Feed the Maccabee

The Maccabees are the heroes of the Hanukka story. They were strong, brave, and bold. They fought Antiochus and his soldiers and chased them away. Did they eat latkes to celebrate this glorious event?
Well, in my classroom we feed the Maccabee latkes. I found a Maccabee picture in one of the coloring books, and enlarged it when I copied it. I taped it on a box and cut a hole in its mouth. I have been collecting playdo container tops. So we pretend they are colorful latkes and feed them to the Maccabee. The children love this game. We sometimes try throwing the latkes in the Maccabee's mouth and count them in Hebrew at the same time.

 

Here are two songs that go with the theme today.

Tune:Are you sleeping?
Potato latkes, potato latkes.
They are so good, they are so good.
I could eat a million.
I could eat a billion.
Yum, yum, yum.
Yum, yum, yum.

Here is another one, but the tune is unknown.

I want to be a Maccabee,
So brave, so stong, so bold.
And chase away the enemy,
But I'm only two (or three, or four) years old.

This song is very cute when the children sing it in front of their parents.
Happy Hanukkah!

Menorahs (Chanukiahs) Through the Ages...

Everybody has a New Year's resolution.  I always say I will write more often. Write more often, write more often, write more often...  On the first day of 2012 I'm keeping my promise and I'm starting my new year with writing.

During the last days of Hanukkah I was walking around and asking people to share their menorah ideas with us. Here are some of them:

This menorah was made by my classroom this year. They are two-and-a-half-year-olds. This menorah is very simple. The base is a cardboard egg carton with a paper towel roll on top. I made the slits on the rolls. The children colored everything and glued them on top of each other. The candles have Velcro on the craftsticks and on the back of the flames.  This way the children can put the candles on the menorah and pretend to light the candles as well.

 This menorah was made by four-year-olds . The base is made out of the same-sized wood pieces. The shamash is a taller circular shape piece of wood that the children painted with glitter.  This is a real menorah with which the children light real candles. (Of course with parents' help.)

 

This menorah was also made by two-year-olds. The base is made out of white tagboard. The children placed the tissue paper squares on the tagboard. They sprayed water on the tissue paper to make the colors bleed all over the white tagboard. They used the same technique on the candles. The candles are attached to the base by brass paper fasteners. This way the candles can lay down or stand up. 

This menorah was made by my son when he was three years old. The base is oak tagboard. The idea of the decoration is the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Candles are thick painted craftsticks that the kids dipped in the glitter to give the flame effect.   

This menorah was also made by my son when he was four years old. Everything is made out of leftover wood pieces. It also is a real menorah that the kids can use it to light real candles. 

I'm sure in the coming years more menorahs will be created. The possibilities are endless. The most important thing is finding the right one for the appropriate age.

I wish a Happy New Year to all the preschool teachers and their families!

 

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.