Sukkot: "Building" on the Theme with Loose Parts

Just when you're feeling about holiday-ed out, the Jewish month of Tishrei throws in a few more, beginning with Sukkot and culminating in the grande finale of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. The whole month is like the hokey pokey! You're in Shabbos and Yom Tov [holiday] and back out to weekday and school/work mode, then back in and back out. So walking in and out of the house to get to our sukkah seems only fitting. Y described it best, perhaps, when he said "Mommy, this week is outside." He also tried to convince me this morning that I should not brush his hair because "it is Shabbos and yomtov." Touche, little man, touche!






And with the boys both busy at school creating decorations and learning about the holidays, and C still too little to do much more than pose adorably with our handmade felt lulav and esrog set, I wanted our home activities to be a little more child-led and open-ended. I also wanted something that would, eh em, maybe keep the kids a little busier while I get some cooking done... Loose parts play to the rescue! And the best part about building on the theme of, well, building, is that you can use just about anything you have on hand. Man-made objects, nature-made objects, fabric, toys, seasonal decorative craft supplies, even recyclables. You can also decide how much or how little to set out. I tend to err on the side of less is more--it is usually easier to add something in than to reign it all in when you've added too much. It also tends to work better for the children using the materials when there is not so much out because they can really hone in on what is there, how they'd like to use it and how they can creatively expand if and when they choose to.

When selecting what to use in my loose parts play-times, I tend to choose based on my own curiosity. My favorite things are those for which I cannot think of a purpose; I know the children will. This time I did have in mind the idea of building a sukkah, but I also incorporated the current season of Autumn and left the activity entirely open ended. The children could build a sukkah or anything at all. I also wanted to incorporate objects in different sizes and different textures. I started out by setting out some dollhouse tables and chairs, little dolls, some felt and Fall themed fabric swatches, small wood blocks and a wooden salad bowl filled with Fall shaped acrylic gems, tree cookies, cinnamon sticks, artificial leaves and decorative mini Indian corns and apples. Later in the week, I added in a basket of real mini gourds and pumpkins.

These have been used for stacking/building, feeding dolls and stuffed animals, playing floor hockey and creating a pumpkin patch on our living room carpet...

Fabric swatches have been made into backdrops, carpeting and even the roof or schach of a sukkah... 

Felt rectangles in coordinating colors make great backdrops or sometimes help designate a space for a structure to be built...

The dolls, chairs and tables allowed the boys to have guests come eat in a sukkah. S invited some Carebears and My Little Ponies and mini fairies and gnomes from our Nature Table to join in as well.

Smaller loose parts have been used here for everything from schach on top of the sukkah to delicacies served to guests inside of the sukkah. Y asked if he could bring some things in from our Nature Table as well and I was eager to see how he incorporated some collected natural loose parts and even our china tea set into the scene.

Our wood blocks are all second hand and collected from old Jenga sets. They are a perfect size for a smaller play space and easy to store in a basket between play sessions.

I introduced the materials simply by showing the boys that they were there. I said that I had thought about building a sukkah with them but they could be used for anything at all. S got right to work building a sukkah, but then moved on to making a road across the length of our carpet for skateboarding Carebears! He also asked to use a ruler to measure his road. Loose parts play lends itself quite nicely to STEM skills development.

Meanwhile in our art center, I added in some graph paper, some printed sukkah blueprints, and some printed blueprint/sketch templates. In our Writing Center drawers I also stocked some Fall themed paper, stickers and sight word strips (S is very interested in writing words these days). The boys kept quite busy making decorations and pictures for Sukkot as we got ready for the holiday to begin last week. Open ended activities like this help busy adults foster busy children. Don't get me wrong, we've spent a bit of time watching videos here as well! But I feel good that in between it all, the boys are having fun playing, building and creating and all the while delving into the important themes of this holiday season.

Whether you're looking for a quick way to squeeze in some entertainment and learning as we wrap up the Jewish holidays or a great Autumn themed invitation to play, here are few tips I'd recommend as you choose and set up your materials:

• Use what you already have. Don't go shopping (unless you really want to). Objects can be found in nature, around the house, in old/broken toys and games, your recycling bin, your craft supplies,etc.
• Portion control is hard for children (and many adults). You do not need a LOT of each material, especially if you don't have a LOT of children using them at one time. When I set out materials, I keep in mind how much clean up will be involved if they [re: when they] get all dumped out. 
• The use of baskets, bowls or trays helps keep everything organized. That said, I try to be a little loose about organization of loose parts. If you are really set on things being individually sorted, first off--don't look in my wooden salad bowl! And secondly, you might want to minimize the number of different materials you do introduce at one time.

