Three Great Purim Activities You Can Take Outside!

If costumes inside are fun, imagine
costumes outside at the park!

Today we're going to Get Outside And...PURIM! If this holiday isn't enough fun already, let's take it to the park (or backyard). In fact, that is exactly what we did in our most recent outdoor playgroup event--a Purim Popup Play at the Park. And the best parts about these activities is that you can do them outside or indoors, many of the materials needed are likely in (or outside of) your home, and they can be adapted for year round use.

1. Stick Puppets

Stick Puppet created by
a three year old!

Puppetry is a great way to retell the story of Purim for young children. You can make Purim puppets in a number of ways, but I particularly love using nature's loose parts when I can and sticks are a fabulous loose part. Send your puppeteers on a search for the perfect stick! All you'll need to add to the mix are any loose craft parts you have on hand (we used google eyes, fabric scraps, pipe cleaners, some wool roving and a handful of buttons, gems and sequins). Now here's the one material I can't sing the praises of enough: nontoxic gel medium. I can't believe I made it 35 years before I found out about this! Found in the painting/acrylics section of craft supply stores or online, this works with all the power of a hot glue gun and none of the heat! It is worth the investment as kids can glue loose parts together without the frustration of them falling off while it sets. It takes a very small amount to work and it dries clear. I like to use condiment containers with lids to transport it to the park (or any small dish/piece of cardboard inside) and a craft stick to apply it. Let the kids have at it and design their puppets. They will surely tell some great versions of the Purim story and many other stories to come.

The storytelling continues at home. S is manning
my Stick Puppet and Y is donning a hand dyed cape!

2. Hand Dyed Capes Capes are for more than just superheroes. Wizards, fairies, royalty and just kids who need to fly a little faster might need a cape from time to time. And hand dyeing your own is so fun (and easy)! 

You will need:

• white flour sack dish cloths (sold in bulk at Walmart or similar stores or even online--even better if you happen to have some stained ones in your kitchen stash that need to be upcycled)
• liquid watercolor or food coloring or fabric dye (I used liquid watercolors--I am not sure how permanent they will be upon washing so for a permanent dye stick to ones intended for fabric)
• water to dilute dye
• pipettes (I bought in bulk on Amazon)
• glass jars or cups to fill with/transport your dyes
• foil pans or similar item to work within
• smocks to cover clothing

The children had so much fun dropping bits of color across the fabric. I separated warm and cool colors initially for the children so they would blend without turning brown, but even those who chose to mix all six colors I provided (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple) came up with gorgeous results! If you're outdoors, hang or drape your capes to air dry. Once dry, they can be tied around the shoulders as a cape. They also make fabulous doll blankets, picnic blankets, and whatever else your little ones may come up with.

If you are hosting a park party and need to send these home still damp, I'd recommend having a plastic bag on hand for each family.

3. Invitation to Dress Up Peg Dolls in Playdough Costumes

Wooden peg dolls are great for storytelling and small world play. They are a great way to retell the Purim story as well. Many times, we use wooden peg dolls or peg clothespins for permanent crafts, but in this fun playdough invitation, the crafting is temporary. Costumes are created using playdough in a variety of colors and small loose craft parts. I also like to set out some cookie cutters in various sizes, rolling pins and plastic knives. There are so many ways to play and it is quite fun to dress, undress and dress again the little wooden dolls. You can easily send a little gift package home with this as well by slipping a couple of peg dolls and party sized playdough containers in a bag to go.

This little 2 year old had so much fun dressing up his peg dolls that he decided he needed a costume to wear as well and visited our giant laundry sack of costumes to choose the perfect jester's hat for the occasion!

S created costumes by rolling out the dough and wrapping it around each peg. He told me the one in pink is Queen Esther and the one in green is her uncle, Mordechai.

Whether you take these out to the park, to your own backyard, or inside, I hope they get everyone into the Purim spirit! We are so excited for the upcoming holiday here and are counting down the days until it begins next Monday night!

Until then...

Happy Playing!

Beyond the Book: "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak

There's a lot of great new children's literature out there and fabulous new authors and illustrators. I have so many new favorites and I'm sure there will be many more to come as I raise my own young readers. And every so often, I also love sharing with them one of my favorite books from when I was a little girl. Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are has been a longtime favorite of mine and it was a great candidate for our most recent story stretcher.

The little boy, Max, in this story is an easy character to relate to if you are a little boy or girl whose ever been accused of being too wild! Lucky for him, even though his wild ways end him up in his bedroom for a bit, his equally wild imagination takes him to a distant land where he becomes king of the Wild Things. The fascinating tall tale is only topped by the equally incredible illustrations. I introduced our story stretcher by setting out some monster masks to color in at our little table. I found these a few years ago at the Dollar Tree and used them with my students when teaching about the letter Mm. Today was a great day to bring out the leftovers (yes, I will someday appear on an episode of Hoarders entirely devoted to preschool teachers...) and S had a lot of fun coloring as we talked about and read Where The Wild Things Are. The book introduces a lot of great conversation starters--we talked about the meaning of the word "wild," and how it looks and feels in our bodies. We talked about monsters and how they are make-believe. We looked at the pictures to see if the monsters looked scary or friendly. S decided they looked friendly! We introduced some great vocabulary words like "terrible" and "gnash" and "rumpus." We even had an impromptu wild rumpus of our own! By now, Y had woken up to join the fun (pictured above) and S was eager to wiggle his wilds out around the dining room.

