Making Edible Rainbows in Ganon Aleph

Inspired by the rainbow at the end of last week's Parashat Noach, we had "Color Week" in both Ganon classes.  Every day we all managed to find something in our closets to match that day's color, and even our snacks were color-coordinated!  Joseph's mom came in this morning to help the children make delicious rainbow cookies.  We're happy to share this easy recipe if you're interested!

"Our Bags Are Packed, We're Ready To Go.."

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Ganon Bet learned this week how Hashem asked Avram to leave Eretz Charan and move to Eretz Canaan. We designed our own suitcases for travel. We filled our suitcases with different objects that we would need to take on a long trip such as food, drink, toys, etc. We then carried our suitcases with us as we went on a trip to Eretz Canaan. We walked all around Yavneh asking people if they could help us find Canaan. We brought with us a map and a compass but it was really hard to find! We don’t know how Avraham made it, boy were we tired when we got back from our trip!

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We brainstormed how Avram knew which way he was traveling. What helped give him direction? Then we noticed that when we look out the windows in our classroom in the morning the sun is very bright. But in the afternoon the sun isn't as bright. We realized this is because of how the earth rotates. We first see the sun in the east and the day ends with the sun setting in the west. The sun can help direct us when we travel.

A Trip to Mezuzahland with Gan Gimmel!

How exciting it was yesterday when Gan Gimmel got to participate in the very special mitzvah of mezuzah! Rabbi Penn came to help us hang the brand new mezuzah on our doorpost. After all of our renovations in Early Childhood it was such a special zechut for our class to hang the mezuzah on the door.  The children learned that mezuzah literally means "doorpost".  We recited the special bracha over hanging a mezuzah. Then we read the story "A Trip to Mezuzahland" by Sara Lieberman.  What a special and exciting experience for the children! How many mezuzot do you have hanging in your house?

Welcoming Shelley to Ganon Aleph

We welcomed a new member to Ganon Aleph this week:  Shelley the tortoise!  She spent the year in Gan Daled last year and has now joined our class.  The children love to watch her eat, and it was exciting to bathe her for the first time!  They are learning all about the responsibilities of caring for a pet in a fun, hands-on way!

Handle With Care!!!

With recent additions to our Early Childhood wing, construction has become the ongoing theme in Gan Bet.

From learning how to read blueprints....

To measuring and making our own blueprint of our classroom...

To adding construction materials to our centers...

Gan Bet is the newest construction site around!

Gan Aleph on the Map!

What would you do if you were walking to the ice cream store and got lost!? This is the scenario that Gan Aleph was presented with this week. After brainstorming answers such as use a gps or ask for directions one child yelled out "Look at a map!" We began discussing what a map is and different kinds of maps that we use. We read the book Me on the Map by Joann Sweeny. We followed up this book with an interactive stacking activity. The children were presented with stacking blocks with pictures of the universe, the earth, North America, United States, New Jersey, names of our towns etc. We learned that the biggest place of all is the universe, since it is all inclusive of the rest of the blocks. We then stacked the earth on top of the universe and North America on top of the earth. Each block got smaller and smaller until we ended with a big tower and picture of the morah up on top. This activity allowed the children to visualize our place on the map. We are a part of a family in a house which is a part of a street, which is a part of a town etc. During center time, the children chose their own special place or room to draw a map of using what we had already learned about maps. Some children drew a map of their bedroom while others drew maps of their playrooms or favorite playground. They thought carefully about all of the different things they would need to put in their maps and the colors that they should use. They dictated the different items so that their map could be labeled. The children completed their maps by filling out the sentences “This is _____(name). This is _____ (name) on a map of ________ (place),” just like we had read in the book. 

What a fun interactive way to learn all about maps!

Piet's Primary Colors

Inspired by the beautiful colors of the rainbow, Gan Daled has been learning about the primary colors. The children used red,  yellow,  and blue water in different combinations to produce secondary colors.
Piet Mondrian was a Dutch artist who used straight vertical and horizontal lines and primary colors to make rectangles and squares. We created masterpieces in the style of Mondrian's neoplasticism by using black lines with primary colors. The children were thrilled to see their work displayed on our very new bulletin board. 

Shulchan Shabbat - What Makes Shabbat Special to YOU?

At this week's Shulchan Shabbat, we first spoke about the different words relating to Shabbat that we know in ivrit! Then, the yeladim illustrated pictures using oil pastels to create images of their favorite parts of Shabbat. All of the responses were wonderfully creative and completed independently. Below you can view some of the wonderful illustrations and creations that stemmed from our sentence starter, "My favorite thing about Shabbat is..."

The yeladim from each of the Ganon and Gan classes all had the opportunity to use our iPads to take a picture of their own illustration. I simply can not wait for the "voice-over" activity of having the children tell their part of their class story about what makes Shabbat special to them!

ECD Bereishit Fair

As a culminating activity for our Bereishit unit we enjoyed a department-wide Bereishit fair.  Each classroom became a different day of creation.  Here you can see the children from Ganon Aleph

involved in shadow play for Day One,

enjoying water play for Day Two,

decorating planters for Day Three,

fishing for gummy worms for Day Five,

and making challah for Yom Shabbat.

 Other activities were creating constellations for Day Four and animal dramatics for Day Six. What a fun, hands-on, interactive experience this was for the children!

Ganon Bet's World of Colors

Parshat Noach was a great segue to do a vast exploration of primary and secondary colors. The children were given yellow finger paint, followed by red. They discovered that when they mixed the two it created orange! Then the children discovered that when they mixed yellow and blue they made green and then red and blue made purple. We then followed up with a science experiment with empty water bottles, water and food coloring. Ask us what happened?!