "Build us the Beit Hamikdash, we really, really, really want it now!"

At the table, some new activity trays made their appearance. In the sand tray, children are able to use natural materials to create a menorah, experimenting with the physical properties of the items as well as gravity and balance. For math skills, a counting tray instructs the children to put the numbered candles in numerical order.

Chanukah is a time to shine the light of giving to each other. Each child made a Chanukah card for another friend in the class, which were exchanged at circle time. They wrote the words: “Happy Chanukah” and “I love you.” This heartwarming activity combines the key social-emotional skill of empathy for another with literacy practice.

The children also worked with various art mediums to create colorful and personalized gifts for each other. They even decided to widen their circle of giving by designing gifts for the neighborhood in the form of pet rocks! They first painted the rocks and then glued feathers, glitter, and eyes on them to give each its own personality. The class then took a walk through the neighborhood, and each child decided where they wanted to leave their rocks to bring joy to others.

KH

The children in Kitah Hay have been delving into the world of science by exploring the properties of oil. Because of the miracle of the lasting Chanukah oil, many have the custom to use olive oil in lighting their menorahs. What is olive oil? How is it made, and how does it react with other materials? This was what KH wanted to find out. 

They began their research by reading “How It’s Made,” a story describing the olive oil-making process. The book follows the olive's journey all the way from their harvesting from the trees to the bottling of clear, pure olive oil. The class also watched an informative video on the subject.

After learning about how oil is made, some students still wondered what oil was LIKE.  How does it feel, taste, smell, and behave with water? So they did some experimenting. Each child received a pipette, jar of water, smaller jar of oil and a piece of white paper. They squeezed water and oil in turn onto their papers and observed the results. The water and oil absorbed differently into the paper and left differing residual textures.

Stay tuned for more insights into the fun and learning happening every day at IJP!