Exploring Our Bodies!

   This week our friends had a lot of fun exploring our bodies. Our Morah's traced our bodies and we colored them in.  We traced our toes and fingers in clay. It was so interesting and fun pushing our toes/hand into clay and watching it mold around ourselves. Geffen loved it so much and wanted to mold both his hands and feet!

   This week at Music & Movement, Mr Sam had a very fun game for us! We danced all around while he was banging a beat on his drum, and then when he stopped, one friend would choose a funny pose from his book and we would try our best to mimic the stance. Mina especially loved this activity and would giggle every time she fell trying to balance.

   In last weeks Parsha (Torah weekly portion) we learnt that Moshe (Moses) was born and went to Paroah (Pharoah) and told him to let the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. When Paroah refused, Moshe warned him that all of Egypt would be punished till he free's them. In this week's Parsha we learn about the first 7 of the 10 plagues. Our friends had a lot of fun coloring and stamp painting little pictures of the plagues for us to take home with us as a little art 'n crafts booklet next weekend. We also learnt a new song on the Parsha that Yochai and Zoe really enjoyed singing along too.

   We are proud to say that Tot Shabbat is back on and our friends could not be more happy and enthusiastic about it! =D

    We cannot wait to see all of our friends and their parents at the CJP Shabbat dinner this Friday night! :) It is gonna be so much fun!

   See you all then!

                <3
   Morah Ora, Morah Pearly, Mina, Yochai, Geffen, & Zoe.

Preparing for Shabbos!

Shabbos is coming, we're so happy. We're gonna scream and shout out loud! :D We are so excited for all the Shabbos activities and events that are coming up that we simply cannot stop singing Shabbos songs! This week, we baked yummy yummy cookies for the shabbos sale on Friday. We had so much fun mixing all the ingredients together. All of our friends helped pour all the ingredients in like pros, and then we all mixed it together!

 
   This week our friends had so much playing in our classroom kitchen! Geffen loves to pretend that he is peeling and cutting up vegetables, Zoe loves to pretend that she is washing the dishes, Yochai loves putting food in the pots and then putting it on the stove top, and Mina loves to take out the Shabbos Candles, wave her arms around them, cover her eyes, and pretend that she is bringing in Shabbos. :)

   Every week during Davening (morning prayer) our friends have so much fun singing and dancing and learning about the Parsha (Torah Portion), but this week was ESPECIALLY fun. We learned this week that Moshe Rabeinu (Moses) was born and told Paroah (Pharoah) to let the Jews go, but Paroah said "No, no, no. I will not let them go!". On Facebook we posted an adorable video of Mina repeating after Morah Pearly that Moshe was born in this weeks Parsha. Our friends love Davening so much. Mina and Zoe love the song "Thank You Hashem for giving me my..." and always shout out what they are thankful for (ie. Mommy & Tatty/ Mama & Papa). Geffen and Yochai love the Tzedakka (Charity) song, and always sing along with their Morah's, and all of our friends love the Torah song, and dance and hug their Torahs lovingly. :)


   Our friends also know most of the songs by themselves now, along with the motions. When we sing "The good morning train is coming how are you? Choo Choo!", all of our friends do the arm motion of a conductor pulling the train horn. It is very cute. Also, every day when we say Shema, Zoe covers her eyes, and when we sing "I open one eye, I open two..." Mina always covers her eyes, and then uncovers them to the words of the song. :) This week we also started sitting on circle "spot" mats during Davening time. Our friends learned that when we say "Sit down. Criss cross apple sauce", they quickly plop down on their mat and cross their ankles over each other. Try it at home and you will see! :)

   This week we had a lot of fun playing with markers and crayons and play dough. On Wednesday we had so much fun creating our very OWN silly putty from warm water, salt, glue, and a tiny drop of coloring. It is a very fun activity to do at home and our friends had so much fun seeing what they created by themselves and then being able to play with it.

   And of course, we had our new Music and Movement class this week again. This week we sang so many fun songs with Mr Sam, and Mr Sam took out his big snake blanket and we had fun covering our bodies with it while singing the snake song.

   This week, as every other week, was so much fun and am looking forward to next week when we can have so much more fun with our friends again.

