Themes in Depth: Shabbat Theme & My Five Senses Part I

This is one of my son's favorite Shabbos books. He requests it each week and we have also had a great deal of fun acting out the story as a play activity in our home. He loves to help clean and to use his toy shopping cart and brown paper bag to gather pretend food and challahs for the Shabbos meal. He also loves using his toy Shabbos sets to prepare his own Shabbos table, "light candles," and "make kiddush." We are intended to start each week with its end--Shabbos--in mind. It's a beautiful concept that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of preparations and chores--yet our youngest household members are often the ones who remind us of the true gift that observing Shabbos is each and every week.

Shabbos is something we observe every week in our house and something my son genuinely looks forward to. In our family, it means the table gets dressed in its most beautiful white tablecloth to sport our Shabbos candles, homemade challahs, kiddush cup and grape juice, and some delicious Shabbos meals prepared by both my husband and myself (sometimes with our son's help). We also dress in our best and enjoy the coziness of intentional, uninterrupted family time together. That may well be the number one reason my son begins asking for Shabbos at the beginning of the week!
This is also a time when we refrain from certain activities that are disallowed on Shabbos, like turning on electronics, using our phones and computers, writing and drawing, cooking and cleaning, driving and working and more. Growing up in a home that did not observe Shabbos in this way, I often felt that it came with a list of "don'ts" that was altogether too long. As an adult, I've come to appreciate quite a few of the items on that list of "don'ts," but I also want to make sure that keeping Shabbos in this way is something my son continues to feel positively about as he grows older and aware of the "outside world" that continues in our temporary absence from it. We make Shabbos a time for having extra special treats and spending time with neighborhood friends and genuinely making sure to really engage with our son and have fun together. I also see that value in him having a part in creating and preparing for the ways we honor Shabbos each week.

In our little homeschool, we are exploring the theme of Shabbos through the lens of our five senses. We are working together on a book incorporating each of the five senses in connection with Shabbos symbols or activities:

• We see the Shabbos candles burning: my son will be painting his own set of wooden candlesticks to use for play. 
• We hear the Shabbos blessings and songs: although we do not use instruments or play music on Shabbos, we sing a lot of fun and beautiful songs together!
• We feel the sticky challah dough: my son will be lending a hand (or two) in shaping some yummy cinnamon raisin challah rolls to freeze and save for the upcoming holidays. We will also be sanding and painting a wooden challah board and decorating a cloth challah cover.
• We taste the delicious Shabbos meal: my son is always eager to take charge of quality control in the kitchen when we are cooking and baking together for Shabbos and making sure everything is delectably up to par.
• We smell the besomim (spices) at Havdalah: we will be decorating and filling a small plastic box for besomim to use at Havdalah.

Since we do not do art projects or cook on Shabbos itself, I wanted to make sure to include some materials and activities my son could use and play with during Shabbos as well as during the week. While we put away electronic and battery operated toys during Shabbos, we also make sure to take out some Shabbos-friendly ones as well to make the day extra special. Here are a couple of new ones I put together at home that he has really enjoyed:

We do have a store-bought plush Shabbos set that my son loves to play with and pretend about setting the table with. I saw this idea done by another Jewish preschool teacher and decided to make my own set of Shabbos photo blocks at home. I used photos found online to print and laminate and hot glued wooden blocks to the back of each. We will be making similar sets for holidays as well. 

This is another adaptation of a printable activity found on the Jewish Homeschool Blog I've previously posted on. I cut out and laminated the pictures as well as the "Shabbat Table" page and added velcro circles to the back of each picture and the table page for a move-able and reusable activity.

Even in weeks that Shabbos is not a theme we are exploring in depth, we have some added family routines to make the day extra special and to help alleviate some of the potential for stress as we cook, clean and prepare:

• TOYS & PLAYTHINGS: I try to keep our "not-Shabbos friendly" toys and materials on our top shelf, leaving extra space for the few battery-operated toys or puzzles that may also need to be moved out of sight over Shabbos. Right before Shabbos, I drape the scarf over the shelf. The idea is if it's out of sight, it's hopefully out of mind!
  
• CREATING A SENSE OF NOVELTY: To counter that, I also keep certain toys and books less visible during the week and am mindful to make them accessible and ready to use over Shabbos. These may be Shabbos themed toys and books or just a puzzle or some blocks we haven't used in a while. I know some families who keep a Shabbos box of just-for-Shabbos toys to use each week and many families before a long holiday will do a toy swap for added excitement. Remember--it doesn't have to be new to be novel!
• ATTITUDE CHECK: My husband and I try very hard to maintain a positive attitude as we get ready and not express frustration or negative feelings about it. That can be hard to do when you are feeling anxious and running out of time! I think my son is my greatest reminder to prepare for Shabbos b'simcha. He genuinely gets joy out of helping to clean and cook! When the going gets tough, we turn up some fun music to help get in the Shabbos spirit.
• ENLISTING HELP: That said, we encourage his help even when it can simultaneously be a hindrance and take more time. Even very little ones can dust and wash a table, help wash veggies and fruits for salads and assist in setting the table.
• "ME DO IT!" We are in the phase of that phrase right now. As much as we can, we like to say "yes," and make it a positive experience. He can't light his own candles now, but he can decorate and have his own candleholders. He wants his own special kiddush cup, so each Friday morning, I give him a plastic disposable cup from the Dollar Tree or party store and he decorates it with stickers to use at the Shabbos table. He wanted to participate in making kiddush the way he sees his Tatty do it, so I made him his own laminated sheet of the Shabbos blessings complete with pictures to help him identify what each is for.
• MAINTAINING ROUTINES Keeping Shabbos and Jewish holidays is an exercise in balancing our need to maintain certain routines for our toddler and allowing for some stretching of the rules to honor the celebratory nature of the day. We try to keep to bed and naptime routines on Shabbos and holidays. Nothing makes for a greater disaster on a long Shabbos day or holiday than a very overtired and unhappy toddler! That said, in the summer when Shabbos begins very late, that means my son is asleep before it even begins. We make him his own little kiddush and Shabbos party to ensure he doesn't feel he has missed out. We also try to make him his own havdalah on Sunday morning, though admittedly this is one we have forgotten repeatedly. On the other end of that, we do allow a bit of lenience when it comes to the start of bedtime or naptimes on occasions when we have guests or are visiting with friends. We are a bit more lenient with the number of tasty treats offered on Shabbos. 

However you honor and celebrate family traditions, know that these are the memories that are forever being etched into your little ones' hearts. One of the greatest ways to foster great memories is through play and time together. Happy playing!