Winter Story Stretcher: "Snowmen at Night" By Caralyn and Mark Buehner

I don't know how I missed author and illustrator team, Caralyn and Mark Beuner's Snowmen book series until this year, but if you haven't seen them yet, run--don't walk--to your local library! Snowmen at Night is a delightful story written in captivating rhymes that tells the imaginative story of what snowmen do all night long while we're fast asleep. It's always a wonder to come outside in the morning and see your snowman flopping to one side or missing a few parts. S's knowledge of snow science helped him solve the mystery of our own snowman as he melted, but it's still fun to imagine a world where snowmen sled, skate and have snowball fights and baseball games only to return, slightly disheveled to their posts in our yard by morning.

It's so much fun to imagine about this that I thought S in particular would enjoy making his own Snowman at Night story and both boys would love to illustrate it. Most times when we do a story stretcher activity, I begin with the book. But with a book we have already read or sometimes even one we haven't, it's fun to go in reverse order. On the morning we were going to take Snowmen at Night beyond the book, I set out our theme related art activity for Table Time.

The boys were greeted in the morning by 5 little snowmen on display with our target story and black card stock, Crayola Metallic FX Crayons (great for dark backgrounds) and a selection of white crayons, oil pastels and chalk for creating their own nighttime snowmen scene. I also set out some fun snowman and star stickers. Both boys surprised me with their response to this activity. Y loved sticking and re-sticking the snowman face stickers around his paper. He then took a white oil pastel and drew dots of "snow" all around the page. S expressed some anxiety about being "able to draw" a snowman and asked me to do it for him. He does not typically ask for help with artwork when we do more process oriented art. I think the formality of more "directed" drawing threw him off at first--and that was even before he got to the table! I wondered then if I should not have put out my own version on display, but it didn't seem to bother him once he sat down. In fact, with a quick statement of reassurance that there are many right ways to draw about and tell a story and that each person's picture would be different and unique, he sat down and got quite busy. He told a story as he drew and used his stickers about snowmen going to space. He then wanted to know if we had any rocket ship stickers he could use (we did-with robots on them, too!) and added that to his illustration and story.

S was so delightfully proud of his work and his story that he asked to bring it as "show and tell" to our story stretcher time on the rug. Y brought along our snowmen to hear the story as well! Both boys shared their version of the story that I took down as dictation on separate paper. We hung their finished illustrations and dictations on our "museum wall," a space for family artwork along our staircase. Next, we read the story together.

This was a shorter stretcher than some we do. Sometimes if you're short on time, one simple activity is really all you need. If you'd like to do more, incorporate some science and sensory play with Fizzy the Snowman!

We also love this cute little winter fingerplay, sung to the tune of "10 Little Indians:" (note: this is not my own song and I also do not know to whom credit for it is due, but you are welcome to enjoy it as much as we do!)

Five Little Snowmen

Five little snowmen sitting in the snow
Waiting for the winter winds to blow
Along came the sun, and what do you know
Slush, slush, slush and away one goes!

Four little snowmen sitting in the snow...
(continue until the last snowman melts and...)
Slush, slush, slush and away he goes!




You can sing this song with your fingers as snowmen, but I have loved using handmade stick puppets in the past or, this year, little plush snowmen I found at Dollar Tree and a makeshift sun puppet from some recycled artwork we made over the summer. I remember how much S loved this song as a baby and toddler (and he still does). Now it is Y who eagerly carries over the snowmen in their basket, our sun puppet and a laminated song sheet (even though we all have it memorized) so we can sing and act it out again and again!

Whether your world outside is white and wondrous or your only snowmen are indoor versions right now, I hope you're enjoying our Winter Break Story Stretchers so far. We will be back soon with another one and some other great Winter themed play activities to keep you busy at home or the classroom.

Until then, stay warm (not too warm if you happen to be a snowman) and...

Happy Playing!

