Fun Times in Gan Gimmel!

Gan Gimmel has been very busy the past few weeks.

Click here to watch a video of what we've been up to!

Hot Chocolate on a Cold Day - Ganon Bet

 It is a cold day outside, but inside Ganon Bet, it is warm and toasty.  To learn about some of the foods that fall under the category of  our last bracha in our unit, we took a short trip to the cafeteria. The yeladim were looking for a surprise treat. First they got a cup of hot water. Next,  hot chocolate powder, milk and whipped cream were displayed. But before we can enjoy this yummy treat a bracha is required. What bracha is made on  all those delicious ingredients? Shehakol of course.
The yeladim enjoyed the treat as they listened to the story Boruch Learns his Brachos.

We are Learning our Brachot in Ganon Bet

           What better way to learn the brachot than by tasting  the foods that are associated with it.        The yeladim tried different kinds of bread.



Meira liked matzah.

Charlie liked the challah roll.

Jack liked pita bread.

Gabie ate the challah roll.

Michal, Yonah, Nikki and Jack made pattern fruit loop necklaces or bracelets.

Regina baked yummy cupcakes(and cookies).

Willa, Grace, Emma and Lila  peeled and cut vegetables for our vegetable salad.

Michal made a vegetable  face.

Sammy made a vegetable person.

 

                                   

Gabby and Elissa cut fruit for our fruit salad.

                                              What is your favorite flavor of grape juice?

Eitan liked the red,  Gavi liked the white and Dovi liked the sparkling.

 

Tefillah Continued

We are in the process of making our Siddurim. We are using many different materials to enhance our Siddur. This makes the tefillot more meaningful and come to life when we daven to HaShem each day. We have learned the Aleph Bet and practice reading Hebrew words each day.The children are eager to use their Siddur and say the Brachot with extra kavanah. They are also excited to work on each new page and sing the songs of the davening. The children are looking forward to completing their Siddur and using it for the rest of the year.

Picklelicious

Gan Aleph had a wonderful time preparing for the ECD Bracha party last week. The children prepared pickles for the department to be able to make the bracha "Boreh Pri Ha'adamah". We read a recipe and watched a very short video clip on our computer that demonstrated how pickles are made. The children worked together to wash and slice the cucumbers. They prepared the dill and pickling spices. We boiled a vinegar and sugar mixture in order to prepare the brine. Finally, the children packed the pickles in to containers to let sit and become pickles. What a wonderful way for the children to learn about where the foods they eat come from. They were delicious! Have you ever made pickles at home before?

Early Childhood Bracha Party

Our bracha unit culminated with a Bracha Party on Tuesday morning. We joined together with the other early childhood classes in the cafeteria and shared the special foods that each class made for the occasion. We all recited together the appropriate brachot over the different foods we tried, and we kept in mind different people in need when we answered "Amen" to the brachot.

Blessings from the Trees

Gan Bet has been investigating trees in many fun ways over the past few weeks. Today their studies bore "fruit" as they prepared for our departmental Bracha Party. Each class prepared a food with a different bracha, and Gan Bet chose to make fruit salad for "borei pri haetz"! The children worked independently to cut, chop, and stir up a big pan of fruits which they shared with all their early childhood schoolmates. Fun and yum!

Taste Testing in Ganon Aleph

As part of our bracha unit, the children did a little taste testing for the bracha "shehakol." Each child had a turn to be blindfolded, recite the bracha "shehakol", taste a drink, and then guess what the drink was. What a fun and tasty way to review the brachot!

Vegetable People

We have been busy learning the brachot for different foods. This week we focused on the bracha HaEtz. The children learned when to use the bracha. They investigated many different fruits and vegetables to find out which needed the bracha HaEtz. As a culmination to our investigation the children created vegetable people or vegetable faces. They were excited about creating their vegetable people but the best part was saying the bracha and then eating all of the vegetables!

Ganon Bet Makes Grape Juice

Do you know what happens when you take grapes, put them in a container and step on them? We do! It makes grape juice! Every Friday night the children hear their fathers recite Boreh Pri Hagafen on grape juice or wine. To help bring this bracha to life, the children had a chance to make their own grape juice. Have any of you ever made your own grape juice?

The Fruit Salad Game

As part of our bracha unit, the children learn the Hebrew names for different fruits and vegetables. Here you can see them playing our "Salat Peirot" game, which is a variation on musical chairs.

Let's Make A Bracha...

Ganon Bet has begun a unit on Brachot to help understand why we make a bracha and which brachot to make on foods. Children learn best by doing, so to introduce the bracha of mezonot, the children baked a cake together. But how do we make a cake? The children concluded that we need a recipe to tell us the ingredients . The first child said that a cake needs sugar. Another child wanted to add vanilla. Eggs were added next, followed by Crisco, water, and baking powder. As each ingredient was added, the children had to decide if the cake would bake in its current stage. They all agreed that it was not ready to go in the oven until one final ingredient was added. The mystery ingredient was flour. Once the flour was added and mixed the children were ready to put the cake in the oven. The children learned that without flour the cake would not bake. Mezonot is recited because flour is one of the main ingredients in cake. As we snack on other foods, we check the ingredients. If the food contains flour, we know that it is mezonot.

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

In honor of Tu B'Shvat, the children in Gan Gimmel brought in their favorite fruits to share with the class. We enjoyed eating the fruit for snack and of course, we learned that we say borei pri haeytz on those that grow on trees. We even learned that we say haeytz on grapes, which grow on a vine.

While enjoying the oranges, curious kindergartners noticed that they were very "juicy". "Look, orange juice," as one squeezed his orange into his cup. What a great scientific discovery!! This made us all want to make orange juice so we got some juicers and started squeezing. We loved drinking our orange juice and of course, changed our bracha to shehakol neeye bdvaro.

Growing and Growing in Gan Aleph

Gan Aleph was so excited to come back to school after a week long break. We began the week by continuing our unit on Brachot. In order to fully understand the concept of "Boreh Pri Ha'adamah" Gan Aleph planted our own indoor garden. The children examined the different types seeds that we had on hand- tomato, cucumber and parsley. The children planted the seeds and watered the soil. The children will be caring for these plants by making sure that they have enough water and adequate sunlight. Have any good indoor gardening tips? We'd love to hear from you!

The Last Day

We read the book "A Chanukiya for Dina" , by Floreva Cohen, and decided to make a potato chanukiah just like the little girl in the story. The children helped cut four potatoes in half, and left one potato for a shamash. Then they scooped the centers out and filled them with oil.

After adding wicks and arranging the potatoes on a tray, they lit their chanukiah and sang the brachot for the last time this year. This was a wonderful way to extend literacy into a genuine, relevant science experience, and bring closure to all the fun we've had during Chanukah.