Hanukkah oh Hanukkah...

This is one festive holiday, with lots of lights, lots of entertainment, lots of attractions, and of course lots of food.  It really seems like all the Jewish holidays are connected with food. With this said, Hanukkah can not be done correctly without a party in our classroom. The parents are invited, and we love it when they visit our classroom. If parents come to see us in our classroom then they get to experience a day in our lives as well.

A week before the party we send home invitations that say "come to the party, dress to get messy".  On the day of the party, we cut out big dreidels and organize them on the floor with different kinds of brushes and paint.

 

Everybody has a blast painting the dreidels. On their kneels and all. 

Every year we send hanukiyot (menoras) home. The children work very hard on their hanukiyot.  It's a nice keepsake for  future hanukkah celebrations. While the family light the candles on the menorahs the children can also pretend to light the candles on theirs.

This hanukiya was made with three year old children. We, the teachers, prepared the cardboard hanukiya pattern ahead of time. The children painted the menorahs and the stand. They painted the candles and added the shiny "lights" on the candles with glitter dipped in glue. We also glued some Star of David confetti to the menorahs. Because of the clothespins, this menorah is very good for hand eye coordination, counting, and for small motor skills.

 

This hanukiya was made with two year old children. It's much simpler. The children painted the egg carton as the base of the hanukiya. They painted the paper towel rolls and glued them on the base. The teacher carved slits on the roll for the candles. The thin craft sticks were the regular candles, and two craft sticks were glued together to make the Shamash. This year instead of the two sticks the teacher used a fat craft stick as a Shamash. It is bigger and taller then the others.  

This year I teach the two year old children. I always use simpler songs, simpler projects, and simpler books for them. I just found this song in one of my books, which I think is great for this age. 

Tune: Where is Thumbkin?

Where is Judah Maccabee X2

Strong and bold X2

He helped the Jewish people X2

We've been told X2

Shalom, Judah Maccabee X2

Strong and bold X2

You helped the Jewish people X2

We've been told X2

We wish you all a Happy Hanukkah. 

Shabbat Is Here

Shalom,
Wow! This year's weather has been very interesting so far. It rained during the week of Sukkot so we were unable to sit in the sukkah.  Then a serious snow storm at the end of October provided a sudden snow vacation. I hope everybody has power now and is safe.

During the cold weather that we have had lately, even though it's not winter yet, I like to eat soup. Any kind of soup. But in my opinion chicken soup with matzah balls can beat any soup. Chicken soup and Shabbat are an unbeatable pair.

There is a song for chicken soup, unfortunately I don't know the writer.

Put the chicken in the pot

Put the chicken in the pot

Stir it up nice and hot

Get it ready for Shabbat

For Shabbat

Put the celery in the pot

Stir it up nice and hot

Get it ready for Shabbat for Shabbat

Put the potatoes (celery, peas, onion, etc….) in the pot

When we sing this song in our room I use a real soup pot and plastic food for the soup's ingredients.

My friend Gina uses a pot and food that are cut out of felt for the song. The options are endless.

In our classroom, we love getting ready for Shabbat. Shabbat is one of my favorite times of the year (Yes, every week!). It comes every Friday, and we are allowed to eat as much challah as we want. All these years that I've been teaching I've never met a child that doesn't love challah.
Every Friday, on my discovery table I set an extra set of Shabbat supplies, including candles, candle sticks, play challahs, a chalah cover, a kiddush cup, a white table cloth, and some shabbat books. The kids like to explore and set the shabbat table over and over again. What an important experience!

This is our shabbat tablecloth, and everybody in the classroom is part of it. We use it on the main table. When parents come to visit, the shabbat child gets to sit at that table with his/her family.

This is our favorite challah bear, dressed for shabbat and ready to roll.

Challah bear is very lucky, because he gets to go home with the shabbat child every week. 

Stay safe and Shabbat Shalom!