A Peek Inside Our Playroom: Thanksgiving Theme

Y's first induction into our Thanksgiving Wall of Fame

Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday that we don't actually celebrate! Well, we kind of do...both my husband and I love the traditional Thanksgiving foods, but neither of us wants to have a huge meal on a Thursday and then again for Shabbos. My husband's birthday is also around Thanksgiving, so we usually have a Thanksgiving themed Shabbos somewhere in there. Last year while I was homeschooling S, we had a lot of themed fun and learning and enough paper plate crafts by the end of it to serve an entire Thanksgiving meal! This year, he is learning about Thanksgiving in his preschool and at home, I've added in some themed fun to our play area for the boys to explore. After a morning of more structured activity, I like our afternoons to be more child-led when it comes to S--and this truly seems to be the ideal pace for him as well. Y has been making leaps and bounds in development lately and is especially eager to play, engage in songs and action rhymes and even try his hand (and, um mouth) at arts and crafts!

Our Thanksgiving Wall of Fame--with a couple of favorites from last year and a lot of restraint on my part to leave space for new creations and not hang up EVERY single paper plate Thanksgiving craft known to man...

Both boys really love the fingerplay "Five Little Turkeys" from DLTK's Crafts for Kids. Last year I made a set of turkey stick puppets to use along with it:

Five Little Turkeys

Five little turkeys standing at the door,

One waddled off, and then there were four.

Four little turkeys sitting near a tree,

One waddled off, and then there were three.

Three little turkeys with nothing to do,

One waddled off, and then there were two.

Two little turkeys in the morning sun,

One waddled off, and then there was one.

One little turkey better run away,

For soon it will be Thanksgiving Day.

Our Art Center has had a major revamp:

Ta da!

This time around, I included a combination of more "project" inspired art and more "process" inspired art along with a variety of materials to use in combination or on their own. This set up is aimed to be child-led in that S can choose what activity he'd like to try and independently access, bring it to his table, carry out the activity and bring it back when he is done. Our "U-pick a Project" basket is stocked in the middle cube with Thanksgiving craft kits leftover from last year. Other cubes are more open-ended...

With our playdough tray and cutting practice turkey collage tray, I included laminated photos of suggested creations on velcro. I showed S how to remove and replace the pictures if he wants to bring to the table with him when he uses the trays. I also made sure to tell him that this is one way to use the materials, but there are many ways to use them and he can use them in his own way when he's working with them.

Our invitation to create a playdough turkey is a favorite worth repeating from year to year. And if you've even found yourself with a collection of unused brown playdough from party packs (or a toddler-inspired color mixing project), here's your chance to put it to good use! That along with some orange card-stock beaks, googly eyes, pipe cleaner legs and feathers are all the materials you'll need to build an adorable little Thanksgiving turkey! Sub in some Model Magic clay for a project you can allow to dry and decorate your table, or just remove the parts and put it back on the shelf for your next play session.

S loves anything that involves scissors and cutting practice. He's early in his cutting skill development so cutting the edges of these feather shapes is the perfect way to combine his love of the activity with some actual function and intention. You really can't go wrong with feathers...even if you cut all the way across! I included some pre-cut brown bodies, orange beaks, a red waddle, a glue stick and some eye stickers.

Our invitation to create a turkey collage is a the perfect combination of recycling and craftiness. I had some pre-cut turkeys from last year and I have several ziplock sandwich bags full of loose craft parts and interesting papers and ribbons. Throw in some glue and a stash of colorful feathers and you're ready to go.

The materials on our shelves can be used in a variety of combinations as well. In addition to the specific trays and activities, I also included some of our favorite writing and drawing materials. Slick stix and do-a-dot markers are always popular, and also friendly to the smaller set of hands in the family as they are thick enough for fist-gripping and easily mark on paper. A couple of pencil cups filled with markers and crayons are visually inviting to S whereas keeping them in tubs or bins often leaves them out of sight and out of mind. 

