We Became Matzah Bakers!

Pesach is coming! It's time to learn how our special kosher matzah is made! ✨
Rabbi Muchnik came to visit us with the matzah bakery and taught us all about the process. The children had such an exciting hands-on experience and a funny show!

Matzah is made with just two simple ingredients - flour and water!

Collecting the the ingredients from our helpers!

Eli, started us off with the very first mix, combining the flour and water.

The children worked quickly and excitedly, knowing that matzah must be made from start to finish in just 18 minutes.

Poke!

Enjoying the matza!

We went to the Camarillo library for a story reading with Morah Leah.

Tambourines and dancing at yetziat mitzrayim! 🥁✨

The four sons come to the Pesach seder. This week we focused on the wise son, the Chacham. This son loves learning Torah and asking questions so he can grow in wisdom and understanding. Inspired by the chacham, we made our own special wise crowns!

While wearing our crowns, we played a special “Wise Son” game! Using our question bag, the children were asking thoughtful questions about the seder, just like the chacham.

Some of our friends even discovered answers along the way! Mordy, pulled out a seder plate, and Golda found the haggadah. She asked, “Why do we use it on seder night?” Avraham shared that it has the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim in it, helping us remember and retell the journey of the Jewish people.

Learning through art about the seder table and the special objects that go with it!

Academics

We played an interactive game to learn beginning word sounds; reinforcing foundational literacy skills.

Our Kinders played an interactive syllable game. We clapped out the “beats” in each word.

Aftercare

We enjoyed a scavenger hunt, played Matzah/Challah Tic-Tac-Toe, and matching game. The children also created and colored their own board games!

Through play, we practiced fine motor skills, teamwork, turn taking, and problem-solving.

We’re so excited and love learning about Pesach!

Shabbat Shalom!

Matzah bakery at Gan!

We started off this week preparing for our Matzah bakery in our classroom.

Being part of the preparation makes it so much more meaningful.

Painting our very own pretend oven.

Little bakers hard at work making their very own Matzahs.

We learned what Shmurah matzah looks like, round flat and homemade. 

Placing it our oven, and trying to balance our dough on a stick was fun to master.

We had a very special visitor Rabbi Yosef who put on a fun and educational show about how Matzah is made. 

The whole process needs to take under 18 minutes! We needed to work fast.

The flour and water should not be touching before making the dough.

Helpers peeking out of our flour and water station to help make the Matzah.

Getting to make our own and learning how to make holes in it so it stays flat!

Matzah bakery in action!

Water themed sensory table. 

Taking ownership over our own crafts! Learning how to portion size the glue and glitter.

Good Shabbos from the Ima and Abba!

Shabbos dancing is our favorite!

 

What does it mean to be FREE?

With Purim behind us, it is time to begin learning about the next Jewish holiday, Pesach. On Pesach we use a special book called the Haggadah, which tells the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt). The children got to experience a little bit of what life was like in Mitzrayim. Using heavy boxes, they were asked to build a big tower. When one of our friends got tired, 'Poroh' said, “Too bad! Keep working!” The children quickly understood how hard Bnei Yisrael had to work as slaves in Egypt.

Theo, dressed as Moshe Rabbeinu, offered water to the hardworking Jews. He asked them how they were doing and helped them carry the heavy loads. What a sweet moment..

The Jewish people were once slaves in Egypt, but today we are free because Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim. We spoke with the children about what it means to be free. Each child shared their own beautiful idea:
Yehudis said: “Spending time with my family!”
Miya said: “Taking a walk!”
Yosef said: “Sharing!”

The children created beautiful sand art inspired by the sandy deserts of Mitzrayim.

 

With the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim in mind, the children illustrated the journey of Bnei Yisrael, bringing the story to life through their beautiful artwork. Here you can see Avraham, drawing the moment when Moshe Rabbeinu went to Paroh and told him to let the Jewish people go free!

When the Jewish people finally left Mitzrayim, they arrived at Yam Suf. The water was in front of them, and behind them the Egyptians were chasing them because Paroh had changed his mind. Then Hashem performed a great miracle — the sea split! All the Jewish people walked safely through on dry land. With this amazing moment in mind, we created a “sea-splitting” scene in our Gan, and the children had a blast exploring and playing in it!

We also took inspiration from this miracle when creating our beautiful Seder plates.

Sea splitting sensory!

Water play on a warm day.

We got to meet Golda and Miya's sweet dogs and got to walk them!

New bracha alert!

Pre-K Kria

We learned the letter Nun!

K Kria

This week we learned a new vowel — Chirik, which makes the “ee” sound!

Academics

This week we have been learning about maps & cardinal directions. The kindergarteners learnt about distance, spatial awareness, & navigation using grid maps.

We also learnt about map symbols & keys; utilizing those skills to complete a map worksheet.

Shabbat Shalom!