Kitah Gimmel Falls into Autumn

The leaves are changing colors, the air is getting crisp, and the sun is out for less; Fall is here! As the season changes from summer to autumn, the fruits and vegetables growing from the ground change as well. With pumpkins, squash, and gourds all being popular fall treats, how will we know the difference? Kitah Gimmel observed and concluded that a pumpkin and squash are delicious fruits we could eat, but the gourd wouldn't taste as good. So the pumpkins we can use to make pie, the squash we could roast, and the gourd is a decorative addition to the table setting! We also noticed the texture of each fruit was different, and thought this is a perfect opportunity to explore them as artists! With our paint brushes ready, we began to glaze the various fruits in fall-themed colors. After, we rolled the colorful fruits across the canvas, sprinkled some leaves, and viola - our masterpiece was complete. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we thought this would dual as an excellent Thanksgiving card! Kitah Gimmel is preparing for the holiday by inviting family, especially grandparents, for a warm meal. Some of the dishes we are cooking are roasted yellow corn and honey glazed cinnamon carrots. With our Helpful Hands to the ready, Kitah Gimmel worked together to fashion our most welcoming table yet! But wait, we aren't the only ones getting ready! Have you noticed the acorns on the ground when you walk into school? Have you noticed that some of those acorns are chewed and others are left whole? The chipmunks and squirrels are scurrying around our play area to collect plenty of acorns for their Thanksgiving meal as well! For our provocation tables, we would reenact what those meals would look like with the “Squirrel Imaginary Play” tray, and “Match the Squirrel to the Acorn” tray. What a busy and exciting time of the year. The leaves are changing colors, the air is getting crisp, and the sun is out for less; Fall is here!

After differentiating between the pumpkin, squash, and gourd, Kitah Gimmel glazes them with color to makeshift them into painting tools for our Thanksgiving cards!

  

One of our favorite preparations for Thanksgiving was the cooking! From making sweet cinnamon carrots to savory roasted corn, we were so excited for all of our family and friends to try our dish at the IJP Shabbat Dinner!

Where do squirrels live? How do they eat their meal? We explored the lifestyle of squirrels through our morning tray engagements.

Yup, it’s for certain! Kitah Gimmel has fallen into Autumn!

Noticing Fall in Extended Day

Fall Is Here!

     On a beautiful fall day, the Extended Day yeledim took a walk to experience signs of the season.  We collected colorful leaves, some acorns, pecans and twigs.  We found enough to fill two paper bags!

Eli notices the colorful leaves. 

Liana picks some pine needles left at the curb.

     We noticed that some leaves are red, yellow, brown or green.  We found some pine branches, too--evergreens!  We found leaves from a maple tree, some from an elm and others from an oak tree.  We spotted two palm trees, too!

Above:  Riva and Dovid searching for colorful leaves, acorns and more.

Leora shows the Morahs her acorns. 

     Above:  And Sylvia shows us her pecan cluster.  We have a lot of these by our ship on the upper playground!

     We continued on our way, collecting leaves and nuts--we found so much! (Below:  noticing our environment and picking up a collection of leaves, acorns, etc.)

     Above:  Maya and Gaia make a plan while Alex and Leo look on. 

     Later in the week, we used our fall samples for some art work.  We used the colors of fall--orange, red, yellow, green--to trace and make impressions of our leaves and twigs.

Yonah uses his chalk to make a twig shape. 

Margot makes a leaf outline.

Liana and Maya work side-by-side.  Liana picked the biggest leaf ever!

Leora works with a twig.

Orli gets ready to take some pics.

Orli takes a photo of Levi at work.  We noticed that the children have impressive photography skills!

 
    
     Our day was almost finished.  All of a sudden, a lizard appeared!  We think it's the same lizard that lives under the "stage" and makes its appearance every now and then.  We were gentle!  Amiel placed a twig near the lizard and it climbed on.   A Morah then put the lizard in a garden bed outside the gate, away from the playground.  Within a few minutes, it was back--it had climbed on the fence and was looking at us!  (Pictured: Amiel, Hudson, Dovid and Adom looking at the lizard.  That lizard is hard to spot--in the second photo, we circled the lizard in black marker to make it easier to find.  We were amazed!)

The Extended Day Morahs--Enjoying the Fall with the Extended Day Yeledim 

Seasonal Sensations

The Things We Love . . .

     It's fall, and seasonal items are readily available in our room.  How did this happen?  We collected a variety of leaves, acorns and pecans from our yard.  Pine-cones, magnolia leaves and pods, and ears of corn were brought in by the Morahs.  (Above, Eli dips an ear of corn in paint.  He creates an interesting effect on the bulletin paper by rolling the corn back and forth.)

     We go for a Leaf Hunt.  We notice some maple leaves, some oak leaves.  Some of the leaves are still green.  Many are brown, and some are red and yellow.  We collect our leaves and place them in a pot.  By venturing out in an intimate half-group, with the other group in Play-Ball, we are able to engage in some meaningful discussion:  What have we noticed about fall?

     We place our leaves on clear contact paper.  By taking the leaves out of the pot and hanging them up, we will be able to get a good view of each individual leaf. 