I included a tray of do-a-dot activity sheets that can be used with these stickers, with bingo dabbers, or even with magnets or mini erasers if you prefer a re-usable version. The "T is for Turkey" page is available for print from Making Learning Fun, where you can find a variety of great Thanksgiving themed activities.

• You may also like these Thanksgiving Dot Painting Free Printables from The Resourceful Mama.
• I also love the free printable Autumn Matching Cards available at Montessori For Everyone. S has particularly enjoyed playing games together especially on Shabbos and once you print and laminate these, they are perfect for playing Memory, Match-it, or What's Missing?

S really loves using our felt wall to play about school when he's at home. I've caught him over there more than once doing "calendar time." It does a teacher-mommy proud! He actually told me recently he wants to be a teacher when he grows up. He thinks that means he will get to go inside a school bus... In the mean time, I pulled out this old Thanksgiving poem fill in the blank activity from my teaching days and set it up by his felt wall along with one of our favorite DIY Thanksgiving games from last year, "Yes, Please and No, Thank You!" S is definitely not reading all of this yet, but I love a print rich environment. We can use it together and he can also enjoy a chance to play at being The Teacher.

To make your own version of "Yes, Please and No, Thank You," you will need to glue (or draw) some pictures of common Thanksgiving foods onto paper plates. You will also need a couple of sentence strips with the phrases "Yes, please!" and "No, thank you!"  written on them. When playing with one "player," he or she can sort all the plates into foods he /she likes/wants to try and those he/she does not like or wish to try.  It's a great way to practice good table manners before the actual meal! With multiple players, children can take turns choosing a food to say "yes, please" to or "no, thank you." You can also practice common table manners like having a child ask "can you please pass the___?" or "would you like to try some____?" 

Even our deep freezer got a Thanksgiving-themed makeover! Indeed, it makes a perfect child-accessible vertical work surface. I brought out an old pin-the-feather-on-the-turkey poster I made a couple of years ago and added in an envelope for spare feathers. I also found this fun magnetic turkey set at the Dollar Tree. 

While Thanksgiving crafts and cooking are two of my favorite things about this season, my very favorite is the opportunity to slow down and enjoy time playing and connecting as a family. I love having a few days together to move at a slower pace, to let the little ones take more of a lead and to admire their sense of wonder, joy and creativity. Whether you "officially" celebrate Thanksgiving or not, hope these days inspire a sense of gratitude and joy and plenty of time for happy playing!

Playing About Rosh Hashanah: The Baby Edition

Just because infants are too young to taste the honey this time of year doesn't mean they're too young to get in on the fun and sweetness of the Rosh Hashanah holiday! Here's a peek at some of the ways Y is exploring the symbols and songs of the season (and a throwback to S's baby days as well)!

Playing in the baby stage is definitely more interactive than in the toddler/preschooler stage. Play sessions are short and sweet, especially as Y gets used to his new glasses. As he is able to experience and do so much more, he gets tuckered out quickly! Our play sessions usually involve some lap-sit songs/rhymes (check out a few of our favorites at the bottom), some tummy time or seated play and some sort of toy/prop to explore (and mouth!). S also enjoys playing with Y and showing him the ropes of big boy play!

The boys' Safta and Saba sent us these great Rosh Hashanah play sets by KidCraft and Rite Lite. They are available from Amazon or in many Judaica shops. The plush set is perfect for the baby stage and the sturdier, wooden set is great for older ones. Here's a candid peek (or preview) of both boys simultaneously spilling their grape juice! With Y individually, I like to let him practice picking toys out of a basket and singing songs or rhymes using them as props. There's certainly no need to purchase a toy for the holiday as you can DIY it pretty easily (and inexpensively) as well!

This honey sensory bag is a squishy and fun way to explore honey without any of the sticky mess or risk of botulism. Because it is in a plastic bag, adult supervision is a must! Simply add some honey to a ziplock bag and seal with a layer of duct tape or masking tape to prevent leaks. 