Want to do more?

• Bring loose parts play into your art and writing areas by encouraging children to draw up blueprints of their ideas or record drawings and/or photos of their finished structures.
• Add an art component and use small loose parts to have children make their own mini holiday themed props. These can then be brought back in to the loose parts building space and used in small world play. Last year the boys loved using loose parts to create their own lulavs and esrogim. S even made me an esrog bracelet--which reminds me that I'd better go find that and wear it before the holiday ends!

• If you're feeling quite ambitious and weather/time permits, bring your baskets of loose parts outside to your actual sukkah and have a blast working and creating in the fresh air! This type of activity is a great one for spaces and groups that include members of varying ages.
• On a larger scale, introduce and offer larger sized materials and loose parts for building a play sukkah that can actually be used by children. Cardboard boxes, old blankets/sheets and fabric, recycled tissue boxes and large cardboard tubes, toys like fort magic or cardboard brick blocks, clothes pins (for connecting) can all be used. Outdoors, large sticks and logs and branches can be incorporated.
• Use edible loose parts for building a sukkah that is good enough to eat! You can go the sweets and treats route and use graham crackers, frosting, pretzel sticks and cereals or candies. You can also go the more nutritious route and use fruits and veggies, perhaps some peanut butter and/or humus for sticking things together.
• For a fizzy fun Sukkot themed science experiment, try your hands at some Exploding Esrogim (our holiday themed version of this fizzy lemon volcano experiment). It was a huge hit at a community event I ran with kids of all ages (and maybe also some grownups). You'll just need some lemons (those are your esrogim), baking soda, some additional lemon juice and optional red food coloring. This one can get a bit messy, so it's a great candidate for outdoor play.

• Check out some of our other favorite Sukkot related and Autumn related activities as well!

We are about to hokey pokey back in to Shabbos and holiday mode here, but we'll be back to routine and reality soon! Until then...

Chag Sameach, Happy Fall, and Happy Playing!

A Peek Inside Our Playrooom: September is Here!

September is here, which means S has begun preschool and we're getting ready for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year! Starting preschool is a big deal for S. He was nervous and excited for the big day. Admittedly, so was I! We both handled drop off on that first morning like champs and when he arrived home at the end of the school day, he came running up the stairs, shouting "Mommy! I did it! I went to school!" He is so proud of himself and we're pretty darn proud parents, as well. Y is liking his mornings with just Mommy and loving when S comes home even more! Never have you seen a baby as happy and content as Y is when S is nearby...

...once naps (or attempted naps) are out of the way, afternoons here are more about play and child-led exploration than directed activities. At home, even in our year of home preschooling S, I favored play based learning and a multi-sensory approach to building the skills necessary at this age and stage. S's school is a wonderful blend of Montessori-inspiration, Jewish and secular curriculum and a calm and homey environment. At home, I like to have our playroom set up to inspire play and conversation about activities he enjoys in school. I keep our STEAM Cart  stocked with more structured play and learning activities he can do independently or together with me as he is interested. Our main play areas are set up for more open ended play and exploring, and also geared to include Y (who's having his own version of Mommy & Me Nursery School at home while S is in preschool).

Honey sensory bag--all the fun without any of the sticky mess! Plus these great free printable honey bee lifecycle cards inspire playful learning about bees and the sweet honey they provide for us!

Y is too little to taste the honey this year, but he sure loved squishing it through the bag with his hands (and later his feet) while sneaking in some tummy time!

Since we are nearing Rosh Hashanah, S is learning about the upcoming holidays in school as well as preparing for them with us at home. Including props and toys with a holiday theme allows that gap between school and home to be playfully bridged. I love to see what play is inspired with these decorative apples and pomegranate, and these Rosh Hashanah themed photo blocks I created last year by hot gluing laminated holiday symbols onto wooden blocks. Last week, S took the pomegranate to his toy kitchen and pretended to cut it up and make a pomegranate smoothie! He's enjoyed using the blocks in building scenes with other wooden blocks as well as in dramatic play to "set a table for Rosh Hashanah."



Sensory play is a favorite activity here. I pulled out this parts of an apple dry oat sensory bin from last year and it's getting a whole new life of play and hands-on exploration this year. There are those who prefer not to use food for sensory play, and you can substitute in shredded paper as a base in your favorite shades of apple. However, if stored in a sealed and dry location, these oats definitely last--mine are from a year ago and still fresh. On the other hand, if your little ones play quite a bit with them or they end up getting unplanned additives, you may want to toss the base and replenish it the next time around. In addition to dry oats, we added the following to our Parts of an Apple Sensory Bin:

• decorative/toy apples
• artificial leaves
• cinnamon sticks
• dishes, recycled containers and scoops

Check out some of our previous apple themed posts for more play and sensory activities related to apples!