          <3
    Morah Ora
            &
   Morah Pearly

Our Very Own Shabbat Box!

   This week in the Peach Room we had a lot of fun. We started to get ready for our CJP Family Shabbat Dinner. When our fathers and mothers come with us to the fun Friday Night Shabbat Dinner, we will have a whole bunch of beautiful Shabbat arts & crafts to take home with us. We are going to be creating our very own unique Shabbat Challah cover, Kiddush cup, Candles, and a self decorated Shabbat box to bring it all home in.

   On Monday and Tuesday we started decorating our Shabbat boxes. We covered them in paper and glued different designs and items on the box to make it our own unique craft. We also played outside with our friends from the older classrooms and had so much fun. Yochai is really enjoying looking at all the different plants. Mina loves playing with her bigger friends, Zoe really enjoys riding on the different bikes we have, and Geffen enjoys to run all around and play with everything and everybody.

   Now on Wednesdays we have a fun new music and movement class, given by Mr Sam!  He had many different puppets that he introduced to us, and our friends had so much fun talking to them, but specifically Yochai and Zoe. We played a fun game that helped us learn the first 7 letters to the ABC's. Mina especially enjoyed singing along to the ABC song, with Mr Sam. We enjoyed ourselves so much and we are looking forward to the following weeks where we will have this new music and movement class more. On Wednesday we also started decorating our Challah Cover. We used paint in squeeze bottles and squirted different colors all over our cloths. Each one of our friends chose a different pattern of colors and designed their Challah cover to their own unique taste.

   Thursday we created our candles! We took chalk and colored sand with it. Geffen had so much fun at this new activity! Then we took our colored sand and poured it through a funnel into candle holders to decorate them, and then covered the top with glue, as our own individual unique craft. It was a lot of fun working on our fine motor skills, holding the chalk and raking it back and forth over the sand. Another awesome activity we did on Thursday that helped us excel in our fine motor skills was we took toy nails (golf tees), and with toy hammers we banged them into our toy cardboard boxes.

   Friday was a very special day. We had Tot Shabbat with Morah Masha! :) We had fun singing Shabbat songs, making Challah, and drinking grape juice! The second special thing that we did on Friday was that the Green Room (3 year olds) invited us to their classroom for lunch, to enjoy the pasta that they cooked, with them!

   Looking forward to all the fun and exploring that we will have in the Peach room next week!

         <3
  Morah Ora
          &
Morah Pearly

Back To School =)

   Hey everybody! We are super excited to be back at school with all of our amazing little friends! :)

   This week in the Peach room we had a lot of fun. On Monday we welcomed all of our friends back to school with a big hug and smile. We played with play dough, markers, and puzzles, and rehearsed all of our shapes, colors, and numbers. We also had a lot of fun outside in the backyard. Mina and Zoe went excitedly to the bikes and Geffen quickly made his way to the tree stumps, where he loves climbing.

   On Tuesday our friends wanted Morah Pearly to read them a lot of different books. Mina loved the Dr Seuss "Fish" book, Zoe loved the "Mitzvah Hands" book, and Geffen could not get enough of the book, "Aleph Bais Trip on the Aleph Bais Ship". We also colored a lot of beautiful art, which Mina enjoyed, and did not want to put down her markers. This week we also started a new fun game where at snack and lunch time, our friends have to find their seat with the Aleph Bet (Hebrew ABC's) letter that their name starts with. Once they find it, they sit in their seat and eat their yummy food. Our friends are becoming better and better each day at recognizing their own Aleph Bet letter all on their own!

   Wednesday was such a cool day because we made snow!! With some hair conditioner and baking soda, we created Snow in Central Arizona! We shared our snow with our friends outside and we all had so much fun playing with it and developing our fine motor skills by forming them into snowballs! :) On Wednesday Morah Ora moved some furniture around and we got a cool new kitchen for our friends to play in. All of our friends love it. Yochai loves setting up and putting the food and candle sticks on the table, Mina enjoys to pretend wash the dishes, and Geffen loves putting food into the pots and pans and putting it on our oven.
 
   Thursday was a fun day because we planted our new plants!! Our Morah's put soil into the sensory table and with shovels and a rakes we planted the seeds for our beautiful new garden. Our friends really enjoyed putting soil all around our plants and digging.

