I Had a Little Penguin...

To celebrate our newfound knowledge of penguins, Gan Gimmel created our very own penguins out of paper mache!

Please click here to see our creations!

Toboggan Like a Penguin

Gan Gimmel learned that penguins waddle because they have short legs, but they can slide on their bellies, or toboggan, to get around quickly.

We gave tobogganing a try for ourselves!

It's so much quicker to toboggan than to waddle!

We also discovered that tobogganing on the smooth floor is so much easier than tobogganing on the rough rug!

What Is Black and White and Smiling All Over?

What's black, white and smiling all over? Gan Daled on Penguin Day! On Monday, Jan 7th, the children dressed in black and white and acted like penguins waddling on ice. They pretended to be Emperor penguins carrying babies on their feet. 

Gan Daled particularly enjoyed playing in our class igloo and making snow with insta-snow, an amazing powder that erupts into a fluffy white snow when water is added. The children also enthusiastically prepared and ate special penguin treats made of Oreos, candy corn and mini marshmallows.

Adult penguins come in different sizes ranging from 16 to 48 inches. We compared the heights of the penguins with the heights of our children by mounting the face of an Emperor penguin at 48 inches, an Adelie penguin at 30 inches and a Little Blue penguin at 16 inches. Each child was invited to see eye to eye with a penguin.
It was a very special day for all!

Winter Animals

Gan Bet has been exploring how different animals adapt to the winter. The children learned that both the polar bears and penguins have blubber, which helps keep them warm in the cold weather. To demonstrate this, we performed a science experiment using “blubber”, water, and some bags. The children placed one hand inside two empty plastic bags. The other hand was placed in an empty bag and an additional bag with “blubber”. The children placed both hands in cold water. When their hands became cold, they were told to take the cold hand out of the water. The hand without the blubber coating was pulled out quickly!

What Is Black and White and Smiling All Over?

What's black, white and smiling all over? Gan Gimmel on Penguin Day! On Tuesday the children dressed in black and white and acted like penguins waddling on ice. They pretended to be emperor penguins carrying babies on their feet. Gan Gimmel particularly enjoyed playing in our class igloo and making snow with insta-snow, an amazing powder that erupts into a fluffy white snow when water is added. The children also enthusiastically prepared and ate special penguin treats made of Oreos, raisins, mini marshmallows and sour sticks.

Adult penguins come in different sizes ranging from 16 to 45 inches. We compared the heights of the penguins with the heights of our children by mounting the face of an Emperor penguin at 45 inches, an Adelie penguin at 30 inches and a Little Blue penguin at 16 inches. Each child was invited to see eye to eye with a penguin.

It was a very special day for all!

Hip Hip Hooray! It's Penguin Day!

A morah walked through the halls and saw Gan Aleph waddling around like penguins. "What's the occasion?" she asked. "It's Penguin Day!" On Tuesday, Gan Aleph arrived at school wearing black and white and excited to celebrate all that we have learned about this fascinating animal. We began the day with a special penguin snack. The children were provided with oreo cookies, candy corn and chocolate chips and were presented with the task of building a penguin on their plates using these items. It was fun to see how different children used these items in different ways to create their penguins. Of course, the best part was when we got to eat them!

Next, we played a fun math game using jellyfish. We sat around in a circle and looked at these jellyfish swimming in the "ocean." The children were presented with different addition and subtraction problems based on these fish. For example, "6 fish were swimming in the ocean. Along came a penguin named Vicky and ate 3 fish! How many fish were left!?" Vicky ate the fish and we counted the remaining fish together.

In the afternoon, we had our very own waddle relay. The children lined up into two teams and were given a ball to hold in between their knees in order to ensure the best possible waddle! We raced back and forth in the halls and cheered each other on! It was a wonderful display of good sportsmanship and we waited to make sure everyone had a turn to waddle.

By the end of the day, our penguin bulletin board had gone up and our life-size penguins were hung next to it. The children are so proud of their work and invite you to waddle your way to our outside bulletin board to view their creativity and enthusiasm for the penguins!

The March of Gan Aleph's Penguins!

Gan Aleph began exploring the fascinating world of penguins! We learned all about where penguins live, what they eat and how they surf and dive for fun! We focused on the emperor penguin, african penguin and macaroni penguin and learned what makes each penguin different from the next. We read the book If You Were a Penguin, by Wendell and Florence Minor, which we used as a springboard for writing. The children imagined themselves as penguins and wrote what they would eat, which kind of penguin they would be and even gave themselves a name. Vicky named herself "Oreo" while Matan named himself "Snow!" We then used water bottles, paint and many different materials to create our penguins... and wow, did they come to life! The children had to think about what features made their penguin different and then add that feature to their "penguin doll"(ex. the macaroni penguins have yellow hair!). Do you have any fun or interesting facts/stories that you would like to share with Gan Aleph about penguins!?

WHAT'S BLACK ,WHITE AND SMILING ALL OVER?

What's black, white and smiling all over? Gan Daled on Penguin Day! On Penguin Day the children dressed in black and white and acted like penguins waddling on ice. They pretended to be emperor penguins carrying babies on their feet. Gan Daled particularly enjoyed playing in our class igloo and making snow with insta-snow, an amazing powder that erupts into a fluffy white snow when water is added. The children also enthusiastically prepared and ate a special penguin treat made of Oreos, candy corn and raisins.

Adult penguins come in different sizes, ranging from 16 to 45 inches. We compared the heights of the penguins with the heights of our children by mounting the face of an emperor penguin at 45 inches, an Adelie penguin at 30 inches and a little blue penguin at 16inches. Each child was invited to see 'eye to eye' with a penguin.

The weather cooperated in keeping our penguins comfortable (Brrr!!).