S remembers visiting a local produce shop last year to pick out different varieties of apples and is excited to make another visit this year in the coming week. We may even sneak in a mad science afternoon experiment if he's interested!



Our art and writing center is also set up with Rosh Hashanah in mind:

In addition to the usual standard art and writing supplies I keep out and some that I rotate and swap, I have some Elul and Tishrei-themed activity sheets from A Jewish Homeschool Blog that I printed off and laminated for use with dry erase markers, some coloring sheets, some apple-colored paints, brushes and a smock at the ready, and our writing bin is stocked...

I included blank cards, outlines of apples, apple shaped sticky notes, stickers and Rosh Hashanah word and photo cards/sentence strips to inspire some holiday card making and letter writing. S will have ample opportunities at school to make more directed art projects. At home, I like for him to have access to materials and more opportunities for process art and self-led pre-writing activities.

 S is very proud of going to school now. We proudly display every doodle and dot that comes home. I love when he tells me what he drew about and he often asks me to write it down for him. I use sticky notes to take his dictation so as not to compromise his original work and then I try really hard to enjoy the display but not save every single doodle forever. We are keeping a binder of special artwork.
Our reading area and felt board are also stocked with books about going to school, books about Rosh Hashanah, books related to our upcoming story stretcher and even a few about getting glasses. At our felt wall, I've set a basket of laminated pictures related to topics S is learning in his classroom this month, like English and Hebrew letters, numbers, colors, shapes, etc. I don't do structured lessons with them, but rather leave them for him to play with and use as he wishes. He loves the felt wall basket right now! And I love that not only does our playroom inspire creative play and learning, but it also encourages S to share with us what he is doing in school.
One of the most common concerns parents of students I taught expressed was that their children did not share with them what they did in school. With the exception of a few, most children when asked by their parents what they did in school responded with "I don't know" or "nothing." After this topic first came up in a parent orientation during my first year teaching here, I decided to create and initiate a curriculum on having conversations. After all, how many adults do you know that also respond to the question "what did you do at work today?" with a "nothing" or "I don't know!" Conversation is an art and it needs to be taught and practiced! I created spaces in my classrooms known as The Conversation Corner. I taught the word "conversation," because little kids love big words. And I taught that conversations have two players: the one who is talking and the one who is listening. Both players play both parts, just not at the same time! I introduced songs to encourage sharing a favorite thing about the day and we worked from sharing one thing we did to sharing one thing and with whom we did it all the way to creating newspaper reports and detailed accounts of a day in the life of a preschooler. I'm pleased to say that my own test subject at the time, S, has done quite well with reporting back to me what he does at school, but like many kids (and adults), he doesn't want to talk about his morning there all afternoon! I know some of what he does because he tells me, some of what he does because it comes home with him and some of what he does I know about because I see it in his play! Those are always my favorite glimpses!

Happy Playing!

#SorryNotSorry: Teaching Children About the Art of an Apology

We have entered the Jewish month of Elul--the final month preceding the High Holiday season. This is a month of "getting ready" from the inside out. We prepare ourselves, our families and our homes for the upcoming new year. You can hear the sound of the shofar blasting from Jewish homes throughout the month of Elul as we get ready to hear it in shul on Rosh Hashanah. We begin to take a personal inventory as we look over the previous year. What areas were we strong in? Where do we need a bit of work? Are there people in our lives with whom we need to make amends? During the month of Elul, we are called upon to be extra kind, extra charitable, to take on extra learning and extra mitzvos. We are encouraged to pray extra hard as this is an auspicious time to have our prayers answered; The King is in the field!

When it comes to bringing down the loftiness of Elul to our children, I favor a hands on approach. We play, read and sing about this special time. I fill our davening basket with some seasonably appropriate props and books. S is having a great time revisiting these toy shofarot we made last Elul! Y is hearing some of the same colorful board books about holidays throughout the Jewish year that S loved when he was a baby. (S is enjoying the opportunity to share them with his brother now and helping me read them!)

