In preparation for Mother's Day, the children learned about appreciation, and they discussed the many wonderful things their Mommies do for them. 

On Monday, our classroom was transformed into a spa in honor of Mother's Day! The children treated out their Mommies, or their grown-ups during the event. 

Thank you to the Mommies and grown-ups that were able to make it, the event was so meaningful, and the children were talking about it all week!

Additionally, we had a special wedding party for Morah Miriam since Monday  was her last day with the friends for two weeks. 

We made her a surprise party by inviting friends from class Alef and Gimmel to join us for some cake and dancing around the bride.

Mazal Tov Morah Miriam!  Wishing you much happiness in this special moment of your life. 

Morah Marsha joined our classroom for the time being.

Sensory activity: 

Clay with water and seeds.

Spring collage with the flowers that we bought together on our trip to the florist.

Science Experiment: 

Isaac pointed out that flowers need water to live, therefore, we conducted an experiment to see if they really absorb the water.

We put white carnations in cups with water and food coloring. 

At first nothing happened. 

But when we came back the next day, Sam was the first one to notice that the petals were changing colors. We realized that the flowers absorb water through their stems. 

Tuesday was our last Tumble Bus day.

Finally, we transferred our chrysalides into their netted habitat. Several children memorized the book of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", by Eric Carl, and they notified the other students that  "They're going to stay in their cocoons for almost two weeks!!" 

In preparation for the butterflies it was time to introduce the concept of symmetry.

Here, you'll see them studying the results of their symmetrical paintings. 

They were in awe.

We continued our exploration of seeds as we examined how seeds grow. We started off by reading “Ten Seeds” by Ruth Brown…

While reading the book, we counted 10 seeds of our own…

The book starts off with 10 seeds that are planted in the ground but as we take a picture walk through each page we examine what happens to each seed or plant.  One by one, the seeds and plants start to disappear…

As we discovered that each plant or seed has either been removed or stepped on, we also removed a seed from our trays and counted how many were left. Before long, we discover there are no more seeds on our trays.

Beading a "caterpillar" necklace.

On Friday we celebrated Lag B'Omer in our backyard, sitting around a "bonfire" and watched Morah Mushka act out the story that happened that day many years ago.

Shabbat Shalom to all!

"I Love Israel day" and Spring

Monday was  'I love Israel day'!

 Israel has been an ongoing theme in our classroom this year.

  We have discussed it during the Chanukah story, Tu B'shvat, and Mitzvah wall that is like the Kotel in jerusalem. 

            So, when 'I love Israel' day came around, we had a 

                                         lot of things to connect it to. 

First, wee looked at the globe and saw the distance between New York and Israel. The children noticed the blue water in between and understood we can't drive there. So we decided to fly instead. Together we packed a suitcase, put on sunscreen and even received passports. Then they drew a self portrait in their passports, got on their plane and 'flew' all the way to Israel. 

First stop was Eilat where the children could snorkel,  'swim' with the fish, and play at the beach.

Then there was Tzfat - where the children were treated to face or hand paint.

Thank you Tania for volunteering and being a part of our day.

In Tel Aviv, the children shopped at the 'shuk' and made fruit kabobs with the seven special fruits of Israel.

In Yaffo, the children squeezed oranges.

Next was the Kibbutz - where the children hung out in the barn, and milked a cow!

And in Jerusalem they wrote notes to Hashem and put them in the Kotel.

On Tuesday we got a special box in the mail. After predicting was what's inside the box, the children were delighted to open the box and find a cup with caterpillars. 

Each day we make observations to see how much they change from one day to another, and on Friday one of the caterpillars made a Chrysalis around itself as the children were watching it. 
We learned about each step of the Metamorphosis and now they are experiencing it.

 Creating 3D caterpillar. 

Each child made one and naturally they all look different. - each his own artist.

We used different kinds of pasta to do a Metamorphosis collage, using couscous, elbow pasta, shell pasta and bow tie pasta for each step of the process. 

And getting ready for Mother's Day. 

we can't wait to spend time with the Moms at our mothers day breakfast!

Shabbat Shalom.