 Y loved exploring it on his tummy and squishing it with his hands. I often place a mirror in front of him during tummy time play sessions so he can see what he's playing with from another perspective. It also helps to get right down there with your baby at this stage and interact. From an assisted seated position (or independent sitting position if your baby is already sitting on his own), Y can squish that honey with his feet as well.

So much is learned through colors and textures at this stage. This felt board Rosh Hashanah sensory wall is made from a selection of felt apple shapes and felt/burlap shofar shapes for Y to touch and experience. The burlap shofar is glued to a piece of recycled corrugated cardboard with velcro on the back. If your baby is already pulling up/propping up on surfaces, you can place these on a flat surface to lure her over to grab and explore them.

 S loved these photo blocks as a baby (and still does). I've found a variety of wooden blocks at secondhand stores and by printing photos and pictures of holiday symbols and ritual items, we were able to inspire some holiday themed block building and dramatic play. Even tiny hands can enjoy these!

A lot of S's "toys" as a baby were collected secondhand store finds and household items mixed with his small "actual" toy collection. With the baby stage I love to present themed items in a discovery basket. This basket a much younger version of S was exploring contained items in the theme of Rosh Hashanah--some items from his plush Shabbat set, a toy challah, toy apples (and even a real apple or two), a "sensory bottle" (jar) of honey and even a honey wand. He loved it! 


Discovery baskets can be presented for seated play or items can be hung from an activity mat for babies to kick and swat while on their backs. We had fun decorating and laminating this printable Rosh Hashanah Mobile from A Jewish Homeschool Blog.

 S gets a real kick out of "helping" Y to color and paint at this stage. Y sometimes needs some extra help not eating or scrunching our artwork, but S is very patient and enjoys the leadership role. Y loves being involved and especially enjoys playing right along with S.

It's a busy time of year, so sometimes those few hours that S is in school and I am home with Y are filled with a mad rush to get cooking and household tasks done in preparation for the holidays. Sometimes Y's play sessions involve a bumbo seat or activity mat in the kitchen on which to explore some pots and pans while I cook and bake. By filling his world with opportunities to play and explore, I am confident he is learning so much even at this very young age. Conversation is also hugely important. Talking about what I'm doing, singing songs and engaging in fingerplays are great ways to build vocabulary at this pre-verbal stage. Here are a few of his (and my) favorites for the season:

Dip the Apple in the Honey
(t.t.t.o. Oh My Darlin' Clementine)

Dip the apple in the honey
Make a bracha loud and clear
L'shana tova u'metukah
Have a happy and sweet new year!

The Shofar in the Shul
(t.t.t.o. The Wheels on the Bus)

The shofar in the shul goes toot, toot, toot
Toot, toot, toot
Toot, toot, toot!
The shofar in the shul goes toot, toot, toot
On Rosh Hashanah morning!

Here is a Beehive
Here is a beehive
(close fists together)
But where are the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees.
Here they come, creeping out of the hive
One, two, three, four, five!
(Pop all five fingers out, one at a time)
Bzzzzzzzz!
(Tickle your baby or wiggle your fingers)

Happy and Sweet Rosh Hashanah Playing!

Short Stretch: "Stone Soup" & Our Rockin' Round-Up

It's a Thursday afternoon as I write this post. We've had a fun and busy week here playing at home through the theme of our first summer Story Stretcher, Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor. With nicer weather than expected, we've enjoyed some extra time outdoors and even at some local parks. Now it's time to start thinking about getting things done for Shabbos tomorrow evening and still make time to entertain the busy boys in this house. This is the perfect time to insert a short stretch story stretcher--and maybe even one that will recruit an extra set of hands in the kitchen as we get ready for Shabbos. Stone Soup by Marcia Brown is the perfect candidate for the job!
This is a classic, award-winning tale of three hungry soldiers returning from the wars, seeking a meal and place to rest. When the townspeople, who are afraid of strangers are a bit less than hospitable, the clever soldiers give them a recipe fit for royalty and a feast they will not soon forget! This book is a great compliment to our rock theme this week and can inspire some great play activities, too.