We are using (and reusing) a lot of the fabulous free printables from A Jewish Homeschool Blog, including this adapted version of her Elul calendar to track the days on which we hear the shofar:

I love the month of Elul. It has all of my favorite things. The back-to-school season. The anticipation of holidays to come. And a built-in time to teach children about one of the most challenging and rewarding social skills of life: how to say "I'm sorry." I have read, written and talked at length over the past few years about the topic of raising children to be empathetic. Some research indicates that empathy is a character trait children must be taught. To an extent, I agree with that. I also believe that many children naturally feel empathy even from a very young age--perhaps in even a less inhibited form than their adult counterparts. I do feel that children benefit from being shown through modeling how to express empathy. However, after several years of teaching, I made a conscious (and at the time, unpopular decision) to eliminate forced apologies in my classrooms. No more would I require my students to say "I'm sorry" to one another as part of the process of conflict resolution.

In My Classrooms...
How then, did I expect my students to learn empathy? If they did not apologize for their indiscretions, how would they learn to repair damaged relationships or at the very least, learn that their behavior was unacceptable? To be clear--I did not eliminate dealing with and working through classroom conflicts. I merely eliminated the verbal prompt of "now say that you're sorry!" If you work around, live with or remember being a kid, you've probably heard it: "You have to say you're sorry!" "Fine! Sorry!" or, "but I said I'm sorry..." "Yeah, but you didn't mean it!" I vividly remember a day in one of my classrooms when I watched (in amazement) as one of my students walked up to another student simultaneously extending an apology and his left foot to kick his pal in the shin. When I picked my jaw up off the ground, I asked him "what happened?" to which he replied:
"It's ok. I said I'm sorry."
That is an extreme example, of course, but it became clearer and clearer to me that teaching children to say "I'm sorry," was not an effective method of teaching empathy. At its best, it was incomplete and at its worst, it was actually hindering the goal at hand. What I began to replace it with was a combination of modeling and verbal support. Take the kicking example from above. Rather than addressing the child doing the kicking initially (which is a tough one, because you really want to address that), I would get down on the children's level and look at the child who was kicked.
"Ouch! A kick can really hurt!"
I would also then turn to the child who did the kicking and encourage him to see the hurt in his friend.
"Look at his face. He's really sad. What can we do to help?" I was careful to match the level of emotion my students felt, to depict it both facially and in my tone of voice. (I happened to be working at the time with children who needed extra support in this area of social development.) Sometimes the children would have their own ideas in response: "I can say 'I'm sorry,'" was often one of them and in those instances, I supported and encouraged it! Other times, they might come up with sharing a toy or offering a hug or an ice pack. Sometimes they may have wanted to draw a picture or write an apology to their friend. More and more, I became amazed and impressed by how my students could navigate and work through their conflicts with very little of my input and furthermore, the behaviors associated with those conflicts genuinely improved. Sometimes all it would take from me was to allow a space for both parties to state their end of the experience, perhaps repeating their statements as I heard them or just offering a simple "what can you both do to repair the relationship?" These are big words for little people, but they give a sense of value and respect to the importance of building and preserving connections with one another.

But How Do They Learn About Apologizing?
If you eliminate saying "I'm sorry" from conflict resolution, how is it learned? I am a strong believer in teaching at teachable moments. In the midst of a conflict when emotions are on high, most children (and adults) are not ready to learn. It is also important to add here that in times of escalation where children are unsafe (even potentially in the example given above when a child is kicking), it is beneficial to create enough space for safety of all parties, even if that means removing children from an area to regain their calm and revisiting the conflict resolution part later. As adults, this is important, too. If I am not in a space to mentally or physically handle a conflict, I model taking a break and taking the space to calm myself down! And when it is an appropriate time, that modeling comes in handy again. Children learn a great deal from watching us. If I make a mistake in my classrooms, I model apologizing to another teacher or to another student. Nobody is perfect and one of the greatest gifts a child can receive--even greater than an apology in and of itself--is the permission it gives for everyone to make mistakes and be able to try again.

I also love to teach formal lessons on the art of apology as a group. Elul and Tishrei are two Jewish months that truly invite these lessons. Teshuva is the Hebrew word used for this process of feeling remorse and making amends--but what it literally translates to is "return." When we feel remorse and when we make amends, we are able to return--to return to our relationships, to return to a clean slate and to return to our own sense of inner peace. And so, when I teach about apologies, I explain in this way:
Sorry has three parts: It's something you feel, something you say and something you do. I teach my students to say they are sorry when they feel it in their hearts and that beyond that, to think of something to do that will repair the relationship. Some children do not feel comfortable with the verbal part and I think that is fine. Forced apologies are almost never helpful. For one thing, even adults do not always feel sorry in the heat of a conflict, so how is saying it even remotely helpful (or genuine for that matter)? And furthermore, we are all familiar with the adage, actions speak louder than words. Hearing "I'm sorry" may not be as genuine and meaningful to one or both parties in a conflict as a plan to carry things out differently in the future and an action put with that plan. Beyond that, I give education and support about handling, identifying and regulating strong emotions. Emotional regulation is the core muscle of empathy. Without a strong core, everything else suffers.

