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!

Menorah Making in Pre-KA

Chanukah menorahs can be made out of an endless variety of materials, and we stayed true to IJP's value of using natural materials by making ours out of bamboo! Sliced down the long way it provided the perfect medium for us to work with. We made good use of our Wednesday art slot with Morah Jessica to make our menorahs.

First, we painted the bamboo in cool colors - blues, purples and silvers - and sprinkled on some sparkly glitter.

Then we covered the whole thing in Mod Podge to seal it and make it even shinier.

When it was dry, we worked carefully with Morah Jessica to glue on ceramic tiles for fire safety and the metal nuts that will hold our candles. We needed a lot of glue! We counted out eight nuts and a tall sewing bobbin to give height to our shamash, the helper candle that lights all the others.

Voila! We can't wait to light our menorahs on Chanukah!