I introduced our book during breakfast in the morning, bringing it to the table to read with S and Y. While S is almost always up for reading together, this book is a bit lengthy and I felt the table would be an ideal setting to read it together before beginning our busy morning. He has loved learning some new vocabulary this week related to rocks--like pebble and stone. Language development happens so naturally through reading together! S automatically took to his kitchen set after breakfast for some Stone Soup themed dramatic play. He got out his pots and a spoon, grabbed a rock from our shelf and got busy!

The proof is in the pudding here--story stretchers don't always need to involve preparation or direction from adults. Children naturally expand upon literature through play! I was certain he would enjoy our afternoon plans just as much when I invited him to the kitchen with me to help make our Shabbos soup, Stone Soup style!

But with such beautiful weather outside, we took to the play garden first to make some Stone Soup in the water table. Adding some rocks, toy dishes, a ladle and bowls, maybe even some play food if you wish, can turn your outdoor water table into the perfect setting for making Stone Soup. If your weather is less than cooperative, water play is fun in the kitchen as well or even in the bathtub.

One of our favorite Shabbos songs to sing is this one, to the tune of "London Bridges" about making soup!

Shabbat Soup Song
Put the chicken in the pot (hold arms out in a circle, like a pot)
Stir it up, nice and hot (stir your "pot")
Get it ready for Shabbat,
For Shabbat!

Children can insert their own ideas for ingredients and it's particularly fun to include props like a pot and pretend food/pictures of foods to add or to include hand motions.

You can build letter recognition by making alphabet soup
in the tub, water table or a plastic bin!

In the real kitchen,S loves to help wash vegetables for soup.I set out the veggies I needed washed in a large bowl for S along with a few carefully selected stones for our stone soup. Even once the veggies were recruited to the pot, S continued to have fun washing his stones! He can also help with my assistance/supervision to peel and cut veggies for soup and add things to the pot. He is always eager to get his step stool even if to just be alongside me as I cook! Including little ones in the kitchen when you have to be there anyway is a great way to feel a bit less lonely in there and spend time together. It definitely takes a bit longer with more hands in this case, but I'd rather entertain those little hands in the kitchen than have to run out to keep them out of mischief every few minutes! Helping to cook the foods we eat also builds skills in math/measuring, science, reading, following recipes, fine motor skills like pouring, peeling, cutting, scooping and mixing--and sometimes means that the pickier eaters in the family will try what we're serving for dinner. The added bonus on this occasion was that I was able to get done what I had to get done while connecting it to our theme and spending a bit of time with my little campers!

We've had a great week stretching out the story Everybody Needs a Rock. As we move on to our next story stretcher theme, I think S will like to continue playing with some of the materials from this one. Rocks are a great summer theme to explore! Here are some of the other activities we especially enjoyed this week:

Rocks to pebbles, pebbles to sand, I hold a million tiny rocks inside my little hands! We had a lot of fun observing sand through magnifying glasses, burying and discovering little rocks and pebbles and playing! And then we had a lot of fun cleaning up...

Chalk is a rock!

Graphite works just like our pencils!

Building our names with letter rocks

Rock n'Roll Painting with red paint on the letter R

We rocked out to some great music while rolling the rock through the paint inside the shoe box!

S loved using rocks in his water table--with and without water!

For some more great reading on rocks, we really loved these books:

• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
• A Rock is Lively by Diana Hutts Aston
• If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet by Leslie McGuirk
• Stone Soup by: Marcia Brown
• If You Find a Rock by Barbara Hirsch Lember and Peggy Christian

This little guy is a big lover of rocks!

We'll be back next week with our next Story Stretcher theme. Until then...

Happy Playing!

