Continuing our Hanukkah celebration

We made a menorah with clay and LED lights. The children counted eight candles on our menorah and one 'helper candle' called shamash. After talking about the Hanukkah in conversation and stories, the children were really excited to paint the menorah once the clay was dry and display it on the entrance of our school.

Gingerbread friends

We've been enjoying reading the book, The Gingerbread Boy as a group and also individually. The children continue to ask the teachers to read the book and even completing parts of the story, as they have it memorized. Today, we made 'gingerbread friends' with gingerbread dough. The children helped to kneed and roll the doll before using cookie cutters to cut the dough in shape of little gingerbread boys and girls. We enjoyed the treat after lunch time!

Let it snow! And more festive traditions

For a science experiment, we created snow storms in glass jars by adding white paint, water, baby oil, blue/silver glitter and the key ingredient ALKA SELTZER TABLETS. We discussed what the tablets are used for (when mommies, daddies, and other grown-ups feel sick). The tablets were the last step in making a snow storm. When popped into the mixture, it appeared to be snowing in the jars as the ingredients fizzled and moved up and down.

We also decorated popsicle stick Christmas trees and included mathematics in another activity. The children practiced counting, one to one correspondence, adding and subtracting with wood chips and construction paper Christmas trees with numbers printed on them.

Yoga with Lakshmi

Lakshmi explained that Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, is coming up in six days. To experience Winter Solstice with our senses and bodies, Lakshmi turned off most of the lights in the classroom and shined a lamp in one side of an extended white sheet. The friends took turns dancing and then doing puppet shows on one side of the sheet, while the rest of the friends played the audience and waited for their turn.