Gan Reut's Animal Predicitions!

We asked the children what animals they think they will see tomorrow at the farm.  Their list is awesome!!!  We promise to let you know all about our trip and the animals we actually saw tomorrow evening!

More Ladybugs!

Continuing with our spring theme, Morah Ariella prepared a matching memory game with ladybugs or Chipushit in Hebrew.  The children had to use their observational skills to find a match and then count the number of dots in Hebrew of each ladybug in their pair.  It is truly second nature for many of our children to count to 10 in Hebrew!  Amazing!!!​

Ladybugs!

The children enjoyed making ladybugs using paper plates for the insect's body.   They collaged the plates with red paper that they had helped to tear into little pieces, and then they chose a card with a number 1-10 and the corresponding numbers of dots next to it.  The children looked at the number on the card that they chose and then glued on the appropriate number of black dots.  They had so much fun practicing their number skills and combining art at the same time.  We then added black pipe cleaners as antenna to complete their ladybugs and made sure to read Eric Carle's The Grouchy Ladybug during story time!

Spring Poems

​In conjunction with spring we have continued to learn new poems using both flannel board and our imagination pretending to be flowers.  The children's literacy and counting skills continue to improve, and are truly impressive!

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Edible Caterpillars!

To help round out our butterfly art, we baked yummy white cupcakes.   We then decorated them and transformed them into a friendly and delicious caterpillar.  The best part is that we each got to enjoy a segment of the caterpillar as we devoured them at snack time.

 

More Butterflies!

We learned about symmetry in our art center as we made yet more beautiful butterflies.  We spooned paint onto one wing of the butterfly, folded the wings together and pressed.  When we opened them, we saw that the two wings were identical or symmetrical to the other.

Butterflies!

We created magnificent, giant sized butterflies using over sized coffee filters.  The children used droppers to apply bright and vivid water colors to the filters.  When they were dry we helped the children scrunch up the filters and twist a pipe cleaner around the middle.  The effect is amazing!

Spring Mural

We sprung into spring with the creation of an abstract spring mural! The children used "flower" paint sponges and dipped them into springy pastel paints to help make a beautiful spring collage resembling a garden of flowers.  

Preparing our Shavuot Cheesecake!

​Gan Reut prepared yummy, individual cheesecakes to bring home for the Chag.  The children first crushed graham crackers in individual baggies to prepare their crusts, they then made the batter, and finally they chose whether to top their cheese cake with regular chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or to keep it plain.  Delicious!

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Bikurim Baskets for Chag HaShavuot

​In conjunction with learning about Shavuot, we discussed that the Bikurim, first fruits were brought to Yerushalayim at the time of the Beit HaMikdash.  The children made their own very decorative baskets to carry fruits in.  (or in our case cheese cakes)  The children had lots of fun painting their baskets with a mixture of beautiful pastel paints mixed with glue and then sticking on beautiful fabric flower all over the interior of their baskets.

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In Honor of Yom Yerushalayim!

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, the children had fun dancing around our classroom while carrying their own Israeli flags and singing songs related to Yerushalayim.  

They also drew pictures and dictated their wishes on notes that they then proceeded to stick in between the stones of our class Kotel. 

Flowers for the Vases!

​The children made two different types of flowers to place in their Shavuot vases.  First, they painted with dot paints onto coffee filters to design springy and colorful flowers.  Next, they dipped seed pods from sweet gum trees, that they collected from outside, into bright pink, orange and purple paint to create a different, but very interesting flower.

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Vases for Shavuot

​In honor of Shavuot the children made beautiful vases.  They glued on springy colors of tissue papers over the exterior of plastic bottles that they carefully "painted" with tacky glue. We will be sure to make flowers with which to fill their vases. ​

Friendship Quilt Completed!

​We cut our large quilt into 16 puzzle pieces and had the children build the puzzle and put the quilt back together.  They were so proud and excited to see their completed product once they managed to fit all of the pieces together.  It is hanging on our outside bulletin board; available for all to take a peek if you happen to be in the building.

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Conitnuing our Friendship Quilt

We continued with our friendship quilt as the children decorated paper dolls of themselves and then placed them above their hand prints.

Celebrating Lag Ba'Omer!

Bonfire (Medurah), songs, marshmallows and baked potatoes; what more could we ask for?!  An absolutely terrific time was enjoyed by all!

Friendship Quilt

In addition to our "puzzle pals" the children also expressed their friendship by beginning to create a beautiful friendship quilt.  They each dipped their hands into paint and then placed their hands on the quilt.  Each set of hands was adjacent to another set of hand prints depicting their love and friendship for each other.   Next week they will continue with the quilt and we will be sure to keep you updated!

Our Friendship Puzzle

As promised the children connected their puzzle pieces to form a long chain of Gan Reut friends holding hands and discussed what it means to be a true friend.  The children then each completed the sentence fragment: "A friend"...  

Friendship Puzzle Pals

In the spirit of friendship the children in Gan Reut each painted and decorated a personal "puzzle pal".  They water colored their individual puzzle piece and then glued on eyes and hair. Now that the pieces are completed, the children will connect them to form a long chain of Gan Reut pals and discuss different ways to be a good friend.

Mother's Day, Shhhhh!

We have been spending our art time this week concentrating on preparing beautiful Mother's Day gift for all of our children's special moms.  We don't want to give it all away, so we are just including a few pictures to maximize your anticipation and excitement for the special day!

Tu B'Shvat Revisited!

From bean to plant and back to bean... Gan Reut recalled reading the book One Bean prior to wrapping their Lima beans in moist paper towels in conjunction with our Tu B'Shvat unit. We watched as our beans took root, as they slowly grew into a plant once planted in soil,  we observed the plant as it grew and grew, we noticed tiny little flowers bud and then drop off, and finally we saw tiny bean pods begin to appear. Today, we opened up those fully formed bean pods and were amazed to find perfectly formed Lima beans!!!  The cycle has completed itself, and we are ready to start all over!

Our topographical map of Israel

​We discussed the map of Israel and the many different types of land that it has.  We then proceeded to complete our class map.  We decorated the desert in the Negev, the hills of Yerushalayim, the lush green plains and fertile soil in the Golan and Galil, and the bodies of water in the north, east and west coasts. 

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Getting in the spirit...

The children have been busy singing songs about Israel, dancing and holding Israeli flags while singing Hatikva. They are all so very excited for our "trip" tomorrow!

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go...

In preparation for our "trip to Israel" the children worked diligently sewing suitcases for their impending travel.  They also decorated them with dot paints each creating their own unique and different design.  This will most certainly ensure that they will not blend in and get lost at baggage pick up upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport. 

Constructing our very own Class Kotel!

Gan Reut painted and built their own class Kotel using paper grocery bags.  They first stuffed the bags with newspaper, stapled them shut, and then painted them with a mixture of brown and white paint.  Finally, they sprinkled some gold glitter onto them to appear as when the sun shines on Yerushalayim.  When they are dry they will complete the Kotel and put the stones together.

Comparing Flags

The children honed their observational skills as they compared and contrasted the American and Israeli flag.  It was truly amazing to listen to them describe the similarities and the differences between the two flags.  Using their words we filled in our Venn Diagram of the two flags.