     It's beginning to look a lot like fall in our Painters' Porch!  We can look outside, see the seasonal changes on Monroe Drive, and enjoy our collection of leaves.  What about that clay "maple" leaf hanging from the window frame?  We made those with cookie cutters and our own salt dough, scented with cinnamon.  We had passed around some cinnamon sticks during Circle Time to experience the feel and smell.  (Above, Sylvia's dough leaf is on view.)
Salt Dough Recipe:
  1 cup salt
  2 cups flour
  1 cup water
  coloring--optional, your choice, we used some tea
  scent--also optional, we used cinnamon
  air dry for a week or so, or bake for 2 hours at 150 to 200 degrees

     Our home-made dough (above) reminds us of our YomTov pomegranates.  We roll it out, and place "seeds" in the dough.  The squishiness of the dough is appealing and we like to stay at this table a long time. Yet, we learn to share.  A friend comes along and asks, "Can I have it when you're done?" We learn to be patient, and to invite a friend to join us.
Play-Doh Recipe:
  1 cup four
  1/4 cup salt
  1/2 cup water
  1 to 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  coloring, scent if desired  (just a tad bit of a fruit drink did the trick) 

     A collection of citrus fruits is on display at our nature table.  Can you find the etrog?  The lemon?  There's some grapefruit and a tangerine, too.  This is not a hands-off activity--the children are expected to handle the fruits.  During Circle, we cut up the fruits and participated in a quick compare-and-contrast discussion.  Now it's our opportunity to get a close-up view of each one, while working individually or in pairs at our small table.  (Maddy examines the citrus fruits.)

     We can handle our small pumpkin, too.  (Emmett uses tweezers to move pumpkin seeds from one bowl to another.  What a fun way to experience the seeds--and increase our fine-motor skills as well.)

     Sensory experiences are everywhere in Kitah Gimmel.  The Days of Creation are introduced with a collection of trays.  We are independent and responsible.  We take a tray to investigate, and then return it when we are finished.  We learn about light and dark,  the sun, moon and stars, trees and flowers, fish and other animals, people and, of course, Shabbat.  The trays reinforce our Circle discussions and the books that are shared during Lunch.  (Above, Ben works with "grass" and "insects."  We learn that Hashem made our World.)

     (Above:  Annabel, Maddy and Ezra working cooperatively at the light table.)

(Gabi, experiencing soil, trees and turtles.)

(Leah and Sylvia, noticing the moon, sun and stars.)

(Rafi, hard at work, is involved with his forest of trees.)

(Harper, noticing that even small animals are important in our world.)

     (Book recommendation:  Above, we borrowed the book We're Going on a Leaf Hunt from Kitah Dalet-Hey to jump-start our actual Leaf Hunt.  This book is a take-off on the traditional Going on a Bear Hunt chant--but in this book, a skunk appears!  It's fun. The chant is a great activity if you're going on a car trip, hanging out in a park--it's easy to memorize, and you can change the action-words for extra interest.)

Enjoy your week!

The Morahs of Kitah Gimmel

Too Many Books? Never!

Too Many Books?  Can't Be!

          We're a busy group.  We like to build, to paint, to mess around with Play-doh.  Another classic, truly classic, on-going activity for Kitah Gimmel is  . . .our books!

     The morning begins with some independent "reading."  We investigate what's in our class Library.  The books change with the seasons.  Will we see Sukkot books there now?  You bet!

     Sometimes we interact with a buddy or two while we're reading.  Sometimes we choose to go it alone, while still hanging-out next to our friends.  (This reminds me of my husband and myself on a Sunday morning, reading the local newspaper!)

     Sometimes we swap our books with our friends, so everyone has a turn to experience each of the books.

     We bring books to the table, too.  

     Or we stretch out on our big rug, with plenty of room to look through two or three books in a single sitting.  We're able to focus on a story while our friends play.  Sometimes they join us . . .and sometimes we join them.

     The Morahs share a story, or two or three, during Snack and Lunch.  One of the girls needed to leave for a minute to go to the bathroom.  "Wait," she said, "I'll be right back!"  She didn't want to miss a second of the story.

    Our visitors read to us, too.  Here, Asher's Meema reads a book to us while Ash pays close attention. Eli L's mom read to us one morning.  Morah Susan's friend, Morah Mindy, shared one of Morah Susan's favorite books, Shofy and Blowfy, right before Rosh Hashannah.

Morah Estee usually shares three stories during Lunch!  

(Above, Morah Susan uses a bear prop to tell a Rosh Hashannah story about the apple.  (L) more story-telling props about the apple, (R) Three fall-related stories, with a squirrel puppet.

     (As an aside, I'd like to mention that there's almost nothing better than juvenile literature, even for an adult.  There's a lot to learn from the simplest of stories.  The Kitah Gimmel children felt the tension in The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House when Mama Nut scolded the children for being poor listeners.  Was there still love?  You bet!   The story ended on a happy, and very loving, note.
     My new favorite (or one of my many new favorites!) is actually an old book, Earl the Squirrel by Don Freeman.  You may know this writer/illustrator as the author of the classics Corduroy the Bear, Norman the Doorman, MopTop and Dandelion.  I just discovered Earl recently; it was published posthumously, much later than Freeman's other books.  The squirrel Earl learns to appreciate himself, accomplish a task and make his mommy proud . . .an inspiring lesson for any age group. Hip, hip, hooray for kids' books!)

Morah Susan, with Morah Estee and Morah Jainea, and the book lovers of Kitah Gimmel