    In this week's Parsha we learnt that Yaakov (Jacob) finds out that his son Yoseph (Joseph) was alive and he comes down to Mitzrayim (Egypt) and lives there with his entire family (Over 70 people). We learned a song for this weeks Parsha. It will be in your child backpack. They would really like it if you sing it with them over the weekend.

   Then comes Friday. On Friday we welcomed Yochai back to school. We missed him so much. In the morning we had a special sing along party with Morah Masha and the blue room. Zoe and Mina really enjoyed singing along to the Shabbat songs.

   With every week comes new and amazing fun activities, and we cannot wait for next week to do more of them! :)

  <3 Morah Ora & Morah Pearly

CHANUKA IS HERE!

Hi everyone! Chanuka is here! Let's give a cheer!

   This week we did so many Chanuka things so we can be prepared and excited for this fun holiday! As all our friend's daddy's know, we had a very fun "Dads and Dreidels" activity on Wednesday morning. We had so many fun things to do there. There was a big Dreidel that our friends (AND THE RABBI!!) went into and got spun around by our friends to see which letter they will land on. Nun, Gimmel, Hey, or Shin! We also decorated pretty plates for our Mommys as a Chanukah present. Then, Morah Felicia took pictures of our friends with their Daddy's, that we turned into magnets to hang on your fridges.  And last but not least, we had yummy yummy Latkes with applesauce!! :D It was such a fun morning!

   We can't leave for vacation without dance class! Morah Lisa came in and we had a fun dance class this week! We kicked our feet up in the air, flapped them like butterflies,  and reached for the sky with our hands. Then we crawled through our doggy house, and felt the wind that Morah Lisa caused by plopping the large dance mat on the floor.

    This week we created our very own Chanukah Menorahs! We painted our hands and made hand prints, and then we glued bolts as our candle holders! We cannot wait to use it with our Daddy's and Mommys! :)

    We sang many songs these last few weeks all about the holiday of Chanukah.  We learned that we twirl a dreidel and if it lands on Gimmel we win! :D We learned that Achashvairosh was a not nice king, and the Maccabees defeated him! We also learned that the little bit of oil burned for 8 days and nights! In honor of the 8 nights of Chanukah, we count to 8 every morning, on our fingers, in 4 different languages!!! English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian.

   We also learned all about this week's Parsha (Torah Portion), how Yosef had a dream that got his brothers upset so they sent him to Mitzrayim (Egypt). While he was there, Yosef was sent to jail. But we learnt that in NEXT week's Parsha, Pharoah releases Yosef and makes him king of Egypt!

   In your childs backpack we put their arts and crafts and a CJP Peach Room Song Book. In the song book are all the songs that we sing every morning with our little friends, along with some Shabbat songs and some Chanukah songs. We would love it, and so would our friends, if you would sing it with them every morning. You will see how much our friends learn every day and how much fun they have doing so! If you have any questions about the tune or the content, please do not hesitate to call either Morah Ora or Morah Pearly at any time.

(See CJP Family Facebook Group and school bulletin board for photos)

   CHAG SAMEACH!!

                    <3
              Morah Ora
                     &
            Morah Pearly

Dreidelach, Menorah's, Latke's, & More!

     Hey everybody! This week was so jampacked with fun activities and I cannot wait to tell you all about it. This week with Chanuka  just around the corner we are learning more and more and doing more fun activities to prepare us for this fun and awesome holiday!

     On Monday we rediscovered Chanuka in the sensory bin. The Morah's put some hair gel and chanuka items into a big plastic bag and we played with it in the sensory bin. The feel and texture was really cool. Then we designed little pictures of dreidels (hanging from the ceiling at the entrance of our classroom). Some we colored with markers. Others with paint. Some we decorated with stamps. It was a lot of fun.  Also, every day during davening, we take out our toy Dreidels and we play with them while singing Chanuka songs that our Morah's are teaching us!