In My Home...
After speaking to fellow teachers, parents and professionals who work with children about my philosophy on apologies, one question frequently came up. Sure, this seemed to make sense in a classroom, but what about at home? Shouldn't we teach our own children to apologize at home? There are very different challenges to contend with in the home environment--like having respect for parents and sibling relationships. When I first started discussing this issue in professional settings, S was still pre-verbal. His worst offenses at the time were the occasional diaper blowout or projectile spit up. And now, as the mother of a three year old (and five month old), I am here to tell you that at home it's easier said than done!

For one thing, there's my patience. In my classrooms, my patience is almost infinite. At home, my patience is almost infinite until 4PM when it decreases exponentially for the next three hours until bedtime. And as my patience runs low, my attachments run high. It's harder as a parent not to "take things personally." I'm attached to how my children treat us as parents. I'm attached to how they treat each other. I'm attached to how they will treat other children and be treated by them. I am no more eager to see my child be the one that is kicking than I am to see him be the one that gets kicked. And yet, in my home (whether or not it is before 4PM) I am my children's first teacher. This is their safe haven after a day in the world at large and if ever there was a place that they should be able to let out their more colorful sides, this is the one! Sometimes that requires me to take a step back (and maybe a little break as well) to be able to teach at home the same way that I taught in my classrooms. I can tell you in a blog post in and of itself the many things I have done here that don't work, but for the sake of this blog post, here's a few that do:

• Modeling: in language & deed! Our children are always watching. They see us before we've had our morning coffee, they see us burn the supper, they see us step on Legos and, once in a while, they probably see us lose our %$#@. Those are the times they are really watching--and not just to see that we need our coffee, messed up dinner, hurt our foot or occasionally go berserk--they're really watching to see what we do next. And so when it comes to that morning coffee, I will even say "I am really grumpy until I eat and drink something in the morning and I need a little space." And with that "caramelized" quiche, I might say "Oh, I'm so frustrated and disappointed! That's not how I wanted it to come out!" And with that Lego that will have to be surgically removed from my arch, I might say "Ouch! Stepping on a Lego can really hurt and I see a lot of Legos on this floor. I wonder what can be done to make sure that our feet don't get hurt?" (Incidentally, naming the problem usually works infinitely faster and better at getting little hands to come pick up those Legos than the usual direct request to "come pick up these Legos right now before I take them away altogether!) And about that meltdown? That's when I model giving myself a break, removing myself from the situation and returning later to repair the relationships. One of the greatest gifts my own parents gave me in moments of heated conflict was that aspect of return and repair. To date, I remember very few details of those heated arguments but I remember every detail of when they came back to my room to talk about it and work through our apologies. 
• Taking a Break: I personally do not use "time outs" or even "time ins" here as a means of discipline. I do encourage taking a break from scenes or scenarios that are escalating. All children are different. Some do best with adult company and support to help calm down and others (like S) genuinely prefer a little space. As parents, we also sometimes require a bit of space and a little break. (Like before that coffee and breakfast...) Research shows that humans have an innate need to connect with and attach to primary caregivers. Conflict in these relationships ignites that fight or flight response in children and triggers fears of abandonment. It is not reasonable or realistic to assume that we will never have these conflicts. It is also not fair to berate ourselves when they happen. I like to take that airplane motto to heart when it comes to those especially intense moments: make sure you affix your own oxygen mask before assisting others. That sometimes means that I say "mommy needs a break!" It's often better (and easier) to remove myself from the situation to take the space and time to calm down than to remove my equally exasperated offspring. I also try very hard in these moments to remind my son (and myself) that we will come back to resolve this when we are calm. And follow through. 
• Talk about it. A lot. In addition to watching, kids are listening all day. Many of the greatest frustrations of early childhood arise out of a language barrier. I think that we adults often forget that our primary spoken language in the home is not actually our child's first language. Just ask Y who will likely respond with something sounding akin to a pterodactyl. Using language throughout the day to name, work through and express our strong emotions does a great deal toward building our children's emotional vocabulary and resilience. And be honest. It would be great if we always felt peachy keen and chipper, but we don't. And neither do our children. Naming our feelings of frustration, disappointment, irritability, etc, can be helpful for our children (and for us). I still remember recently getting very upset when I went to pour milk into my morning coffee only to discover it had gone bad. We order our milk in bulk from another state a case of 9 half gallons at a time and use a deep freezer for storage since we cannot access the type of kosher milk we use locally. I was so disappointed and hungry and desperate for that coffee just the way I like it (no, I'm not addicted, I could stop anytime, I just don't want to...) that I lost it. I thawed a non-dairy option to create my second-choice of a cup of coffee and gave myself a break to sulk on the couch when S came up and asked me "Do you feel better?" And I didn't feel better yet. I was still mad and sad and disappointed. And I was honest when I told him "No, not yet, but I'm taking a little break and taking some deep breaths and I think I will feel better really soon." 

