Mountains talking in our classroom! Living the lesson from Mt. Sinai

Mountains talking? 

Yup... that's what happened at our circle time this week! After learning the famous "midrash" (commentary) on the story of why G-d chose Mt. Sinai to give the Torah on, we helped the children better understand and relate to this story, by role-playing the dialogues the mountains had with each other!

Each child had the chance to be one of the Mountains... bragging about how tall, how wide or how beautiful he or she was.

To help the children connect to the story, and the Mountains- we showed visuals of various different Mountains. Some with snow all over its peaks, waterfalls, volcano's with lava erupting out of it, rock climbing mountains... each mountain had another reason to proclaim IT SHOULD  BE the one that should be chosen to give the Torah. 

Yitzi helped act out the tall mountain.
He too bragged and said " I am so very big". 

We asked the children what it might feel like, when a friend says, "I'm bigger or better than you!"

Har Sinai was small, and did not have a lot of the qualities that some of the other mountains had, but Hashem chose Har Sinai to teach us a BIG LESSON:

Har sinai was just HAPPY THE WAY HASHEM MADE HIM! He did not boast, or make other mountains feel jealous.

In the end Hashem made lots of flowers grow on Har Sinai, and then the Torah was given on the top of the Mountain! We will all try to be like Har Sinai... to be happy the way Hashem made us, and not make other people feel sad.

Mitzvah Notes bring message home!

Our Mitzvah Tree is bursting with Mitzvah notes! Notes that the children's Mommies or Daddies write each day, that describe a special good deed the child did at home.

During snack time, each child has their moment to shine, as their mitzvah is being read!

To help the children make the connection between the mitzvah's that they do, and the contents of the Torah (the gift Hashem gave us on Shavuot) we took some of the notes down, and had the children glue them into a paper Torah that they made for Shavuot!

This activity helped the children understand WHAT the commandments of the Torah are- in a relevant and meaningful way!

Even our youngest member of the class was able to recognize
 that her Mitzvah's are from the Torah!

It's amazing to see at this time of the year, that the children can recognize their own name in writing! Each time they sit for a project there are more and more discussions about the letters in their name!  A great educational moment while waiting for Morah Lisa to come around with the glue ;)

Levi was so proud of all his Mitzvah notes!

 Later Morah Lisa found Levi 'reading' from his Mitzvah note Torah!

 

Clay Mountains

We offered molding clay as an invitation for the children to manipulate, to look like a mountain. We placed a picture of a mountain with flowers on it (Har Sinai had beautiful flowers on it)
 To allow the children to create an authentic looking mountain (like the one in the picture we put out) we also set out some tiny colorful beads,

 

Yehudis wanted some of the beads out of the mountain, so she used a long stick requiring a lot of concentration.

That morning, Yehudis proudly came to school with a cup of straws that she worked hard at cutting into smaller pieces!  One of her friends decided to use them for the flowers on the mountain!

Upside down bowls and playdough became a half hour activity of trying to cover the bowl to create a mountain. Some of the older children persevered for quite some time, ensuring they cover every inch of the surface- so none of the bowl would be showing.

When Noach completed his mountain, after working super hard on it-  he ran to the Aron Kodesh (holy ark) got a Torah and placed it on his mountain! He was quite proud of the idea, and so were we!

Working on our listening skills with Morah Lisa.

Waiting patiently to understand what was required to do for this task!

Edible Har Sinai's- Shabbat Party Treat!

We are getting so big, we can wash our own faces!

Morning Fun!

Interactive Mount Sinai Center!

This week and next, we are putting our focus on preparing the children for this special Holiday, where the Jewish People received the greatest gift- the Torah.The Jewish people were really excited walking in the desert getting closer to Har (mount) Sinai .

Here we had a circle time talking about the miraclous clouds that surrounded the Jewish people in the desert that Hashem made to protect the Jewish people.

Sefira as a springboard for Math!

While counting the days from Passover till Shavous, (Sefirat Haomer) we have simultaneously been working on our math skills!

With Yarn numbers taped onto the table the children followed the lines with different materials.

Interactive Har Sinai Center

Our Har Sinai center has been up for a week or so. First we started with the children painting the mountain  (huge box) and we placed small holes all around it. 

Using pipe cleaners and tissue paper the children created flowers to make the center interactive! The children were able to place the flowers in and out- requiring quite a bit of fine motor coordination and concentration to insert the pipe cleaner stem into the pin-hole.

To help the children understand what is INSIDE the Torah, we added a special Torah Cover- that was shiny (special looking) and included pictures of mitzvot that the children are familiar with!  (sorry no pic ;) While the children sang Torah songs with their soft Torahs ---we wanted them to understand what is IN THE TORAH! 

Audio Center:

To make the center even more hands-on, we added an audio component. The children were able to hear thunder,lighting and a shofar sound! We posted pictures of thunder and lighting and a shofar for a complete sensory experience!

When Hashem gave the Torah (10 commandments) there was lighting, thunder and a shofar blast!

Morning fun at Gan!

Taping two paint brushes together was a different way of painting! The children can dip into two different colors and see what it creates.

