Tu B Shvat

Dear Parents, 

This week in the Blue Room we introduced the next big holiday coming up: Tu B Shvat!  Here are some highlights:

Our friends enjoyed sculpting and rolling "fruits"  and "trees" out of playdoh.  We used tree playdoh mats, gems, and wooden blocks to enhance their experience.  We discussed the different parts of the tree such as roots,  the trunk, bark, branches and leaves. Playing and molding playdoh can be extremely therapeutic for a child who needs to physically express their emotions.  In addition, their fingers are working to strengthen their fine motor skills and dexterity while their brain is working on their imagination and creativity.

Lia- "I did a tiny tree and made a flower"

Luka- "It's a trunk, 2 trunks"

Abigail- "I make a tree. I have apples at my home."

 

Sensory

This week, our sensory table was filled with soil, sticks, and alphabet letters.  Our friends were invited to dig and hide letters, create mud paste, and add seeds to our soil.  On Friday we added grass seeds to our table.  Morah Felicia asked "what do you think will happen to the seeds?  Will they stay the same or will they change when we open the table on Monday?"  Our friends guessed they will stay the same, we can't wait to find out on Monday.

 We asked our friends a question, what do you think grows in soil? Our friends shouted out answers, "flowers" "carrots." Morah Felicia explained to her friends that another very special holiday was coming up called Tu B Shevat.  Just like Rosh Hashana is the the New Year for people, Tu B Shevat is the New Year for the trees.  On Tu B Shevat we celebrate the trees and thank them for everything they give us.  What are some gifts our trees give to us all year long?

                                                           

                                                                           Fine motor

Shmuel concentrating hard to thread all of his beads on his string.

                                                                

                                                             

 Dramatic Play/Math

  The children had so much fun "harvesting" fruits and vegetables from our garden. Harvesting means when a fruit or vegetable is ready to  be picked to eat.  This center provided great conversations about what fruits and vegetables grow on trees and which grow in the ground. Our friends sort fruits and vegetables that grow from the ground and on trees.   This gives great opportunity to extend our play and create a farmer's market for the food we harvest.  

                                                      

Next week we will continue our Tu B Shvat exploration.  Please send a piece of fruit with you child for an activity we will be doing.  Wishing you a fabulous Shabbos, 

                                                          Morah Felicia