In the Classroom, In the Home, Here, There and Everywhere:

PLAY! This is really where the most learning happens at this point. Children work through strong emotions, fears and anxieties, test limits and boundaries and express their innermost curiosities and dreams through play. Creating an environment that encourages and allows for open ended dramatic play is a great way to foster this natural tendency. Having clay and dough to pound is a great outlet for an angry fist. Having places to jump and run and bubbles to blow and catch is a great way to let off steam. Play wrestling and rough-housing (when done with safety and supervision) are great ways to release the energy of the day. Drawing fast and vigorous scribbles can put angry feelings on paper instead of into hurtful words. And reading, playing and role-modeling about challenging emotions and conflicts--even getting a little silly with it--are great ways to build an arsenal of tools and supports when it's "not in the moment" so our children can handle the heat of when they are in the moment. 

Elul is a great month to focus both inwardly and outwardly on these helpful techniques and any others that work in your home and/or classroom. Apologizing truly is an art and so, too, is forgiveness. We tend to be infinitely more forgiving of our children's misdeeds than we are of our own--and so today I wish us all the experience of feeling as much empathy toward ourselves as we do for our children, and a season ahead of happy and meaningful playing!

A Little Throw-back Thursday from this time last year!

Funday Friday: A Peek Inside Our Sukkot-themed Playroom Plus a Quick Yom Kippur Wrap-up!

Ah, to sum up the Jewish month of Tishrei in a few simple words: Cook, Pray, Eat, Repeat! Yes, we are busy here bouncing between preparing for holidays or Shabbos, observing holidays or Shabbos and squeezing in as much homeschool learning about them and fun play activities in between. We finished up learning about (and made it through) Yom Kippur early this week with a couple of activities based on the story of Jonah and the Whale that is read each year at Yom Kippur services. I introduced a more kid-friendly version of the story to my son.
(You can find a great one with activities for kids here.)

We added a cute craft and some Mad Science Monday Fun with a waterplay sink or float activity in the kitchen (while I got some cooking for before and after the fast done):

My son colored and decorated the paper plate we used for fins on this balloon whale. Inside (though not so visible) is a little Lego Jonah! My little one had lots of fun playing with the balloon "Big Fishy." He also had fun playing with the new Tinker Toys we got to parent entertain him on Yom Kippur. Actually, my husband also had fun with the Tinker Toys; he built a helicopter and subsequently popped the balloon. Shhh..my toddler hasn't noticed it's gone yet...

So I set up the whales and one toy man to play the part of Jonah. Apparently all the people of Nineveh needed a quick dip--the toddler got all of his other Fisher Price Little People to add to the fun!

And now on to my FAVORITE holiday of the Jewish year. Sukkot is coming! Here's a peek in our playroom at what we're doing so far:

Green scraps of tissue paper, construction paper and cardstock were great for sticking onto clear contact paper for this toddler friendly lulav craft. Adult assistance is required to roll it up at the end and the masking tape can then be recycled into the bottom portion!

Completed contact paper lulav and in-progress esrog made from Model Magic. Once it's dry we will paint it yellow!

For some more independent-play friendly activities and great Sukkah or indoor holiday decorations, a paper plate can be hollowed out in the center and covered over with packing tape or contact paper. Here is an invitation to stick on Autumn colored fabric leaves but the same can be done with paper scraps or tissue paper. To add a protective second layer (especially if your custom is to hang decorations in the Sukkah), you can staple on a second hollowed out paper plate prepared in the same manner over top.

Our custom is not to hang decorations inside the Sukkah, but we love hanging them indoors. The whole family got in on this collage last night to build and decorate our own Sukkah. My husband definitely got into the popsicle sticks (he's very much in the sukkah-building mindset this time of year!) and my toddler was VERY into the glue!

Well, our actual sukkah may not be finished yet, but here's our fabulous play suikkah! My little one has had a lot of fun in here so far!

Here we are today--same homemade felt lulav and esrog!

