Preparing our Mishloach Manot Bags

After reading the book The Purim Surprise by Leslie Simpson, the children had fun decorating Mishloach Manot bags with dot paints.  A Mishloach Manot bag is just a bag until it is filled with goodies and treats.  The children will prepare the treats for their bags next week.  

Playing while Learning!

​The children are having so much fun playing a Purim memory matching game together with each other. Their knowledge of the different Purim symbols and their ability to observe and remember where specific pictures are placed is truly expanding​ and a pleasure to observe!

A Work in Progress...

We have been very busy designing unique and individual Ra'ashanim.  In keeping with the jolly and joyous atmosphere of Purim, we have decided to make Purim jesters. Each child has covered his Ra'ashan with brightly colored fabric squares and then added bells inside to make the requisite noise to be a proper Ra'ashan.  They are now in the process of attaching heads, silly hats, and a large assortment of hair, beads, gems, buttons, pom poms, and googly eyes. No two are the same and each child is choosing to decorate his Purim clown in a way that suits him.

Fun with Shapes!

We have been learning about triangles in connection with Haman's triangular hat, and Oznei Haman.  The Morot expanded upon this, and taped a circle, triangle, square and rectangle onto the carpet. While the music played, the children enjoyed dancing around the shapes.  When the music stopped, they had to quickly stop and jump into a designated  shape taped onto the floor.

Our Purim Puppets

​The children, now familiar with the Purim characters, had so much fun creating their own Purim puppets using paper bags.  They were able to choose from crowns, triangular shaped hats, clown hats, different colored hair and eyes, and many different decorative items for the bodies of their puppets.  With the use of their very vivid imaginations they were truly transported back into a time from long, long ago.

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Our Purim Fun has Begun!

The children were busy working collaboratively while painting a castle to adorn our class bulletin board for Purim.  They used bright green and purple paint with a splash of gold for that regal finish.

Going on a Bear Hunt and so much more!

The children in Gan Reut were eager and excited to go on a class "bear hunt".  They searched high and low for bears hidden in the auditorium/play room.  After all bears were found and accounted for, they were returned to their cave (container) and then sorted and counted by color.  

Pajama Day and Pancake Breakfast!

An amazing day was had by all of our children and their "stuffed" friends!  The children were thrilled to show up to school in pajamas, prepare pancakes for breakfast, and share their "stuffed" friends with each other! 

More Bear Fun!

In our art center we had fun water coloring wooden bear shapes and gluing on googly eyes.  We then attached magnetic strips to the backs so that the children will be able to enjoy using them on their refrigerators, or any place that they might adhere.

Bear Fun!

We glued buttons onto bear cutouts after reading the story Corduroy by Don Freeman.  Corduroy is a little stuffed bear that has lost one of the buttons to his shoulder strap.  Many of the children were already familiar with Corduroy and were very excited to hear the book and then decorate their bear with buttons.

"The Great Kapok Tree"

In conjunction with reading The Great Kapok Tree, and learning about the importance of saving our rain forests, and preserving both the beauty and natural habitats of the animals, we played a game of forest musical chairs.  Each chair represented a tree, and each child represented a different animal.  With the chopping down of each tree (the removal of a chair), more and more animals were deprived of their homes and natural settings.  As the children had to crowd into fewer and fewer chairs when the music stopped, they began to appreciate how the animals must feel when man cuts down their forests.

Gan Reut's Wood Hunt

We read the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and 

discussed all of the different things that the "boy" used the wood

from the tree for. We then went on a "wood hunt" throughout the school to try and find as many items as we could that were made from wood. 

Recycled Art

We created our own wooden sculptures using recycled wood left over from our Chanukiot.  We have discussed the importance of not wasting trees and taking care of our environment, and so it was not only fun, but very apropos to make art out of recycled goods.