Shavuot Theme: "Little Har Sinai"

We are getting ready for Shavuot here! We have been diligently counting the Omer as we work our

way up to this sweet holiday that celebrates our receiving of the Torah on Har Sinai some thousands of years ago. And even though the Jewish people received the Torah so very long ago, the sweet foods, beautiful flowers and special meaning behind this holiday remind even the very young (who are so integral to this holiday) that every Jewish soul was present at Har Sinai when we first received the gift of the Torah--and so, too, do we receive this gift anew each year at Shavuot! I love to introduce the holiday with a beautiful children's book, When The World Was Quiet by Phyllis Nutkis. The story line is simple and quaint and the illustrations are gorgeous as it beautifully depicts how the whole world became absolutely silent when the Jewish people received the luchos (Ten Commandments) for the first time. My older son (whom I'll start referring to as "S" to simplify things a bit now that we've got two little ones here!) absolutely loves when I read it in an especially quiet voice!

On the louder end of the spectrum is a playful song that tells all about the unique characteristic of humbleness that Har Sinai possessed--a quality that Jewish people ought to also portray--which was the reason for Hashem choosing to deliver His gift of the Torah on a small mountain, rather than one that was much bigger or taller. Last year Shavuot fell just after I finished teaching out of the home and we began our "Mommy & Me Camp" at home with a unit on this theme. S was just old enough to start recognizing and singing songs and used to request this one repeatedly. "Sing bum, bum, bum!" he would shout again and again from the car seat! (I always sing the sounds of a tuba playing and that's what he first caught on to.)

The song "Little Har Sinai," has been adapted from Professor Green in the album "Professor Green and the Simcha Machine:

The littlest Har Sinai...

Little Har Sinai

"I am a mountain so very high [reach hands up]

I can reach way up to the sky

The Torah should be given on me

Because I am as tall as can be, you see!"

"Oh, no! I am so very wide [reach hands wide]

I can stretch from side to side

The Torah should be given on me

Because I am as big as can be, you see!"

But Little Har Sinai just stood there and sighed [sigh]

"I know I'm not tall, I know I'm not wide,

The Torah can't be given on me

Because I am as small as can be, you see..."

But from all the mountains

Hashem chose Sinai

Because he did not hold himself high,

He had such gentle and humble ways

And from this we learn that humbleness pays!

Mountain stick puppets made with construction paper & google eyes. This is my own teaching set, however if you are leaving them to littler hands, I'd recommend a run through the laminating machine!

We love doing this song with the associated hand motions. I have also in the past created large mountain shapes from poster board that the children can hold up during each part of the song. My favorite accompanying activity, however, is to have each of my students create their own stick puppets to use along with the song. During the last two years, S has enjoyed holding my stick puppets. Last year, he even helped decorate my class set of poster board props.

Little brother (whom I'll now refer to as "Y") is filling in the role of holding puppets and already loves this song when S and I sing together! S is now old enough to decorate and create his own stick puppets and had a great time using our Kwik Stix to color each of the mountains and a little Torah to attach to Har Sinai. I helped him cut out the shapes afterward (older artists can do this step independently) and we ran it through the laminating machine for durability. I offered him flower stickers to decorate his Har Sinai since Hashem rewarded Har Sinai with beautiful flowers for being so kind and humble; he was not interested in that part and just wanted to get our puppet theater out and sing the song! 

S busy at work, decorating his soon-to-be stick puppets at Table Time

Finished product, with craft sticks taped to the back of laminated pictures... 

I always tape the Torah to a folded strip of card-stock so it can be propped up as you get to the verse about Hashem choosing to give the Torah on Har Sinai. It's always such a pleasant and playful surprise for your audience and young puppeteers also enjoy using this feature!

Humility is a challenging character trait to teach to young children. It is developmentally not at all natural at this age. As children grow and develop, we certainly want them to be able to attain inner feelings of success and confidence as they achieve new skills and complete challenging tasks. That said, we also want to instill in them that our talents and skills are all G-d given and that we ought also to leave room for others to feel confident and proud, whether or not we are all skilled and proficient in the same areas. This song is a kid-friendly way to demonstrate this character trait and such a fun one for the holiday of Shavuot. 

Both S and Y love singing and acting out "Little Har Sinai" in their own way!

