Passover!

This week we started exploring Passover. We began by reading "If You Give a Frog Some Matzah" and we shared a matzah snack afterward. As we enjoyed this new food Geffen said "Cracker." and Minna said, "Crunch." which led to a discussion about the texture of matzah. We've placed bumpy cardboard squares in our dramatic play kitchen and our friends are beginning to make connections between the matzah and other Pesach items they see in our books and what we are using for play and discussion.  Our sensory tub was filled with flour this week and we talked about how we make matzah with flour and water. (Our friends were focused and engaged for quite some time scooping and pouring flour!)

We have offered several opportunities for play and exploration this week that give us the opportunity to observe, and the children opportunities to work on fine motor development. Fine motor development is the development of the small muscles in the hands and fingers. This development is important for skills like writing with a pencil, using a computer and a mouse and playing a musical instrument. We placed trays with coins and banks on the table and everyone was interested in sitting and dropping coins into the slot at the top of the bank. They also liked dropping corks into a bottle. Our water play outdoors is another great time for practice with this type of movement. We scoop, pour and dump and our friends can play at this for a long period of time in a very calm and focused way. 

In sports this week with Coach Picachu we had so much fun "climbing a mountain". We practiced climbing carefully and stepping over large foam blocks. We were also so happy to celebrate Mina's birthday this week! We made a birthday cake and enjoyed dancing and singing Happy Birthday!

Just as a reminder, Morah Ora is taking a trip to Isreal and will return when we all return from our spring/Passover break. Morah Shoshana who works in the green room will be helping in our classroom during this time.

Have a great weekend.  Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Ora and Morah Sydney