Lots of drama! :)

Theatre:

Chairs and costumes created a fun way to practice their acting skills. (as well as turn taking- being a performer vs audience!)

Rochel and Yehudis asked for the Shabbos box for their play !

They were very concerned about the puffiness of their dress.

Self portraits

We placed the mirror on the tabletop, to offer a fun way for the children to draw themselves!

Conditioned Dough- Coconut Scented!

Any extra conditioner at home?;)

Well this dough was made from hair conditioner and cornstarch!

(recipe: 1 part conditioner 2 part cornstarch)

TRIP: completing Friendship Project!

We are so proud of Torah Tots! They completed their friendship project and earned a trip to the PARK!

If your not sure what that project was.... scroll to the bottom, for copy of last weeks blogpost!

This was the first time we ventured out of our preschool (aside for Fire Drills) and they did a great job!

It was a beautiful day!

Kites were a thrill!

"We're on a trip to New York!"

Living the Lesson in our own Classroom:

To celebrate Lag B'omer, and to help the children learn this lesson- we created a Classroom Friendship Project!

Each time a child was caught doing an act of kindness to another we wrote it on a puzzle piece and placed it in our heart on the bulletin board. 

When we complete the heart we will go on a special class trip (to the park down block!)

 

We are almost there...

Experiencing Friendship- Inside & Out!

We always look for ways to tell the story of Jewish Holidays to our students, that will be true to the story- yet at the same time carry a meaningful and relevant LIFE LESSON for our preschoolers!

This Sunday is Lag B'omer- It is the day that the famous sage, Rabbi Akiva passed away. Click here for more on this Holiday.

We chose to tell the children a portion of the story of his life. How he went from not knowing much Torah as an adult, to becoming a most sought after Rabbi, in the hope they can learn from his good character, and implement in their own lives. 

We spoke about how he did not give up and that is what brought him the success he experienced! His main message was to have AHAVAS YISRAEL- love each other unconditionally. What a beautiful message for our children!

Puppets to tell the story:

Rabbi Akiva participated (as a student) in one of our circle times this week!  It was quite funny to some of the children that he was in preschool, even though we learned he was 40 years old!

 

 

Our children taught Rabbi Akiva Alef beis :) At first Rabbi Akiva kept getting the names wrong but with all their help he learned! That is what actually happened: he went to preschool even though he definitely stuck out!

  

Later in the day, Levi took the Rabbi Akiva puppet and brought him to our Alef Beis chart! :) I guess he needed more practice!

Real Life Example:

What a beautiful example of Ahavas Yisroel from ROBERT & CAROL GOODKIN (of Leisure Village) the children were able to experience this week!

We got a box with a surprise in it!

Ilani couldn't wait to be of assistance to finding out what was inside!

It was a set of Magnet Tiles!!

Thank you Bob & Carol-- it was amazing for the children to see what it feels like when someone is KIND to us  (even if they might not know us) and we should do that for others!

Living the Lesson in our own Classroom:

To celebrate Lag B'omer, and to help the children learn this lesson- we created a Classroom Friendship Project!

Each time a child was caught doing an act of kindness to another we wrote it on a puzzle piece and placed it in our heart on the bulletin board. 

When we completed the heart we will go on a special class trip (to the park down block!)

 

We are almost there...

Different perspective while doing Art!

Yossi tried a lot of positions while making his picture one morning. That's because....

 

Our Art table was upside down!

(we also placed on each of the four legs a bag of art supplies for easy reach)

This caught the children's attention and was interesting to see what they would do with the change.

Some who usually don't gravitate to the art table were attracted!  Some children sat down on a carpet square and made it work by finding a comfortable spot to create their art piece.

 

Team work by clean up time. We don't usually get to see under the table :) and it was a great detail clean up opportunity for the children. They worked really hard and a great spontaneous motor skill of removing little tiny pieces of tape!

 

Pre-Writing skills 

We didn't want Rabbi Akiva to be the only one practicing his Alef Beis ;)

So for pre-writing skills we placed different trays of either sand or salt or paint with some of the Hebrew letters for the children to copy. Mina (Ilani's sister) was our first to try! :)

Menucha copying the Lamed in her sand. We taught the children to give it a shake to 'clean the slate'

Celebrating Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai:

Lag B'omer is the day we celebrate the life and lessons of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who lived in a cave for many years, and wrote the famous book called the Zohar (Kabballah)

Thank you Noach for sharing your families tent with us- so we can roleplay and learn the story of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai! 

Notice the Carob tree by the door of the "cave"- which provided food for him,and the river of fresh water which the children created using blue tissue paper, and contact paper to stick it onto!

 Inside the cave....

The children worked on their Hebrew Alef Bet recognition and writing skills!

Paint with New Textures:

We mixed epsom salt with water colors to create a different texture on the paper. 

 

Marbles and Pool noodles!

With one of the pool noodles cut in half, some children made a race which marble would get to the bottom first!

After some time the children were ready to move on from that activity!

Morah Leah thought of a game she played as a child called 'sticks'. The children had to jump in between the pool noodles with out stepping on any of them! It was quite a challenge and they really enjoyed it!

What do we do when its super hot outside?

Turn on the hose and have some wet water fun!
I think the faces speak for themselves!