Children can also enjoy other extension activities to learn about and create their own Har Sinai experience. You can use furniture, cushions and fabric in your house to create your own mountain and invite your children to decorate it with handmade or artificial flowers. They can use a step stool to "climb" Har Sinai and receive a (toy) Torah! While teaching, I have even incorporated a long term project of creating individual siddurim with the students and had them celebrate receiving it before Shavout by ascending a model Har Sinai. Another sweet activity this time of year is to bake cupcakes or a cake together (or in advance) and let the children decorate their own edible Har Sinai using green icing, graham cracker luchos (tablets for the Ten Commandments) and any other beautiful and tasty decorations you'd like.

S enjoyed this playdough invitation to create Har Sinai last year:

I included some homemade playdough we dyed green and scented with lavender oil along with a selection of artificial flowers, leaves and glass gems (all from the Dollar Tree) on a dip tray and he had a great time playing and decorating! I look forward to bringing out this activity again this year and seeing where he takes it. He is quite into playdough nowadays and can spend a good chunk of time working at it! 

Join us next time to see a fun and sweet themed sensory bin idea for Shavuot! Until then....

Happy Playing!

A Camping We Will Go! And More Lag B'Omer Fun...

Lag B'Omer, literally translated as the 33rd day of the Omer count, marks the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the Zohar. This great mystic and sage instructed his disciples to mark the day of his death as a day of joy and celebration and indeed, to this day, the 18th day of the Jewish month of Iyar is a day of festivity in Jewish communities worldwide. This day also coincides with the end of a plague that struck Rabbi Akiva's disciples who were mysteriously passing away after quarreling and being disrespectful toward one another. On Lag B'Omer, they ceased to argue and so ended the terrible plague. On Lag B'Omer now, Jewish people celebrate with outings, bonfires, and community wide celebrations of Jewish unity. It is a wonderful time to teach our children about ahavas yisrael (loving their fellow Jew) and to play about the themes of this festive day.


There are many fun play and learning themes in Lag B'Omer. This year, I focused our experience on a camping theme and the idea of friendship/kindness. Join us for some fun dramatic play, a "fireside" singalong, a playful Yoga sequence and a cute craft!

 We began our day by pitching our play tent in the living room. Had we not been experiencing a few rainy, cool days outside, this lesson would have been a fabulous one to take to the yard! My little guy was super excited to play inside! He started by collecting some favorite books to read together inside and then it was time to build our campfire. There are many toys and props that can be used to build a play campfire and if you have a wooded area that is accessible, collecting sticks and twigs can be a lot of fun! It was rather soggy outside, so we used recycled cardboard tubes for logs and kindling and some tissue paper "fire." He had a lot of fun setting up and stacking the "wood" and even created his own little gross motor activity by using his feet to move them from place to place! We sat together around the "campfire" and sang some of our favorite Lag B'Omer and Camping themed songs and action rhymes:

We began with a couple of songs about friendship...
Amar Rabbi Akiva

Amar Rabbi Akiva, amar Rabbi Akiva
V'ahavta l'reacha kamocha (2x)

Shelli shelach, shelach shelach
Shelli shelach, shelach, shelach
Zeh klal gadol batorah!

Rabbi Akiva says, Rabbi Akiva says
To love your friend like yourself (2x)

What's mine is yours, I share with you
If you need me, I'll come through
This is the basis of our Torah!

Make New Friends

Make new friends, but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold!
A circle is round and has no end
That's how long I'd like to be your friend!

Next, we sang a fun little song about camping...