     Tuesday was an amazing day. With our Morah's and friends, we took off our pants/skirts and socks/tights and painted a negative space Chanuka Dreidel with our little feet  (on the bulletin board)! It was so much fun. Our friends loved that instead of our hands we were painting with our feet. Mina enjoyed jumping up and down to show her footprints off and Geffen loved running around the poster to make sure his stamp was everywhere. :)

     With Wednesday came dance class and more fun! Morah Lisa played new music at dance class this week and our friends couldn't have been more thrilled. Zoe loved dancing with all of her friends. In outdoor play our friends are excelling more and more in their gross motor skills.They are pedaling the bikes all on their own! Mina especially loves the bikes. When ever we get outside, she makes a bee line to them.

     Thursday was a fun day. We broke out our family photos and had fun looking at it. Yochai in particular loves the photos. He loves pointing to his Abba and Mommy and excitedly shows us Cocoa (the dog) when he reaches his photo. Mina loves pointing out her Tatty, Geffen loves pointing to Baby Carmel and his dog, Miley, and Zoe loves showing us her older brothers! We all love our families so much!! On Thursday we also took out sponges in the shape of Chanuka items and used it to paint on a giant piece of paper, where Morah Ora then cut it out in the shape of a Menorah!

     On Thursday we also learnt about this weeks Parsha (Torah portion). We learnt that Yaakov and Eisav met up together and Yaakov gave him gifts, that Yaakov's name was changed to Israel, and that Binyomin, the 12th of the shivatim, was born! We played with our doll babies and pretended that it was Binyomin and we were taking care of him! :)

      Friday was the funnest day of all, because, in honor of Chanuka, we made LATKES a Chanukah delicacy!! Our friends were like professional chefs! They washed the potatoes, helped their Morah's peel and cut them, and with a little bit of this and a dash of that, we had our latke batter! While we were playing outside, Morah Pearly was in the kitchen frying them, and now we have yummy Latkes to eat at home with our family this weekend!

We hope you all have an amazing, fun, and restful weekend.
       
<3
  Morah Ora
         &
Morah Pearly

Chanuka Oh Chanuka Come Light The Menorah!

    Hello Moms and Dads, Abbas and Immas. Mommys and Tattys. This week with Chanuka approaching we started exploring Chanuka games and activites. We made a cave where we davened a few times and played dreidel, since during the times of Chanuka, the Jews had to hide in order to learn Torah and Daven. Our little friends loved it so much! We played a game where Morah Pearly would close her eyes and our friends would hug and kiss our Torah's, and then when she opened her eyes they had to quickly hide it and take out their dreidels and play. :) We all had a lot of fun with it.

    This week we also colored pictures of dreidels so nicely. We have a bunch of little artists in our class. Mina especially loved this activity. She loved taking many different colored markers and making her dreidel picture so beautifully colorful. :) An activity that got Geffen very excited every day was our small wooden menorah. We worked with our fine motor skills with this one. We had colorful wax candles that Geffen would expertly place into the Menorah candle holders.

    This week during Dance class we had so much fun. We had so much fun with the wind that Morah Lisa makes when she plops the big blue mat on the floor. Then all our friends in the Peach and Blue room went on top of the map and started dancing to the music. Zoe loved the feathers that Morah Lisa handed out this week. She loved the softness of it and waved it in the air when the music was turned on.

 
    In outdoor play our friends are having more fun than ever. Geffen is still loving the tree stumps, where we know we can find him climbing from one to the next. Mina loves playing with her friends in the sensory table that we bring outside, which every day contains another fun activity. One day it was lentils another day we had potatoes in water, so we can wash them for Latkes (Chanuka delicacy). Yochai is taking a real liking to the bikes. He is working his legs so well and pushing himself around the backyard, on his own! :) And Zoe really loves walking around, joining in with different activities that her CJP friends are engaged in. :)

    While we were outside we did a fun Parsha activity. We learned in this weeks Parsha that when Yaakov (Jacob) went to go sleep on top of a holy mountain, he put rocks all around him to keep himself safe. However, because he was such a holy man the rocks all wanted to be placed under his head to keep him comfortable, so Gd did a miracle and they morphed into one big rock under his head. While we were outside we placed rocks all around us as well. :)

    This week we made Challah again! We have so much fun kneeding the Challah to make it just right, and then rolling the Challah into our own individual unique shapes, to cook and eat for Dinner or Lunch on Shabbos! :)

    Have a great week everybody!

       <3
Morah Orah
         &
Morah Pearly