Which voice will you listen to?

Life lesson from this weeks Torah portion "Toldos."

Yitzchak and Rivkah (the second of the patriarchs/matriarch's) gave birth to twins, Yakov & Esav. Yakov was righteous and is responsible for the 12 tribes which we all come from. Esav, his brother made many not good choices throughout his life.

The Torah teaches us that each of them represents a different "voice" found inside every person.

Our big idea was to help the children tune in to the different "voices", and realize that there is a constant battle we all face daily. 

 We have a choice to either listen to the 'Yakov voice' that tells us to do good or the 'Esav voice' that tells us to do the wrong thing.  Throughout the week we made this practical and watched them identify within themselves what are the different 'voices'.

Moshe and Faiga role playing with our Yakov and Esav puppets a common scenario that happens in the block area.

 Shayna and Ari helped us understand what twins are.

Saige asked, "Are Evan and I twins since we're in the same class?" 

After telling us how old each of them are, the children came up with their own conclusion that they are brother and sister but not twins;)

 

We are like Yakov

It was so special to watch the children identify with Yakov and realize how many sweet things they do for one another.

During davening the children started dancing with our Yakov puppet.

Inside their "Yakov and Esav projects" they each drew a picture of how they are like Yakov and what Mitzvah they like to do.

Mendel, "I like to share my room with a guest."

Reflecting on different scenarios

We reflected on many scenarios that take place daily, and discussed what would be the best way to handle it!  Evan was riding on a bike that Saige really wanted. Faiga acted out 'Esav's voice' "No you can't have a turn!"

Hannah acted out 'Yakov's voice' "Right when I'm done I'll give you a turn!"

Evan knew just what 'voice' to listen to and told Saige! We really observed a huge difference this week with the children recognizing what voice to listen to!

Yakov Chart

 A Yakov chart helped us document all the moments when a child made the right choice.

Faiga gave up the bike that Saige really wanted, and was thrilled to place her Yakov sticker on the chart!

Bela Riva using sweet words to Hannah and Mendel.

Dovi noticed Menachem wanted water and asked Morah Rachel for water for his friend.

Creative building

We placed cartons and recycled CD's on the floor and watched the children put their imagination to work.

Contact paper was a fun way to make a picture since they can move the pieces around and create different scenes.

Working on fine motor skills by placing an assortments of small objects on the white line.