You can sing and adapt your own version of this song
to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"

This was the perfect segue into our camping themed Yoga sequence. I incorporated some of our favorite Yoga poses into a camping themed story:

We begin in a boat pose [sit in a v-shape balancing on your sit bones with legs and arms raised] and row our boat across the lake. You can sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" as you paddle along. Soon we arrive at our campsite! There are lots of trees [tree pose--stand with one leg balanced against your other shin or thigh and arms out, raised or gathered in the center for balance] and big rocks [child's pose--curl forward over your knees like a little rock] and a place just perfect for pitching our tent [downward dog pose--bend from the waist with feet and hands hip width apart creating a tent shape]. It is already getting dark and the moon [moon pose--stand up with arms raised above head and hands clasped and stretch to one side; repeat on other side] is shining brightly. We must build a campfire so we can cook our dinner! Once the fire is built, we sit around it to roast some hot dogs and sing some camp songs. [Sit in butterfly pose with feet touching or criss-cross and sing a favorite camp song.] Once the hot dogs are done cooking, we sit in chairs [squat in chair position] at a picnic table [begin on back and lift your hips and arms into table pose] and eat our supper. The stars [stand in Warrior Pose with legs wide and arms out to create a "star"] are shining so brightly! Boy are we tired from all the work of getting to and preparing our campsite. It's time to go to our tents [downward dog] and get some rest [lay on back into resting pose--you can invite your young yogis to close their eyes if they are comfortable to play some sounds of nature for them to listen to and see if they can imagine the sounds of the forest].

Well, all of that fun and exercise made us hungry for a snack! The tent was the perfect spot for this and you can even prepare a camping themed snack if you'd like--such as s'mores, or  s'mores trail mix (graham crackers/tea biscuits, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips--I was out of chocolate chips so I substituted pretzels per my son's request).

You might even have some fun singing

The Campfire Pokey
to the tune of "The Hokey Pokey"

You put your marshmallow in
You pull your marshmallow out
You put your marshmallow in and you shake it all about
You do the campfire pokey and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about!

We love our DIY felt fishing
set for indoor fishing

Fishing is another great outdoor activity related to camping. We had some fun with another little action rhyme and some indoor waterplay and dramatic play. I created a magnetic fishing activity with felt fish that each have a paperclip "mouth." Using a wooden dowel, some yarn, duct tape and a magnet, I created a fishing pole to go with it and we've had fun over the last couple of years going fishing inside with this little activity! If you have a nice day outside or don't mind some waterplay indoors, try out a toy fishing set in a basin of water (or the bathtub) or try your hand at this fun "ice fishing" sensory bin!


As you fish, you can chant this playful action rhyme:

One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive!
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let him go again!
Why did you let him go?
Because he bit my finger so!
Which finger did he bite?
The little finger on the right!


 In years past, we've had some fun making Lag B'Omer themed arts and crafts projects. Some of our favorites included painting with marshmallow "paintbrushes" dipped in vanilla pudding dyed with yellow and red food coloring to make a Lag B'Omer bonfire. You can also use regular washable paints and create handprint/footprint bonfires and add cut brown paper for your kindling and logs. One of my favorite arts and crafts projects for Lag B'Omer is one we did last year to create our own little campfire prop that actually lights up!

To make your own, you will need:

• a clear plastic cup
• a paper plate
• brown construction paper, cut into strips for logs/wood
• red, yellow, and orange tissue paper squares/scraps
• a small wooden dowel
• a cotton ball "marshmallow"
• an LED tea light
• glue

To create your own light-up campfire and marshmallow for roasting, begin by gluing on your brown construction paper wood to the paper plate base. For the marshmallow, dip one end of the dowel into glue and stick your cotton ball on top. You will need to pinch it on for a minute to help it stick and then let it dry. Meanwhile, you can create your "fire" by gluing on tissue paper to the outside of the cup. You can crumple the tissue paper or leave it flat for different textures. Once the project is entirely dry, place the cup over top of the LED tea light and turn it on to make your campfire glow. My then younger toddler had SO much fun pretending to roast his marshmallow in the fire! He still uses the project as a little nightlight in his room every once in awhile.




Well, learning and playing about Lag B'Omer and camping has been a lot of fun! We are rained in for a few days but this Sunday, which marks the actual festival is forecast to be warm and sunny. We look forward to celebrating with our friends and community. Until then...


Happy Playing!