Water Colors with Q-tips!

One nice thing about putting out "small" or "thin" tools for the children to work with, is that it slows them down, giving them the opportunity to think about their work. 

 

One morning this week we put out little cups of water colors along with q-tips and paper cut-outs of mountains (in connection to the counting of days until the Jewish people reach Mt. Sinai)

If you notice, each child took the time to decorate in their own way. From coordinating colors of stripes and borders, to tiny dots in the center. This set-up provided the children with a wonderful chance to slow-down, reflect, admire the art they can create!

Probability turns into creativity! More uses for POOL NOODLES~

I felt like I  hit gold when I bought these a couple months ago! Together with the children, we have explored many different ways  to learn using these fun colorful pool noodles. I am now a firm believer you DO NOT need a pool to have a pool noodle! :) 

(Check out the Math Mania blog post to see how we used them for an abacus!)

After setting up some tracks of pool noodles and placing a bowl of marbles next to the tracks, the children first tried rolling them down different hieghts and then attaching some together to make a longer track! 

 

We had also saved the long tube from the new rug we got and it added a sense of mystery not seeing the marble while on its way down!

We also added rain gutters to the fun! I wonder which track goes faster? will send the marble further?

 

This is what we so much enjoy to see.....

That same morning, we had set up on one of the activity tables a set of magna tiles. 

Some of the kids decided instead of chasing after the marbles (which landed all the way down to the library area) they would create a "stopper" (in their language) using the Magna tiles! 

Following their lead... this was a teachable & spontaneous moment that lead us to learning about dams!

Using Magna Tiles the children created a "Stopper" to catch the marbles from traveling far into the Library Corner!

Math Mania!

As we explore the concept of "Sefirat Haomer" (counting the days between Passover and Shavuot) we thought it would be a great opportunity for a fun filled MATH WEEK!

On our white board wall we used cut up pool noodles to create an abacus!

I placed a set of boxes on one side of the Abacus.

 This was for the children to choose a number,  by placing a magnetic number in the box. They then had the task of placing the correct amount of pool noodles to equal that number. 

If they got it right, they could give themselves a "Check" on the other side!

BL is placing a check, as she observes her friend placing the correct number of noodles!

 It was such a fun way to learn math and on their own some of the older children requested a board marker to make a check mark next to their friends work! This created a very sweet "game" for the children "test" their friends!

Number/Color Match & Toss Game!

This was great especially for the younger ones to match color and number bean bag in the correct number bucket! (thank you Erin Fields for donating the bucket set!)

The older ones we had them stand on a tape line on the floor and have to toss the right number bean bag.

 

Number Wheel

The number wheel was a great opportunity to practice counting and fine motor skills by placing the right number cloths pin on the create amount of dots!

Yitzi used a lot of concentration and once completing the task, walked all around the classroom proudly showing his work!

 

 

Dice & Other Number Games to enforce Gross Motor development!  

Using a big cardboard dice the child was required to count the dots and hop to the correct number on the floor. Some of the children turned this into a dancing session!

We also put out a collection of little dice for the children to observe, explore...

Supersize Dice Floor Game!

Counting for what? We're gonna polish our counting and numeral recognition as we count to 49!!

 After our discussion on how the Jewish people might have traveled back then in the desert, I introduced the fact that it was going to be 49 days!

That's a BIG number!

 

Moshe told them that they were going to travel until they reached a Mountain--- "Har Sinai" upon which they would receive a special gift from Hashem! 

 

Afterall...that was why Hashem took them out of the Egyptian Slavery! So they could be free to learn Torah & do Mitzvot!

The children worked together to paint a beautiful Mountain for our bulletin board, which will serve as our "Counting Chart" over the next month, until we reach the special number of 49! 

(which we will talk more about as we get closer to the Holiday of Shavuot!)

On this Mountain, we are placing a NUMBER each day, in ascending order! 

Notice the little boxes starting at the foot of the mountain! Each square contains a number that one of the children wrote. It is adorable to see the progression of skill in the 4/5 y.o's compared to our 2/3 year olds.

The children are working not only on their number recognition, but also their ability to WRITE the numbers correctly!

Since we did not start this until 13 days from the 2nd day of Passover, when the counting began...we had lots of numbers to catch up! From here on one child will get to do it each day!

For the younger students, we put out q-tips, paint and solid numbers on paper for them to work on their pre-writing and fine motor skills.

Left Egypt...Now what? Transportation in the Desert?

It was heartwarming to see the excited faces of the children coming into the classroom after our long Pesach spring break!

 

 For our first circle time we wanted to make a smooth transition into our next topic by reminding them of where we left off! With hands waving up at circle time the children together reminded each other of the Jews leaving Egypt and walking through the split sea.

 

 

"But then what happened??" I asked.

curious faces. 

"Where were their homes? Where would they live?  hmm should they go back to them in Egypt?"

"No way!" they chanted together :) 

Okay we got that part down.

I then talked about how the Jews traveled through the desert following their caring leader Moshe who they can trust .

We took this opportunity to give the children an appreciation on how lucky we are that we have SO MANY means of transportation!  Using many pictures of different ways we can travel  (bus, car, airplane etc...) we came to the conclusion that the Jewish people back then had none of that! 

 

They used their feet!

To get a real feel for walking in the sandy desert (and a wonderful sensory opportunity) I brought in a sand-filled bucket for the children to take turns walking on!

 The Jewish people COUNTED the days that they traveled in the desert, in PREPARATION for something very exciting. The receiving of a special gift from Hashem.

In this spirit- we've put a focus on MATH! (see next few blog posts for more on it!)

In this spirit of COUNTING and MATH...

We took the "Transportation" idea a step further in the afternoon....

The children GRAPHED the different modes of transportation based on SPEED!

 Hmm...which is the slowest? Which is the fastest?

Children had to think, compare, make decisions....place on graph!

Each child had a chance to think about and discuss with their friends which column on the graph the picture/method of transportation belonged to!

 

Activities like this develop the children's pre-math, critical thinking skills that will be needed later on in life.

Two birthdays & a warm welcome to Sofie!

Happy Birthday to Bracha Leba...who is now 5

and

Happy Birthday to Ellah...who is now 3

Class Birthday parties are so much fun!

Ella enjoying her Birthday crown...throughout the day!

Welcome Sofie to the Gan Camarillo Family!

No words. Just Love & Care. Lessons from the Passover story

As we tell the story of Pesach, it is important to us that the children take away "Big Ideas" that can translate into their day to day lives.

It was such a joy for us this week, as we saw these ideas playing out in the children's free play...and interactions with each other.

As we told the story...one of the big ideas we brought out was

"Pharoah did not care about others. He was bossy and not nice." 

"Moshe was so thoughtful, sensitive and always cared about others feelings"

Throughout this week, we are constantly seeing the children wanting to be like the kind and caring leader Moshe! They are constantly finding ways to care about others, and show that they are caring.

 

It's not easy to capture this "atmosphere" and "attitude"  in a photo...as it has been something that is seeping into every step of our day...

But once moment- that was beyond words...we captured in a photo.

Chaya noticed that Ellah was sitting on her own in the circle. Ellah also looked sad, because she missed her Mommy. Chaya ran over to her and put her arm around her. 

 

No words. Just Love & Care.