Sukkot

Shalom,
This year's rain and wind didn't let us sit in the sukkah as much as we wanted.  We went to the school's sukkah as we planned with snack and everything.  Even though it was lightly drizzling we stayed and sat in the sukkah.  We sang, danced and ate our snack.  We even joked that with the rain we took a shower in the sukkah!  The kids loved this idea because it was very funny, and they couldn't wait to tell their parents.

For little kids a sukkah doesn't have to be outside only.  There will be days that you won't be able to get there.  But the mini sukkah in the classroom is a lifesaver, and it is fun to make and play in.  This way the kids can sit in the sukkah and decorate it anytime they want.

This little sukkah was made in my friend Jo's classroom by two years olds. (Just a little tip: Now that all the big stores are into recycling boxes, it was hard to find a box this year.  I think we teachers should let the stores know ahead of time so when they get the shipment they can save some boxes for us.)
The teacher opened a few slits on the top of the box with an exacto knife (to see the stars).  Then the children tore some green paper into schach and glued the pieces all over the box.  Of course, let's not forget the decorations that go in the box or wherever you want.

After using a box for a sukkah I always keep it for future projects. In the same year, a box can start as a sukkah, then turn into a firetruck, then a puppet theater, and then an aquarium.  As we all know, sometimes when a child receives a new toy, the box is the best part to play with.

Enjoy creating boxtastic ideas.
Hag Sameach!

Yom Kippur for younger children

Shalom once again,

The children in my classroom this year are starting to turn three now, and they come to school only three days a week.  Teaching them about Yom Kippur is not as easy as teaching older children.  This year I decided to concentrate on the idea of the shofar.  I wanted them to recognize the shofar and know where it come from and how it sounds.

I like using the following activity for almost any holiday or season in my room.  It's fun.  It strengthens their fine motor skills.  It lets them work as a team. It also helps them develop problem solving skills.

First, I taped the shofar cutouts to the table and added "Challah Bear" cutout in the middle.

Before the children came we covered the table with a soft paper, and placed crayons on the table.  I like these melted crayons, they fit in their hands perfectly, so it's easier for them to hold and rub with these.  

We told the children to start rubbing the crayon on the paper to see what happens. As soon as they started rubbing they discovered the shofars.

After discovering a few shofars we told the children that the challah bear decided to play hide and seek. So they need to rub the whole paper to be able to find the Challah Bear. 

Of course, we didn't want the fun to end just there. We decided to share it with the whole school. 

We cut the paper and hung it on our hallway wall to give the other kids chance to find Challah Bear. 

I wish you could see the excitement on their faces when they found Challah Bear. 

We will need to convince Challah Bear to play hide and seek again sometime soon. 

A New Year - Shana Tovah!

Welcome to my blog!

I can't believe I'm actually about to post my first entry. This is very exciting for me. I love writing and I've been writing for many years, but this is a different, a new kind of writing.

I feel that to be a good teacher I always have to search for new ideas.  In this blog I would like to share everything that's happening in my teaching world, and I hope that you will share the same with me.

I truly love what I do in preschool.  I love kids.  I love teaching them new perspectiveson life.  I love seeing how they grow and blossom during the year.  This is one of the best parts of being a preschool teacher. I have 2 ½ - 3 year old children in my classroom. This is the best age.  They are just starting school, and they don't know what to expect.  So their little eyes look at you with amazement; their little ears listen to every word you say. They are like little sponges ready to absorb everything and anything.

Before I finish writing this post I would like to share a group project that became our bulletin board in the classroom.
We made a big apple and a big honey pot on a big piece of butcher paper.  This was in the second week of school. They are just getting used to being in school and being away from Mommy and Daddy.  I think they did a great job! It also kept their minds away from the separation. They saw that school can be fun.

A New Year means new beginnings. I wish all the new teachers who are starting their journey in the amazing world of teaching good luck, and good luck to the teachers who are seasoned in this noble pursuit, too.

Now, we shall start our journey.
Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope to hear from you as you share your ideas and experiences, as well.
Shana Tovah everybody!