Building on their love for their home, and understanding of what a "home" is. The children at Gan spent this week exploring "G-d's home." The Beit Hamikdash!
As children learn best through concrete experiences, using all their senses- we set up a Beit Hamikdash center to help the children truly understand what life was like for the Jewish people prior to the Chanuka Story.
(This pre-knowledge would give the children a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Chanuka story that they will soon learn!)
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| The children painted bricks onto the walls! |
Chani helping Shua get dressed up like a Kohen Gadol- High priest.
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| Sunglasses definitely add to the look :) |
A hot water urn was covered with tin foil as a pretend "Kiyor" wash basin that the Kohen would use to wash his hands and feet before he went to work in the Beit Hamikdash.
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This was a great opportunity for the children to also work on their "control" skills, as it was VERY tempting to enjoy the feeling of cold water running down their hands! The children practiced dispensing JUST A BIT!
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Lighting the Menorah with olive oil
The children might be familiar with olive oil from their kitchens, but we wanted the children to value how much time it takes to prepare olive oil- so it could be used to light the menorah!
This would also serve as a great "pre-knowledge" for when the children learn of the miracle that happened with the oil lasting 8 days.
We placed olives in a zip lock bag alongside a couple of blocks. The children banged on the olives to crush them. It was hard work!
By circle time one morning, each child received an olive and a cup and we squeezed the olives. After a while of squeezing the children looked into their cups and there was but a FEW DROPS of olive oil. This gave them a sense of how precious those drops were, they worked hard! We combined it into one cup and carefully brought it to Levi the Kohen Gadol to light the menorah.
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| Levi poured the real olive oil in the menorah it was just a tiny bit! |
After circle time some of them were determined to get more olive oil by squeezing olives.
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Working hard making sure each drop landed
in Yitzi's jug. |
Yitzi pouring the precious drops in the Menorah
We lowered our trapezoid table to create golden steps just like the one in the Real Beit Hamikdash. A picture was placed next to the menorah for the children to glance at and bring them back in time...to what it may have looked like.
Flames:
With Shiny red flames and attached wicks, the children used math skills to make sure each of the seven cups of the menorah had a flame.
Bikurim Orchard!
To add to the experience of "life in Israel with the Beit Hamikdash" we added another center to our classroom! It was an "orchard" for the children to role play the mitzvah of "Bikurim."
Bikurim means "first ones"- it was the act of separating the first fruits to give as a gift to the Kohanim (priests) in the Beit Hamikdash. This mitzvah can only be performed in Israel while the Beit Hamikdash was in existance.
During this time period, people would pick the best of their fruits and bring it on their journey to Jerusalem. This act was to show appreciation to G-d for providing His blessing to allow the fruits to grow, and to the Kohanim for their work in the Beit Hamikdash.
What a powerful lesson for our students: to think of others and turn their gratitude into an "action."
We mounted Velcro on the trees and fruit to make the "picking" fun for the children. We also placed all sorts of baskets around the center for the children to use to gather their "bikurim."
A picture of what it might have looked like with people dancing excited with their fruits and some even balancing baskets on their heads!
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| This picture was posted in the orchard to make the experience more real. |
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| Charlie & Ilani find themselves doing the same thing! |
The children role played this mitzvah, by bringing the fruits they picked to the golden basket in our "Beit Hamikdash" center, which had a Kohen's picture posted next to it!
Ellah and Yitzi bringing their fruits to Andor the Kohen Gadol!
Shivat Haminim- 7 Fruits of Israel
To enrich this unit of study, we placed big beautiful laminated pictures of the special fruits of Israel on the magnet board easel. Each of the fruits were a mini puzzle.
Fig, pomegranate, wheat, barley, dates, olives, grapes.
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| Charlie learning new words like fig, pomegranate. |
The "Leviim" Levites Orchestra!
Toward the end of the week we added another special job in the Beit Hamikdash!
The Leviim Orchestra!
One of their important jobs was to play music.
We put out a variety of instruments as well as an audio center with the soundtracks of different musical instruments playing.
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| Making music while listening to music. |
Chanukah!
After a peaceful time in our classroom dressing up and enjoying the Beit Hamikdash center it was time to start the
CHANUKAH STORY!
That's when a king visited us at circle time, King Antiyochus!
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The environment in our Beit hamikdash center completely changed during circle time ---with King Antiyochus
being bossy to all the children!!
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Aside from learning about our Jewish History and why we celebrate Chanukah, the stories of the Holidays are such a great opportunity to give the children LIFE LESSONS, making a difference in the child's journey of childhood.
One of the lessons we stared with is how to treat each other.
King Anityochus was a bully, he made not nice rules for the Jewish people and forced them not to do certain mitzvah's (example: Shabbat, learning Torah)
Past couple days we have been davening and singing our new Beit hamikdash song in our center
Song:
Way up high in the sky there's a building still not finished
Way up high in the sky the Beit Hamikdash Hashlishi (third temple)
And for every mitzvah that we do so carefully
Hashem adds another brick to the mikdash Hashlishi
Now that our class had these new rules from the king we had to come up with a plan. Where will we daven during circle time?? It wasn't feeling fair.
We talked about what the Jews had to do back then:
Head to a CAVE!!
So with our tzedaka box and Torahs we headed to the cave (under our table)
It was kind of squishy and felt very different doing our circle time in such a small space.
We had to whisper the davening so King Antiyochus would not hear us. We talked about the fact that Jews back then had to hide from the King and it was not a good feeling.
Some of the children asked: "Can we go back to the Beis Hamikdash?".
When the King would come, we quickly hid our Torah's and took out DREIDELS!
Chani showing the king her dreidel
Spinning the dreidel is another great way to practice fine motor skills!
Art:
Dreidel art using rolling pins and paint!
Role playing
Rochel and Jacob putting on a show for Levi and Mendel
Ellah and Yitzi role playing not being able to go in the Beit Hamikdash.
Bulletin Board:
Our Chanukah bulletin board. "Gan Lighting up the world!"
In the flames is a picture of each child in our school doing a Mitzvah.
The children were so excited to see and understand what the bulletin board represented ! Their art (painting the cereal boxes as candles & pasting red tissue paper onto flames) turned into a golden Menorah!
The way we can light up the world, is through our MITZVOT!
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