Chanukah, Oh Chanukah, Come Play, Learn and Create!

The excitement is building as we continue learning and playing about Chanukah. And a lot of learning is happening, too! I sometimes feel like the Sneaky Teacher--and rather than hiding vegetables and protein in my child's favorite foods like my culinary counterpart (don't get me wrong, I do plenty of that, too!) I am constantly finding creative ways to sneak educational content into really fun play activities. This is a lot easier than you'd think--so much of the way children learn about the world around them is through play. Early childhood years are vital for this, and truly, play should be a part of life throughout the ages and stages! (Yes, even grown ups!) Some skills and areas of development come more naturally to a child and are more appealing while others may need a little nudging and creativity to foster. Getting creative and playful can help inspire interest in areas where a little learner may be hesitant or reluctant. And even the most eager little ones benefit from learning content through a variety of methods and experiences.

My little guy happens to LOVE talking about and identifying shapes. Whether it's in books, toys and manipulatives or experimenting with his doodles and scribbles, he is very drawn to geometry! But an interest in geometry and other mathematical concepts needn't mean all work and no play--check out this very simple invitation to create a dreidel shape out of magnets! The same activity can be done using paper and collage, blocks, or even sponges and paint. My toddler had a lot of fun copying the dreidel shape and exploring his own geometric creations with triangles, squares and these skinny little rectangles!

We continue learning letters in both English and Hebrew even as holidays approach. Learning the Hebrew letter YUD included some hands-on fun (literally)! We start our alephbet lessons with a familiar routine no matter what our activity is. Repeating songs and routines helps to set the stage for what we are learning and supports comprehension of new material as well. After singing our introductory songs and meeting our new letter, we learned a Hebrew word to go with it--YADAYIM, or hands. My son had fun doodling on this coloring page--and even coloring pages and coloring books have educational value! He is practicing lines, squiggles and fine motor movements that will lead to drawing shapes and eventually letters. He also had a lot of fun using his yadayim in washable ink-pads to make a hand-print menorah in his journal. 

Hand-print menorahs can be a great hands-on play activity for the whole family, as seen here in a
family art project we did last Chanukah!

And speaking of art, in this process art activity the world of painting and science came together as we explored painting with water colors and oil! I set out liquid watercolor paints and some vegetable oil in an ice cube tray. We do not have fancy liquid watercolor paints! I actually just found a liquid set at the dollar tree and figured I couldn't go wrong either way. They are not an amazing quality art product but definitely served their intended function here! Prior to beginning, I cut a dreidel shape from white cardstock. If you have watercolor paper on hand, that would be great, but it is not a necessity. I chose a thicker paper since I knew this would be a wet project! It would be a good idea to use a tray or foil pan beneath your paper to collect splatters and excess and to cover your work space. Some painting activities capture my son's attention for a few minutes, but this one kept him busy and engaged for almost half an hour! He loved exploring the paint colors and mixing them/transferring them inside the ice cube tray. He loved experimenting with different types of brush strokes and two different brushes on the paper. He loved the element of seeing how just like in some of our other experiments with oil and water (and stay tuned for more on that in the weeks to come), that on paper, oil and watercolor paints do not mix. 

Even cleaning the brush between uses in a glass filled with warm, soapy water (to help cut the grease of the oil) and dabbing it on a paper towel was a great learning opportunity and helped develop an important practical life-skill. Learning happened all around and play was at the forefront.

Happy Playing and (Sneaky) Learning!