Pesach in Prk!

 This week we started the unit on Pesach! It is quite the story and we are loving every moment of acting it out. We set the scene with learning how The Jewish population was growing fast in Mitzrayim and the king of Mitzrayim named Pharaoh did not like this. 

He did not want the Jewish people to become more powerful than him. We imagined our mommy's having 6 babies at a time! We started seeing how Pharoah became very mean and slowly influenced the Jewish people to becoming slaves by paying them at first. King pharaoh gave the Jews NO choice and they became slaves. Our big idea this week was showcasing we can make choices!

 Yakov and Mimi made a good choice to share their kinetic sand to friends that had less. Jack and Yedidya made a safe choice and came straight inside when there was no Morah outside. Chana and Menachem H made a responsible choice and put away the Lego people before davening. Menachem F made a very kind choice and gave his sister half of his sandwich because she left hers in the car. Shua made a powerful choice and pointed to all the words in the siddur and davened with a lot of kavana.  Chaya Leah did a very clean choice and washed her hands very thoroughly before eating. 

Using Kinetic sand and Lego people acting out the Jewish people working in the desert. King Pharoh actually made the Jewish slaves work on quick sand which was very frustrating.

Thank you Yakov, for buying us the Lego people on your birthday.

Pharoh's Astrologer saw in the stars that there would be a Jewish boy who would take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim! This made Pharaoh make a new decree that all the Jewish boys should go into the Nile river. Pharaoh gave Yocheved (Shifra) and Miriam (Pua) who were the midwives to oversee his decree. They were so brave and did not listen to him and let the babies live. Moshe was born to Yocheved and she tried hiding him in the house. 

 

Yocheved and to make the hard decision to wrap baby Moshe in a basket and Miriam his sister  watched over him. 

Princess Batya, found him and Hashem made a miracle that her arm stretched and reached for the basket. Hahsem also made a miracle for Moshe to cry so Batya would become empathetic and find someone to feed him.

Mimi acted as Miriam bring the baby to his Jewish mother Yocheved.

Moshe grew up in the palace! Once Moshe was on King Pharoh's lap and he reached for his crown. Pharaoh wanted to investigate this and see if Moshe was just a child and liked shiny things or did he want to take over the kingship.

Hashem new Moshe would be the leader to lead the Jewish people out because of his sensitivity and kindness towards them. We took this lesson and understood how when we are kind and follow the good choice of Torah and Mitzvos that's what makes us strong!

Jack pretending to be Moshe Infront of the burning bush. This is where Hashem gave Moshe the responsibility of being the leader.

 We learned the 3 signs that Hashem taught Moshe for the Jewish people to believe him that he was the one chosen. Here is Moshes hand turning white and then turning back to his color.

Making our own Matzah!

Aleph Beis!

In davening, we started spotting the letters of the week we are learning throughout our siddur. It keeps us engaged and excited to sing our davening songs!

Working on our Haggadah's!

Do we have a choice?

Pesach unit has begun in our preschool class!

We set the scene with the Jewish people's population was growing since  they were having 6 babies at once!

Leah, helped demonstrate how excited she was when she started counting all her babies!

King Paroh did not like how big the Jewish population was getting and he saw in the stars there will be one boy (Moshe) who will become the leader and take them out of Mitzrayim (Egypt) 

Nechama, acted out Miriam his sister watching over baby Moshe in the Nile river.

Not only did he survive but ended up in the King's palace when Batya the princess saved him!

He grew up and became such a caring person and did not like the Jewish people being treated so harshly by King Paroh.

Mendy, showing us what it might have sounded like being told to work so hard!

Leah, showed us what Moshe sounded like by offering Yossi his water bottle after working so hard in the hot desert.

Our friends learned the buildings were done on quicksand so whatever they built kept on sinking and it was a very bad feeling working for no cause. 

Eli, wanted a turn to be the King Paroh voice but when he saw Mendy struggling he quickly put the King Paroh puppet down and wanted to be like Moshe and help!

Our friends having a fun sensory experience with paint and sand making a desert scene. 

Do we have choices ?

After learning about the King not giving any choice it was a great opportunity to talk about when we have a choice and when we don't.

Yossi C, helped us act out when our parents tell us it's bedtime it is not a choice. However, he did get a choice what book he can look at in bed!

Working hard on our Pesach Hagaddahs!

Relaxing with books together.

We love when Morah Chana reads to us in the afternoon!

Having so much fun with the sand after some rainy days!

                    

Purim in Prek

Purim is almost here, and this week we prepared! Learning all about the special Mitzvos on Purim we found something similar between all of them. They all start with the letter Mem! We got into a lot of discussions of what starts with Mem (we have many friends who's name starts with that letter- Menacham, Mordechai, Mimi... and Modeh ani!

This week had extra joy in the days including Purim songs, dance parties, dress ups, and we enjoyed making all our Purim crafts! 

                                           

                                              Chana drawing for her Megillah the 4 Mitzvos!

Gragger making!

During circle time, Morah brought a Megillah out and we had a practice run on what to do when we hear the name Haman. Boy did they shake there graggers hard!

Creative mask making.

Purim costume match-it! 

(Matching the top to the bottom)

Hamantash Making!

We learned the Mitzva of Mishloach Manos; we put two different kinds of foods and give it to at least one friend. Our friends made a craft to show case this Mitzvah.

To learn about the big miracle of Purim, we used our bodies to go upside down. This is connected to the concept of Vinahafochu which means overturned. The kids understood how the whole Purim story just flipped around when the Jewish people were saved from Haman and it was him put on the gallows instead of Mordechai! 

Purim is in the air!

We finished the Megillah story this week! 

Mendy, creating a palace out of magnet tiles.

Decorating our Megillah covers.

During davening circle is a great time to talk about all the Mitzvahs they do just like Mordechai and Esther! Using siddurim and it was so sweet to see the concentration singing the holy davening songs.

We had boys and girls taking turns being the 'morahs' by dressing up as Mordechai and Esther. When Haman made his not nice decree Mordechai gathered the Jewish children and believed it will be them who save us!

Seeing our friends thousands of  years later sitting at Gan davening the same as back than is inspiring and what the holiday of Purim is all about!

Making puppet shows for our friends.

We learned what graggers are for on Purim! Decorating them with glue and tissue paper.

Filling them up and testing the sound when empty and full.

Haman had a three corner hat and some say pointy ears too! 

We made the traditional yummy three pointer hamantashen and deciding what fillings we want inside.

Thank you Morah Malka for coming and playing music with us. This month of Adar is the happiest month of the Jewish calendar! Music and dancing is the best way to bring out our sillies and smiles.

Dancing balloon fun!

Enjoying some large books during free time.

Fun in the sun!

Our two Shabbat Imas!