Shabbat Theme & My Five Senses: Part 3

Besomim (spice) box for Havdalah

Today we explored the sense of smell and, although it technically marks the separation between Shabbos and the rest of the week, Havdalah. The Havdalah rituals help us to say goodbye to the sweetness of Shabbos while welcoming a wonderful week ahead. Special blessings are made over wine/grape juice, a lit candle with at least two wicks (also to symbolize the separation between the holy [Shabbos] and the mundane [weekdays]), and besomim (sweet spices to awaken the senses and bring us joyfully into the coming week). Besomim is commonly comprised of cloves, cinnamon or other pleasant smelling spices. It can be simply used right from its spice box or decoratively displayed in handcrafted containers that are often works of art in and of themselves. As part of our Shabbos theme and exploration of our five senses, I felt making his own besomim box would be the perfect way to use our noses today and to create something very special my son can use at Havdalah, which now with the sun setting a bit earlier, he may even get to stay awake for soon!
Havdalah can be made only when there are three stars visible in the sky, at nightfall. This is the time that Shabbos officially ends and the rest of the week begins. We used star-shaped stickers to decorate the box and help us remember this as well as some smiley face stickers to help us remember that we should enter the week ahead with the same joyfulness that the Shabbos brings each week.

We began today's lesson with another great non-fiction find from the children's section of our local library all about the sense of smelling. I find books like these--with clear photographs and very simple/minimal language--are naturally interactive for even the smallest readers/listeners. They also encourage vocabulary development. We took the lesson over to the table to test out our own sniffers and some favorites from our spice shelf and natural medicine collection. My son loved smelling some of our favorite kitchen spices and extracts as well as some familiar essential oils. 

Next, I introduced our activity tray with a dish filled with cloves and some cinnamon sticks ready to go into his soon-to-be-decorated besomim box. I arranged it as a practice in transferring skills, providing a small measuring spoon for scooping, a small bowl to transfer from and the box to transfer into. I did not give specific instructions, but rather let him lead and show me what worked best for him. He did naturally pick up the larger cinnamon sticks and put them into the box and he also immediately took an interest in using the spoon to scoop and transfer. 

"Smells yummy!"

When it became a bit challenging to scoop the little cloves up and pour, he began using a helper hand to place them into the spoon, testing out picking them up and placing them right in the box and even tested out pouring.

He had so much fun with the transferring aspect of this activity alone that I set up a Montessori-style transfer tray with two dishes, another portion of whole cloves, and a small spoon for scooping. This kept him happy and busy for quite some time! I love when an activity unexpectedly holds his interest and inspires further exploration. One benefit to being in a homeschool environment is the ability to linger in these moments and not have to "finish" a project in a timely manner. 

Happy playing, learning and lingering when interest is sparked!