Guys' Day!

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Three cheers for Guys' Day! Naturally, our Kitah Gimmel kiddos are happy, bouncy, caring and creative, so I'm sure you can imagine the excitement bubbling as we talked about and prepared for our special guests. 

"What does your dad do?" Morah Michelle asked the children. Here's what we got:

My daddy goes to work! He sits in a work house. - Emilia


He goes to work. He helps people. Daddy brings work pens from his house. He lets us draw with them - Liana


My daddy climbs trees and he gives shots at work. - Yael


He goes in physical perapies (therapy). He helps people walk! -Maya


My daddy plays with me and sometimes we play with the construction workers. - Hudson


My daddy works for Delta. - Leo


My daddy plays music -Hendrix
No, he MAKES music - Oliver
Actually, he fixes music - Hendrix


My daddy takes me to the new house. My daddy works! He wooorrks ... I don’t know. - Alex


My daddy works. - Gaia


Hey! I remember when me, mommy, and grandma went to visit daddy at his work building. He works on the top floor! - Sloane


He goes to the Chabad house! He works on the computer. -Riva


My daddy gives me lollipops - Raleigh


My daddy goes to a house and shoots (films). He sees the helicopter go up in the sky. - Oliver


He works on a 'puter. He brings his 'puter to his office so he can work. -Noam


My daddy has to do what he’s supposed to do at work. He gets messages from work. - Eric


He stays at work! He works on the computer with his friends - Basha

It's not every day our real life super heroes get to come for a visit, whether it be Dad, Mom, Grandparents or friends, KG yeledim are always thrilled to welcome new guests. Food is always a hit, and we chose to make opposite cupcakes: Vanilla with chocolate chips and chocolate chip with rainbow

Crack the eggs and check to see if they're kosher

Mix and mix and mix some more. 

Stir and wait, stir and wait.
The dragonflies made chocolate cupcakes

Patience and carefulness is my specialty!

We can take turns squeezing the batter into the tiny tins!

Yay for chocolate sprinkles!

Are they done yet?!

Check out our blog about building that highlights our Grandparent's Day Activity. Such complex structures arose, we just had to keep it going! For days, weeks and months we revisited the project, adding more to it, gluing them onto bigger boards and forming what we now call, The Busy City!!!
Here are some snapshots of the building that continued on from that day:

Basha glues and stacks!

Emilia adds more glue!

Maya likes to mix the glue
with the glitter!

Now it's time to show the guys to our classroom, we are ready to build and share snacks and time together! Show me the way!

Noam proudly leads his dad to the classroom.

We come together for circle time to talk about what makes
our children so special!

Hudson has the best convos with dad!

Hendrix adores his daddy, as you can see.

Riva's Bubby came from South Africa!

Riva's Tati also delighted her in a book!

Sloane and her daddy are adding green space!

 Noam describes the detail of his structure.

Alex named this place the Busy City?!

Leo and his dad, masterminds at work.

Liana, always focusing on the finer details while dad supports. 

Maya's deep thoughts. 

Eric and his mom cheerfully create together!

Gaia insists they make a little car!

Yaya's got her favorite color and guy by her side.

Oliver may or may not look just like his dad!

One of the best things we can give each other, our children especially, is connection. When we feel connected, we feel more willing and safe. Because we have this time together, our children are set up to know and feel that they are supported, heard, valued and loved.  Thank you, IJP Family, we are better together!

Coming Up: Trees for Tu B'shvat! (link coming soon)

"This is me and Micah, we play in the trees
and we live in this building.
I am on this side and he is on that side."

The Inside Scoop

What do The Butterflies and Dragonflies talk about all day long? How are they interacting with each other and in what ways? What from their home life and experiences are they expounding upon through social interactions, dramatic play, building, story telling and art? Quite a bit! So much, in fact, that we have a pretty juicy archive to share with you! Here's a little peek, enjoy! 

I can show you how to tear the tape.
You have to hold it straight and cut it with the scissors. -Gaia

I'm calling our mother! So, we dressed her up and put on her bottoms.
*makes a beep sound* on no I can't hear her! - RIva
Our baby is so sick! - Basha
I know! Uch, she is sooooo cute! - Riva

I can see it from here, it looks different but does not look different. - Noam

Hi! Yes, I can ask Alex if he's available to fix that.
Alex are you available, no?
Okay, maybe Hendrix can because he's fixing the sea patroller.
Hendrix is not available either. Are you at Georgia Tech?
You are? Okay, I can meet you there. - Leo

Oliver- lets dig a deep hole

Hendrix- that’s deep, that’s China! 

Leo- Pandas are in China! 

Alex- make sure you don’t cover China up 

The baby is sick and she needs a shot.
After her shot she needs medicine and to rest. - Basha

Hendrix - These cakes have to bake a hundred a million times.
Leo - Mine (cake) is a strawberry-googer-de-googery

If your face is in the sun, that means the sun is hugging you. - Hudson

I like to eat popcorn only when I watch movies, 
yeah, me and my entire family. -Sloane

Maybe a long time ago, we're going to turn into adults. When
I grow up for real, I'm going to be a mom. For real life! - Maya

"Ice cream is NOT for breakfast!"- Raleigh

I ate dinner all day!
I had Mac n Cheese and my daddy ate all my salad! - Emilia 

This sign says “keep out”. This is a house 
that has cans full of oil. 
The oil charges the light and the light is what keeps 
the house charged. -Oliver 

Do you know how fast a cheetah goes? You don't know?!
It goes 100 fast. - Liana

Eric - (giving Raleigh a suggest on where to find his toy)
You have to go peaking for it. Do you know what peaking means?
It means you have to go to the hole (in the fence)
and squint your eyes under the crack.
Once you find your toy, you can reach your hand in and grab it!

I'm at the hospital and Emilia is my doctor. I’m sick.
I danced too much, and that’s why I’m sick.  -Yael

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!