Here's a little blast from Sukkot past: my little one's first Sukkot with his very own handmade felt lulav and esrog

Think Outside the Box Thursday: Yom Kippur for the Very Young

Every year after the sticky, sweet, honey-drizzled fun of learning about Rosh Hashanah passes, we quickly enter the time to explore a bit of a heavier topic--learning about Yom Kippur. In actuality, both of these holidays are occasions of immense joy that hold a great deal of weight. Yom Kippur, although a seemingly somber day of fasting, asking for forgiveness and committing to improve ourselves, is truly also a day of sweetness. It is a day on which we honor and celebrate the beautiful relationship we have with our Creator and how much stronger a bond can grow when a heartfelt apology is made. This is likely why so much of children's literature on the holiday focuses on the words "I'm Sorry." These two words are so very hard to say and yet so powerful when said with full intent.

Reading Sammy Spider's First Yom Kippur by Sylvia Rouss
Yes, he's in pajamas and his bumblebee hat from Rosh Hashanah...

When I've taught outside of the home, I strongly adhere to a policy that is sometimes seen as unconventional: I do not make children apologize when they are resolving conflicts. When a conflict arises, I model empathy, particularly for a child who may have been hurt. I offer language for strong emotions, such as "wow, you look so sad," or "that must have made you feel so angry," but I do not say "now tell her you're sorry." I do not force children to "hug and make up." How many times in our adult lives do we find ourselves stuck in strong emotions and conflict? Many of those times an apology would go a long way, but what if we don't feel sorry? What if we're not ready yet? How helpful is it to either party to apologize when that apology is not heartfelt? I teach students about apologies. I teach them that "sorry" is something you say, but also something you feel and do. When you apologize for something, you feel remorseful inside and you do differently in the future. I teach them in these moments to ask how they can make it better or I offer ideas of how to do so. I do not force an apology when emotions are escalated because in the heat of the moment, children, too, may not feel ready to say (or hear) those words. In my earlier days of teaching, I became increasingly skeptical of the common tendency to enforce an apology the more frequently I saw children use the words as they simultaneously knocked over a block tower or begrudgingly utter them as a means to move on from an unpleasant interaction. Sure, we have taught them that "sorry" makes it "OK," and when it is a heartfelt apology, it often does help both parties to heal and move forward. But sorry does not always make it OK. Hurts still hurt and what we truly hope to teach our children (and learn ourselves) is the deeper skill of feeling empathy and being able to recognize and respond to our own strong emotions and the strong emotions of those around us. Initially, I cut out the "now say that you're sorry" part of my conflict support as an experiment to see how children might respond differently. Rather than telling them what to do to solve their problem, I asked them what they thought they should do. Many independently came up with "say 'I'm sorry,'" to which I always respond that if it's something they feel inside, it's a wonderful thing to say. Many also inherently came up with ideas to repair their relationships, which coming from their hearts were more meaningful and sustainable than any tool an outsider (myself) could give. My students taught me a great deal about relationship repair and what it truly means to make amends!
Yom Kippur is a wonderful time "outside of the moment" when we can teach our children, even very young ones, about the power of an apology as well as how to name and manage strong emotions. So in addition to telling the story of Jonah and the Whale and the many cute crafts and activities that can accompany that, I also incorporate some activities and literature about feelings. Here's a little peek at what we've been doing so far:

Tashlich, or the ritual casting away of last year's not-so-good-moments into a body of water with fish is typically done on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, but can be done until Yom Kippur. Here's a fun paper plate craft showing a pond full of fishies! Cut the center out of a white paper plate and cover from the back with clear contact paper or packing tape. Blue tissue paper "water" and construction paper fish can be stuck in the center by even very little hands for a fun holiday decoration.

To add another dimension to our learning about Tashlich, we also took a field trip to our local pet shop and brought home a couple of new additions to our tank!

This is a one of many books I love on teaching about anger. We are definitely in the terrific twos here at home where emotions of all sorts run on only one setting: HIGH. Many times those moments are not the ones that are most teachable, so we look for the quieter and calmer times to reinforce and expand on the language and problem-solving skills of dealing with anger and frustration.

Rosh Hashanah: The Buzz on Bees

Apples and honey seem to get all the attention this time of year, but where would we be without the help and hard work of bees? This is a great season to teach about the life-cycle of bees and how they are helpful to us in our environment. At home, my very favorite way to do that is through play and hands-on exploration. Here's a peek at what we're doing this week in between errands and cooking to prepare for the holiday that's less than a week away!

