Washing our hands and Purim Katan!

These past couple weeks our friends have been learning a lot about the Mishkan. We talked about the Kohen Gadol, his uniform. and various keilim found in the Mishkan. It has definitely been getting us all excited for what is in store for us when the third Beis Hamikdash is built! 

 One of the Keilim (utensils) in the Mishkan mentioned in this weeks Parsha is the Kiyor (Wash basin). It was used as a way for the Kohanim to prepare themselves to do their holy work. We had fun trying to wash our hands on top of our feet just as it was done in the Mishkan.

The Kiyor was made out of copper. We performed a science experiment on how to clean copper, by using a penny. We tried to figure out which product gives the best shine! Was it vinegar, baking soda or dish soap?

Cleaning up our messes.

Creating our own Kiyor.

We learn from the Kiyor how we can get our own hands ready for serving Hashem each day.  By washing in the morning 'Al nitilas yadayim' we make our hands holy for our own special mission of the day. We made washing signs to be a friendly reminder in the morning.

                                            

This week we also learned how Moshe counted the Jewish people. By collecting half shekalim (Israel currency) he counted the coins and melted them to be the sockets of the beams in the Mishkan. We counted our own coins we received during davening circle.

This week we celebrated 'Purim Katan'. Since the month of Adar is a leap year we celebrate a mini Purim. We dressed up and enjoyed a dance party to liven things up! We also got to taste yummy Hamentashen.

                                   

Practicing our letters using wax sticks.

During Kria we went on a word search around our classroom.

Kohen Gadol's special clothing and learning our triggers!

We started our week off with a fun show and tell! 

We welcomed Morah Rachel with her show and tell, her new baby Ariella!

Mina proudly showed us her two wheeler and there was definitely a line to take a turn with her permission!

Practicing the vowel Segol by drawing our own.

Each car had a different word on a sticker and our friends were invited to read it and try to get it into the correct vowel bucket!

Parshas Tezavah came to life in our classroom this week as we learned about the Kohen Gadols special clothing.

Creating a negative space art making our own Choshen Mishpat. 

Trying our best to write some of the names of the twelve Shvatim and figuring out where they are placed on the Choshen Mishpat.

Some fun at the playdough and counting out 12 tiles.

The Kohen Gadol also wore a special hat called the Tzitz. We decorated it and tried to write Kodesh LaHashem.

Lately, we have been doing a lot of social stories at our family meeting time. 

This week we started learning about what triggers us. 

The first step is identifying what gets us mad and talking about this at a neural time when we are all in our frontal lobes. 

We have been reading a book about a light bug called Shubert who deals with these emotions.

During one of our circles, we invited our friends to come up and wear the bug headband and tell us what gets them 'Bug crazy mad'.

It was an amazing process listening to our friends triggers and watching the kids realize we each have VERY different ones.

Learning about electricity and static.

What a fun way to explore using balloons and making traction by rubbing them on ourselves.

Watching the butterfly wings lift up without even touching them! Yanky, even got paper to float up to the balloon.

With having the 12 Shvatim in mind this week, Arik wanted to stick his balloons on the names and try to read them!

Using our whole body coordination trying to draw on our tummy's, with a roller and a marker attached to a helmet! Just trying to draw a circle was a challenge!

 

A Sheep comes to visit!

 The excitement was felt in the air this week with a new Hebrew vowel 'segol' being introduced! 

With each introduction to a new vowel, we love doing a hands-on experience to help our friends remember the new sound. 

We want to thank HaEzra Katzab for helping us bring in a sheep which makes a similiar sound as a Segol.

Each friend placed a letter on them and tried talking what it would make with a Segol, to the sheep. Shmuel, was so excited the sheep was choosing to say "meeh' like the letter he was wearing.

Helping the sheep feel comfortable under our banana tree.

Using our new Segol workbooks.

In this week's Parshas Teruma, we learned about the Mishkan.

We brought out our Beis Hamikdash items to discuss what holy items were placed inside.

One of the lessons we zoomed in on was the Shulchan. 

We noticed sometimes our bodies want to sit on a table. We thought this would be a great opportunity to learn what it means when we say "It's a Shulchan" from learning about the Shulchan in the Mishkan,

Creating a craft showcasing the gold rim around the Shulchan teaches us we need to put boundaries and think carefully what we put inside our bodies. Batya, cutting out the gold rim and Arik drawing the healthy foods he likes to eat. We also learned we can think of others who don't have food by giving Tzedakah. As well as learning Torah on our table. With all this information it was now more meaningful why we don't put our bodies on the 'shulchan'.

We also learned about the 'Tachash' the animal that looked like a unicorn with a horn and colorful body that helped decorate the covering of the Mishkan. Some of our friends love coloring unicorns! While we made it clear that it did not necessarily look like a unicorn we see in picture,  it was quite fun to elevate the experience and talk about a Tachash .

Continuing our Brachas unit we learned the Bracha of Shehakol that we say on liquids and proteins and of course ice cream.

We experimented making our own ice cream.

Covering some kria words to read with pretend ice cream.

Some fun Shehakol gum ball math and kria review!

To get some nutrition in we made delicious freshly squeezed orange juice! Thank you Morah Chana and Shmuel for lending us your juicer.

This was a fun topic since we turned Haetz oranges to Shehakol orange juice!

For the Bracha of Hamotzei we made our very own homemade pizza!

Fine motor activity cutting the grass with scissors ;) And a fun workout flipping over tires.