Chalk Art Outside with Kitah Alef

 Kitah Alef ventured outside with a basket of white chalk. Yisroel passed out chalk to all of his friends while talking excitedly. Shayan added to the drawings already on the fence from a previous class.

 Avraham Chaim looked up and saw the many figures and shapes on the fence.

 Yisroel makes sure Zoey has plenty of chalk to draw with.

 Zoey: "I'm drawing a house!" Rafi also starts to draw on the fence.

 Rafi and Avraham Chaim work together to create a work of art.

 Zoey: "Circle!"Rafi points to a figure and says: "Face!"

 Yisroel collects the chalk lying on the deck and puts it back into the basket.

 Morah Myriam draws all kinds of shapes onto the deck. Morah Myriam: "It's a circle!"

 Yisroel: "Draw a circle! Draw a circle!" Morah Myriam draws circles with smaller circles inside. Yisroel: "It's funny!"

Color and Light Exploration with Kitah Alef

We brought the light table into Kitah Alef. We covered the window with a dark blue paper to create more darkness, so that the light would stand out.  It took a little while for the children to notice it was there, all the way in the back of the room. Once Eliza discovered it, everyone crowded around. Eliza picked up a green shiny wooden block. Morah Myriam: "What color is that Eliza?" Eliza: "Green."

 The children moved the magna tiles around on the light table. Shane: "Look!" (picking up a block from the light table) Shane: "Look at this light, all these colors!"

Rafi stacked the blocks one on top of the other and made a tower.  There were circles, triangles and squares to explore.

 Shane and Benji held the blocks up to their eyes to peer through the colored glass. Morah Myriam "What color is that Shane?" Shane: "Blue.... Eli is hiding" (Eli (Yisroel) was hiding behind the light table.) Morah Myriam: "There he is!"

 Zoey came along and picked up a wooden see through block with all kinds of shapes inside it. She held it above her head and peered through it. Having the light table in our room is such a treat. We are continuing to learn our colors and we are exploring shapes at the same time.

Extended Day's Geometric Sticks

Sticks have a great potential for learning all types of new skills.  We got to gather sticks, sort them out, clean them up, and add a bit of paint to each end for countless creation opportunities.  While collecting, we targeting the small straight sticks but didn't mind if some were bigger or a bit curvy.

 Once we got a basket full, we decided that some were fat and some were skinny, so we sorted them out into groups then cleaned them up a bit by scraping one stick with another. 

Then we filled some cups up with paint for dipping.  Some sticks have the same color and some have a different color on each side for more matching options. 

Once all of the sticks were dry we got to finally play with them!  Some used sticks with all of the same color, some made specific shapes, and others just had fun matching the colors together. 

We even played pick up sticks! Ilan thinks that this pile looks like a campfire. 

Shapes and Colors -Kitah Alef

 The weather has been quite cold. Kitah Alef has been spending more time inside. The children are always asking to draw. We covered the table and put out as many crayons and colored pencils as we could find.

 Morah Myriam drew circles on the paper. "Look it's a circle." - Morah Myriam. Ezra: "Circle." Our friends in Kitah Alef are recognizing many of the shapes and almost all of the colors. "What color is this?" asks Morah Mushkie holding up a blue crayon. Sammy: "Blue!" Other children repeat after Sammy. Morah Myriam: "Who is wearing blue today?" Caleb - "Me!"

 Holding the colored pencils and crayons is great for developing their grip and practicing writing. Sometimes we have dry erase markers and we draw on our white board. Kitah Alef is great at taking turns, even if sometimes its hard to wait.

 Purim is just around the corner. Today we danced in a circle and sang "Mishe Nichnas Adar" - Happy Rosh Chodesh!

Kita Alef Shapes

B'H

Exploring shapes, today Kita Alef had a triangle hunt in the classroom. There were different color triangles spread around the mat. When they picked it up they were encouraged to say the color and shape.

Pearl found the first triangle

Ruth says "blue triangle"

Leiba got it!

Shaya has the triangles on his eyes.

Hannah collecting a few at a time!

Children at this age learn through interactive play it gives them the opportunity to use their entire body to experience what it is we are teaching them.