A big hug from Hashem!

What is a Sukkah? And what does it remind us of?

To help the children understand the history of this Holiday, and why we build a "hut" at this time of year, we took the children back in time using sand and puppets to tell the story of the Jewish People traveling in the desert.

We invited some friends to step onto the sand to feel the bumpy, earth that the Jewish people must have felt while they traveled.

Did the Jewish people have  cars?  Stores to shop at ? Houses to protect them? Washing machines to clean their clothing in the desert?

Nope! 

Using fake clouds, we demonstrated what protected the Jewish people while they traveled in the desert many years ago.

Hashem protected them with a big cloud.  

When wild animals came... they weren't scared, because Hashem's cloud protected them..

When they were hungry, they didn't need a store to shop for food, because Hashem sent miracle food called "Mahn"

When their clothing got dirty, they didn't need washing machines because Hashems cloud cleaned it!

When the sun was shining so strong, they didn't need shade from their houses because Hashems cloud protected them!

A SUKKAH reminds us of Hashems Cloud that protected the Jewish people while they were in the desert. 

The cloud was like a bIg HUG from Hashem, telling the Jewish people that they are safe, and they don't need to worry.

When we build a Sukkah, it reminds us that Hashem is always taking care of us and it's like getting a big hug from Hashem.

Working hard on our very own Sukkah. 

Getting Schach that covers the top of the Sukkah from our banana tree!

Enjoying our hard work and singing songs in the Sukkah.

Having fun making miniature sukkahs.

Axel, working hard on his welcome sign.

 

Yossi, making his sukkah out of play dough and sticks.

We learned a song to the tune of "I have a little dreidel"

I Built Myself a Sukkah

I built myself a sukkah

With four walls and a door

It doesn't have a ceiling

It doesn't have a floor

The s'chach will be the ceiling

The earth will be the floor

We'll hang some decorations

I'm ready now for sure

Oh Sukkah, sukkah , sukkah

I love to sit in you

love to shake the Lulav, and the Etrog too!

Oh Sukkah, sukkah, sukkah.

I love to sit in you

I love to shake the Lulav, and the Etrog too!

At the end of Sukkos we have the holiday of Simchas Torah! We love the Torah and created our own flags to dance with at Shul.

Good Shabbos!

A HUG from Hashem!

Holiday of Sukkos is coming and boy did we get ready!

Our friends, already knew about the Sukkah and they helped us act our WHY we sit in the Sukkah!

When the Jewish people were traveling in the desert Hashem used a cloud to protect them from:

1)Kfir, acting out the hot sand and the cloud being under them was super helpful. 

2) Yakov, showed us how the cloud would help clean their clothes! 

3) Yossi who pretended to be the poisonous snake and Leah didn't mind since the cloud protected them from any harmful animals.

4) Chana was grateful she had like a cloud hat on top of her when the sun got hot. 

Well how will remember this if we can't bring down the clouds?! That is where the walls surrounding us and the schach on top come in! Chaya Leah, showed us how the Sukkah is like a big protective HUG from Hashem!

Building our own Sukkah at Gan! We learned that ANYTHING we do in the Sukkah gets transformed into a Mitzvah!

Jack, created a Sukkah with paint!

During Kindergarten Kria time we took it to the next level and learned how in the Hebrew name of Sukkah it hints how many walls makes a Sukkah Kosher.

Samach- 4 walls

Chof- 3 walls

Hey- 2 1/2 walls

Next, we learned about the Lulav and Esrog that we will shake on Sukkos. Mendy, showed us all the directions just like Hashem is everywhere!

Making a Lulav set during a hunt and learning what we need to make a Lulav set. 

 

Oops I'm sorry!

After talking about Rosh Hashanah and all the sweet Mitzvahs we do it was now time to learn about Yom Kippur. 

We have such beautiful friendships and sweet moments in our class. We also want to make sure our friends know its OKAY to make a mistake but what do we do after?

Working together during play time is such a great opportunity to learn these lessons.

Watching a puppet show role playing what happens when someone makes a mistake and how we can fix it.

The puppets role played how we can fix our mistakes and turn our sad faces, into smiles again!

Our friends were invited to make a Machzor. Filled with Alef Beis as well as a hands on person who's mouth can be happy or made into a sad face when we make a mistake. 

It was precious watching them role play scenarios using their interactive mouth.

Nechama, so proud of hers.

In honor of Yom Kippur, our dramatic play center turned into a Shul. 

Davening to Hashem.

We learned we do not wear leather shoes on Yom Kippur. Our friends, decorating their own slippers.

Mordy, playing a shoe game!

Taking care of our garden and feeling so big.

Occasionally we get a special treat and have the Challah dough made by our very own friends!

What a fun sensory experience.

 

Oops I'm sorry!

Yom Kippur is in the air in our classroom!

We learned how it's okay to make a mistake but what do we do next? Hashem gifted us with Yom Kippur when we are just like angels and we can clear our slate of all of our mistakes.

We learned what we do and what we don't do on the holy day of Yom Kippur. 

Leah, making her own slippers since we don't wear leather shoes on Yom Kippur.

Working hard on our Yom Kippur folder.

The story of Yona that we read on Yom Kippur came to life as we acted it out. 

It is a true example of how Hashem helps us rectify our mistakes.

Yedidya, making a big fish with Yona hiding inside of it.

Some people wear white on Yom Kippur representing angels, Jack painted with white paint and Yossi practicing Hebrew letters in white salt.

Pr-k Kria had fun making letters in shaving cream!

Kindergarten Kria touching up on our tricky similar letters using straws to divide similar letters.

This week we celebrated Vav Tishrei, 

the yartzeit of Rebetzin Chana. The Mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

She is famous for making ink out of berries so her husband could write his holy words /commentary of Torah while he was exiled in Kastrama. 

Her dedication to the Rebbe, and to Judaism is an inspiration for all of us.

The children enjoyed making their own ink out of blackberries! 

And then practiced writing their own Hebrew Alef bet 

using a feather and the ink they had made!

Chana, who is named after Rebbetzin Chana wrote her name.

Learning math using apples to help us understand addition. 

This week we began a new language arts curriculum called "Capit". The children get 15-20 minutes to do their lesson/work on an ipad. The lessons are interactive and assess if the students know the sounds of each letter before they can move on to a higher level! 

Aftercare fun making cheerio necklaces!