Rosh Hashana wrap up

B"H

We learned so much about Rosh Hashana through play. We had different centers every morning which helped us learn and integrate more an more about the Holiday.

On Rosh Hashana we eat round challah. We practiced rolling our our play dough and then forming it into a round challah. Then we were ready to make real ones! 

We discussed that bees are the ones that give us honey. We tried making our own drawing of a bee. Our friends noticed that bees have stripes on them. We worked hard to follow that pattern.

We had a tashlich sensory bin outside. Our friends explored all the different sea animals in the bin. Some felt the need to wear safety goggles while playing there :)

Shofar sounds

B"H

On Rosh Hashana, we go to Shul to hear the shofar. We have been learning about the different sounds the shofar makes. We sing a song about them, we count them on our math table and we even got to hear them from the Rabbi!

Learning our shofar song

Counting our shofar sounds

The Rabbi came to start off our circle time with the blowing of the shofar, we all stood quietly and respectfully!

Pomegranate, pomegranate and more pomegranate!

B"H

As we are learning about Rosh Hashana, we have been discussing the various different foods that appear on our Holiday table. One of which is the pomegranate. We talked about how pomegranate has a sweet taste and there are many seeds in it. That is exactly why we eat it on Rosh Hashana! We want to do so many good deeds in our upcoming year!

We enjoyed exploring pomegranate in many different ways:

We brought it into our art center!

Some friends used them as stamps

Some friends squeezed them and used the juice as ink

We got to get a close up on the inside and pluck all the seeds out of it

It also made an appearance in our sensory bin for our friends to touch, squeeze and taste :)

Shana Tova Cards

B"H

We worked very hard on our Shana Tova cards which have hopefully made it to your house by now. We went through a lengthy process of learning and exploring every step of the way.

We started off by folding our card stock in half to make it into a greeting card

Next, we wrote shana tova on the outside, on our own, in hebrew!

Once we wrote our greeting on the inside and added our decorations, we put our cards in envelopes to be mailed out. We spent some time in our focus circle disgussing how mail gets to our houses and how we can get these cards there as well. 

We noted that the card would need a return address so we pout our name label in that corner

It would also need a stamp so we made sure to put one of those in the right spot as well.

Once we all had our cards ready, we reviewed our safety rules before going on our "adventure" down the block to put out cards in the mail box.

Each of our friends got a turn to put their card in the mail and send it off.

We hope the cards made it to your homes! We are sure that your families will enjoy the cards as much as we enjoyed making them!

Shana Tovah!

"Shofar" Blowing art

B"H

We observed that the way to make a sound come out of the shofar is by blowing through the hole on the narrow end. We practiced blowing in our art center with our bubble art.

Itta and Zalman work along side each other

Jonah is being careful to blow softly to form a big bubble

Ben's paper is getting full with a beautiful design!

Shofar exploration

B"H

As Rosh Hashana is coming up right around the corner, we have been doing many activities to prepare. As you have seen on our blog, we are learning about the holiday in many different ways. We did lots of shofar exploration, through our sensory, art, music and math. We would like to thank Menachem and his family for bringing in a variety of shofars! 

Blowing hard to make a sound come out

Exploring the different textures, sizes and weights

Itta observing the shofars shape to draw her own still life

Mendy making a powerful sound!

Apple Art

B"H

We had apples out in our art center to get creative with

We had markers and paint out 

 We tried tracing them, stamping them with paint

We used apple halves and quarters to try different sizes

Sweet or sour?

B"H

We set up a taste test to see what our friends like better: Green or red apples?

After tasting, our friends voted and then we looked at the results to see which apple won.

Our friends tasting our apples and getting ready to make their vote

Green gets a vote!

 And... the winner is... 

It was the red!

Stapeling fun

B"H

We got to explore with staplers today! Our friends noticed that the harder you push, the more the staple goes into the paper. We also discovered that by stapling it, the paper stays shut. This was great for our fine motor skills and it was a sensory experience!

Mendy looking at all the staples he has already done

Aiden wanted to try to work the stapler only using one hand

Apple in Honey Hop Skotch

B"H

Today while outdoors, we got to freshen up our gross motor skills by doing our "Apple in honey jump"! Our friends jumped from apple to apple and then landed in the honey. Some chose to name the color of the apple as they jumped on it.

Ben jumped with two feet from one apple to the next!

Jonah chose to skip

and Eddie chose to hop 

Fine motor skills in the art center

B"H

In our art center, we had straws, scissors, strings and bowls out. Our friends worked hard to cut the straws into beads and then string them onto the thread to make necklaces, keychains and the like.

Menachem and Itta carefully cutting beads and placing them in their bowl

Zalman cutting string to the size he wants

Working hard, side by side