Funday Friday: Bereishit (Creation) Theme Weekly Round-up

Over the last several weeks, especially with the onslaught of holidays here, I've found our Fridays are best spent in a more low-key manner. Rather than following a typical homeschooling routine of activities, I usually set out some Shabbat themed favorites on the table before my son wakes up. We listen to music, we finish up any projects left over from the week before and we get in the mood and prepare for Shabbos. I also designate these days as Field Trip Fridays. We get out plenty during the week, whether to playdates, story times, parks or errands. I save longer trips like museum visits for Friday mornings. It adds a special flavor to the day as we get ready to welcome Shabbos into our home and also ensures that my son has plenty of running and playing time before busy household preparations set in. (Then I don't feel quite as guilty if we pop on a favorite video for him so we can cook and clean!)

We are wrapping up our weekly theme of learning about Parshas Bereishis, the story of Creation. I really do love this theme as it promotes so many methods of exploring, learning and playing. Jewish philosophy teaches us that the purpose of world--of all of the elements and creatures that G-d created and continues to create in each moment--is for us. Our purpose here is to infuse G-dliness into the world through mitzvot, through connecting with our Creator and performing positive deeds. This is a lofty idea we can bring down to even young children through involving them in acts of kindness each day. This was an element I also tried to include in our learning this week. Here's a round-up of some of our favorite activities from this week's theme.

Happy Friday & Shabbat Shalom!

 There are a lot of great arts & crafts projects to help teach and represent the days of Creation. We loved working on these over the last 2 weeks and seeing them displayed in our dining room.

Now all that's left is Yom Shabbat!

We took learning about the creation of birds and fish to the next level. We made a trip to our local pet store to look at fish and birds and to purchase some bird seed to make a treat for the birds outside as the weather gets cooler.

We didn't want our pet fish to feel left out of the activity either, so my son helped feed them as well!

We used a few pine cones we had collected for our nature observation station, some peanut butter and a plastic spoon and "shmeared" the peanut butter over the pine cones. 

Next we rolled them in the birdseed...

And hung them on a bush out front! If we're lucky (and quiet enough), we may get to observe some feathered friends enjoying the fruits of our labor!