S has been very into telling his own stories and dictating his words through self-directed artwork and through journal prompts. I took the opportunity to take his dictation about when he feels wild using one of the great free printable prompts at Fairy Tales And Fiction By 2. There's something for everyone there--no matter what early stage of writing your little one may be in!

Next it was time for a game! We've been using simple games to introduce the concepts of taking turns, following rules/directions and other important social skills that children can learn through board games and apply to social situations in "real life." I set up our own version of this great monster googly eyes counting game by printing and laminated the monster mats and then hot glued googly eyes onto a large die I had on hand.

We set out three monster mats, one for S, one for Y (who needed my help to play!) and one for me. I laminated the printables to be double sided, though you could do them single-sided, particularly if you have more players. These would also be great for using with playdough and other small loose parts or with dry erase markers. Our die had one-six googly eyes hot glued to each surface and I set out a dish of assorted loose googly eyes. On a players turn, he/she rolls the die, counts the number of googly eyes and places an according number of googly eyes on his/her monster mat. It was fun to see all the silly ways we could put eyes on those funny little monsters! This is a great game to practice one-to-one correspondence and counting. We did not play for a "winner," but rather played that each player took 3 turns, which seemed to be the right length of time to spend on this activity before moving on to our next one. You could play that the winner has the most eyes if you wish.

I like to use our story stretchers to review alphabet letters as well. Where The Wild Things Are would be a great book to introduce with the letter Ww, but since we recently reviewed that one with our whale themed adventures alongside Baby Beluga, I decided instead to bring back the letter Mm for monster, mask and, of course, our story's main character, Max. I also thought it would be a great time to introduce the concept of alliteration in a fun game to make silly sentences using only words that begin with the letter Mm! Older readers/writers can come up with their own silly sentences. You can provide supports like suggested words lists or use sentence strips as I did with letter Mm words pre-written. For pre-readers and writers, you will need to assist a bit more. For S, I demonstrated a few silly sentences, placing words across the little table and pointing to them as I read. He could see how a sentence is built and how we read it from left to right. When it was his turn to build a silly sentence, I placed the starting word "My" and strategically helped him select from piles of nouns and verbs beginning with our letter Mm. We recorded our silly sentences in his journal and he drew an illustration to go with his: "My mommy makes monster marbles!"

Once our littlest wild thing was tuckered out, we moved on to the arts & crafts portion of our story stretcher. I had a great idea to make a couple of stuffed felt monsters S could decorate for he and his brother could play with. Then I remembered how much I hate to sew. And that I don't even know where I have a needle and thread here... But I do love puppets and I always have the hot glue gun handy for when school glue just won't do the trick. And with that plus the abundance of felt I do have and some googly eyes, we were well on our way to making some great wild thing sock puppets. All that was left was to add in a pair of really beloved knee socks that I've had since college and worn to threads. S helped set up parts where he wanted them and I assisted with the hot glue gun so we could play right away. You could definitely try school glue instead or tacky glue. And if you do like to sew, you could do that...and maybe while you're at it, hit the stack of clothing items here that are missing buttons. I'll be busy putting on silly sock puppet shows if you need me...

I was particularly excited about our next activity. I saw the idea for blow paint monsters on The Seasoned Mom. I loved the idea of using straws for painting. Blowing through a straw is a great way to strenghthen those little muscles in the mouth and assist in speech development. S does not have any speech delays but does have low muscle tone that also affects his mouth, so I love sneaking in playful ways to build up those brain-muscle connections! He had a blast blowing through the straw to move the paint--and you have to blow hard! He also discovered the joys of dabbling the bottom of the straw in the paint to print little dots. I chose to use artists' canvas for this  activity so that S would feel it was very special and take his time to enjoy the process of creating it. As an added bonus, it will make a lovely keepsake once it is dry and done. After the paint dries, he will have a great time adding on googly eyes, feathers, buttons, sequins and maybe even some doodles to create a fun and friendly monster!

We've had a lot of fun with this story stretcher and will likely continue having fun with our wild thing sock puppets and playing our googly eyes counting game. Want to do more with Where The Wild Things Are? Try out one or more of the following fun activities:

• Invitation to Make a Monster out of Playdough: make or buy playdough in your favorite color and add in googly eyes, pipe cleaners, buttons or other small loose parts. For a more permanent option, substitute Model Magic clay or salt dough.
• Googly eyes sensory bin: add googly eyes to your favorite sensory bin filler (like water, slime, ooblek cooked spaghetti...) 
• Make your own monster masks from scratch using paper plates and construction paper, feathers, yarn, etc.
• Act out the story using costumes or with puppets. You can print out your own set of toilet paper tube story puppets here.

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!