Our local library is always a great resource for books and materials about a particular learning topic. To supplement that, I often search the internet for free printable cards and activities I can use at home. I found some beautiful honey bee life cycle cards here and printed/laminated a set for my son to be able to see individual steps of the life cycle as well as to teach some of the vocabulary around it.

I use a metal ring for easy storage and transport

Just as easily, we can slip them off the ring and work on sequencing

He liked this activity so much he wanted to do it again and again!

My busy little bee has officially picked up on our homeschool morning routine. After breakfast he goes right over to the hook where his school bag is hanging asks to "go school!" That means he wants me to sing our little school song, help him unzip the bag and let him see what I slipped inside the night before! On Monday morning he was very excited to find a book about bees and this bumblebee finger puppet. I don't tend to read all of our non-fiction books word for word with him, but I do show photos and highlight certain words and ideas. Using markers, crayons, do-a-dots and colored pencils in black and yellow, he decorated a piece of poster board that I then cut/stapled into a hat and attached some pipecleaner antennae. It was time for him to become a bee! For some music and movement fun, I put on Rimsky-Korsokov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" in the background, handed him a large pair of tons (found at the Dollar Tree) and let him take off to capture and collect pieces of pollen (large pom poms). The tongs, although still somewhat challenging for my toddler, add an element of fine motor practice to the activity. He equally enjoyed just dancing around like a bee!

I have had quite a few conversations with other teachers lately about how we teach children about shapes. There are many great ways to give over formal lessons about structure, number of sides and corners, etc., and one of my very favorite ways is simply through exposure as related to other themes we are exploring. Here's how we are learning about hexagons with a hands-on activity related to bee hives!

I love using these dry erase folders I found at Target this summer for worksheets and other printed activities I wish to use more than once. I use them along with dry erase markers sometimes, but also with playdough and here, with popsicle sticks. It cuts down a lot on "waste" and allows us to revisit an activity multiple times and in multiple ways.

This website had some cute bee crafts. I have some old bubble-wrap lying around that we will be painting and making prints with for a variation on this one.

We are fortunate to be members at our local science museum that has an amazing exhibit on bees including an active hive and some great kid-friendly hands on materials. This provided a great field trip for us and a fabulous way to extend the theme. Even if we didn't have such a perfect opportunity nearby, I've been amazed this late in the season to still see bees busy at work when we're at the park or botanical gardens. This is a great time of year to spark a conversation when you're out and about. My son is really into discussing his fears lately and has frequently said "bees scary" when we are learning or when we see them in nature. I think it is so important to validate those feelings (rather than saying "no they're not!") and to share the ways in which they also can help us and how we can do our best to stay safe and help them, too. For that reason, when we are singing the ever popular song "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee," I alter the words a bit to eliminate parts that are scary to humans or bees for that matter. 

Here are a couple of other songs and finger-plays we like about bees:

You can add to the fun of these by making your own (or printing out) bumblebee finger-puppets, stick puppets or props to use or even recycling a winter glove and attaching a picture of a bee to each finger with glue or velcro. Hope you all keep busy as bees as you play, learn and prepare for Rosh Hashanah! 

Rosh Hashanah Theme: Preschool Journal Prompts

Here's a glimpse into how we've used our preschool journal to incorporate the Rosh Hashanah theme. My son is enjoying using his journal more independently and leading many entries with his own ideas and expression. Sometimes, I sit with him and we use it together. It continues to be a great tool to practice fine-motor skills, pre-writing, building language and vocabulary and even developing mathematical skills through charting and counting (as you will see below).

Happy writing and recording!

We've talked and explored through books and actual fruit how apples come in a variety of colors. Here I would provide crayons, markers or colored pencils in yellow, red, and green. An older child may be able to match the color to the associated apple. Younger journal writers may have fun exploring the writing medium and coloring with shades of all three colors.

Journals are a great place to store cute songs, poems and action rhymes related to themes we explore. Along with stickers I might also provide crayons or something to color with. As an extension, you can count how many apples are "up in the tree" or "below on the ground" or "all together." This is a great way to incorporate mathematical concepts into journaling together.

As a theme-related field trip, we visited a local produce shop to pick out a variety of different apples to taste and compare. This is a great activity to talk about the senses of sight and taste (among others, of course!) and we will use color coded stickers to make a very basic chart of which ones we each try. At the end we will pick a favorite. Older children could chart based upon their favorites, or which ones taste sweet, sour, are crunchy or soft, etc. We will definitely end up with more apples than mouths to eat them all at once. The remainder, along with some baking apples bought especially for the purpose will be used to make homemade applesauce together. If you do not plan to cook or immediately use leftovers, you may want to invite some additional tasters for this activity or reduce the number of varieties tried!