Purim Fun in Ganon Aleph

The children in Ganon Aleph have been so busy

working on their megillot,

creating masks,

dancing to the music of BaRock Orchestra,

and acting out the Purim story in our own Shushan palace!

Painting for Purim!

Getting ready to learn about the upcoming holiday of Purim is so much fun! Gan Gimmel set the stage for future role play of the story by creating a huge mural of the city of Shushan. We began to learn the story through the use of visuals, puppets and songs! As we learn about each of the characters we will create them with various art media and add them to our gorgeous backdrop.

Pre-Purim Fun

Purim festivities are in full swing! Mrs. Cohen came to all the classes on Rosh Chodesh Adar for a very fishy lesson! (Fish are a significant Purim symbol.) She taught the children a fun fingerplay about going fishing, showed them a real fish, and brought a special treat so each child could catch their own fish with a pretzel fishing rod, marshmallow fluff bait, and jelly fish!

Later in the day the Ganon classes had a special visit from Rabbi Srulovitz and a couple of his middle schoolers who performed some special cup tricks for us, and then Inbal (one of Yavneh's Sheirut Leumi girls) came to talk to us about Purim in Israel and sang and danced with the children.

All this week the children had fun acting out the Purim story in our drama corner which has been transformed into a Shushan palace, complete with thrones, crowns, scepters, capes, and jewelry.

The week ended with a lively Purim chagiga in the gym together with the other early childhood classes. What a fun pre-Purim week we had!!

Shushan Comes to Ganon Aleph

Our drama corner has been transformed into a Shushan palace, complete with thrones, crowns, scepters, capes, and jewelry, where the children have been enjoying becoming the characters and acting out the Purim story. Also, castle molds have been added to our sand table so that the children can create replicas of Shushan.

Purim fun has only just begun...

Gan Aleph is actively engaged in their interactive Purim unit this week. The addition of new crowns, costumes and a "real" palace transformed our drama center into Shushan. The children honed their social skills by sharing the new props and costumes. They were able to reinforce the first few parts of the Purim story that we learned in class. As a follow up to all of this dramatic role play, the children have started to write their own megillot. This will enable the children to reinforce what they have learned and connect to the story. Stay tuned for more updates as we explore this wonderful holiday through many different avenues. What is your favorite childhood memory of Purim? We'd love to know!

Painting Shushan

Purim was introduced in Ganon Aleph this week. The children had fun painting Shushan scenery as a background for our Purim bulletin board. We will review the story with the children over the next few weeks through puppets, books, songs, and dramatic play.