The Susim class told the story of Hanukkah using puppets that they handcrafted out of recycled items. They have been working hard since September on their writing and we are thrilled to share their incredible version of the Hanukkah miracle. 

 Here is a tried and true cooked play dough recipe that you can try while we are all at home.  If the play dough feels crumbly while you are kneading it, add some oil to your hands while you work it.
If you don't have food coloring you can add liquid watercolor or just leave it white!  Your kids will love it no matter what.

Kaplan students made some magnificent hanukkiyot with Susan's guidance.

​The students worked on their Thanksgiving Center pieces over the last two art classes.  We discussed what a sculpture is and how it differs from two dimensional art work.  Our projects had two parts- painting elements to construct with and then building our sculptures. 

Susim, Dubim, and Dagim:
“Thankful Sunflowers” 
Students painted  and collaged elements and then assembled and built with clay. ​

Mish-Mish, Kofim, Goorim and JC Gan Katan:
“Hand Turkeys”
Students explore crayon, tracing, water color , collaging and building with Model Magic.

Reciting nursery rhymes is an ideal way to teach pre-literacy to preschoolers.  In a few short verses, they demonstrate rhyming words, alliteration, letter and sound recognition and story telling as well as a whole host of educational concepts.

Recently the children heard Little Boy Blue.   They listened to it twice and then were shown prompts so that they were able to help recite the rhyme.  To encourage their ability to recognize rhyming words, the prompts were mixed up so that horn and corn were exchanged, sleep and sheep, and I and cry.  The children thought this was hilarious.  The older ones immediately identified these words as rhyming.

Then the play. Four stations were placed around the room to highlight certain literacy skills.

The third station was a sensory table filled with corn and wooden B's.  The kids got to handle the letter and physically feel its shape.  This was good for all ages.  Again the younger kids were able to identify the letter while the older were aided in writing it.




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Our school has a long standing Shabbat Pak program.  Shana Lee, our wonderful coordinator, puts together a "Shabbat in a bag" kit with everything from candles and challah to a CD with Shabbat songs.  Every child in the preschool has a turn taking the Shabbat Pak home and celebrating with family and friends (sometimes two or more families with Shabbat Paks get together for dinner!).

Here is the Shabbat Pak experience from a non-Jewish family:

A little iPod and kitchen game later, Daddy called everyone to the table.  Mammy had set the table nicely, with the challah covered, grape juice poured and the candles ready.  Meanwhile, Adriana had sneaked into Daddy's spot at the head of the table.

We followed the Shabbat blessings in the folder point by point; blessing the girls, the wine and the bread.  The blessings came in a combination of Hebrew and English, and we recited them as best we could, with Adriana and Giuliani repeating after Daddy and participating in every step.

as told by Renata Lee

Sukkot is perhaps the Jewish Holiday that best suits the preschooler mind.  It is, like Passover, a reminder of the Exodus; but it also celebrates the very concrete experience of the harvest.  At this time of the year, in the East Coast many farms open their orchards to the public and most of our students experience apple picking first hand.  Sukkot expands this experience and gives it more depth.

Building and decorating a sukkah is perhaps the most exciting part of the holiday.  Every child makes something to decorate the sukkah, and the process involves much more the actual creating of a craft project.  Along the way we explore foods that come from plants, we separate fruits from nuts and seeds, we taste and smell new things and marvel at the amazing bounty that is offered us.

And of course the sukkah is a fascinating place in itself, so it comes up in their play and different representation pop up in every classroom.  Some groups made small for their dolls, others built them with blocks, and yet others made them big enough to get inside!  But every group worked hard at figuring out what worked and what didn't work, all of them had to negotiate and come up with creative solutions.

During the whole festival we are also learning about our identity and the traditions that make up our Jewish experience.  Shana, our Jewish Education Specialist, visits every classroom, bringing the lulav  (and how perfect is a holiday that provides a preschool child with something to shake in every direction!) and the etrog to all of us and helping us better understand the meaning of the holiday.  We are lucky to have our backyard sukkah where we can have snack to fulfill the mitzvah, and Rabbi Scheinberg's songs bring a true sense of joy and celebration.