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Circle Time Songs of the Day
Shabbat is Here
Shabbat is here (2x)
I'm so glad that Shabbat is here.
Candles burning bright, it's Friday night
I'm so glad that Shabbat is here.
Chicken Soup
Put the chicken in the pot,
Stir it up, so it's nice and hot
Get it ready for Shabbat, for Shabbat.
Put the carrots in a pot
Stir it up, so it's nice and hot
Get it ready for Shabbat, for Shabbat.
(Think of other things that you can put in the pot. Substitute for "chicken")
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Fine Motor Practice
- Strengthening with Rubber Bands: This is great for strengthening those little hand muscles crucial for writing development later on, and good for concentration and hand-eye coordination too. For this activity, you will need rubber bands in different sizes and pine cones. If you do not have any pine cones in your neighborhood or backyard, try using a water bottle or soda can. The rubber bands are great for children's hand development as they need to be pushed out to stretch them and open them up, causing a good resistance against the fingers which is suitably hard to do. If they just stretched their fingers open and closed repeatedly around a band it would be a great mini workout for the fingers and muscles. Your child should practice putting the rubber bands on the pine cone to decorate them. Once they are decorated, the children can practice removing the elastic bands to continue the finger workout. Try encouraging your child to remove all the bands and sort them back into piles according to color and size.**If you don't have rubber bands, you could also have your child practice wrapping the pine cones or water bottle with yarn or string.**
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Art
- Shabbat Placemats: Placemats set the tone for something special when used for Shabbat snack or lunch. For this activity, you will need paper, markers or crayons, and any other materials that you have for decorating (including stickers, paint, ribbon, etc). Have your child decorate the sheet of paper to create a placemat that he/she can use for Shabbat.
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Science / Cooking
- Making Challah: Here is a great easy Challah recipe that your children can help you make from the Jewish Holiday Cookbook.
- Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, beaten (set aside for brushing later)
- Directions:
- Pour water into bottom of large mixing bowl. Add yeast, and allow to sit for 1 minute.
- Add honey, oil, egg, sugar, and salt to yeast mixture. Stir to combine.
- Scoop spoonfuls of lour into the wet mixture, combining well each time. As you continue adding flour, the mixture will thicken. You can use your hands to mix in the flour.
- After all the flour is mixed in, knead the dough in the bowl until it is smooth. Add up to 1/2 cup of additional flour if your dough is sticky. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour in a warm place. The dough should double in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface like a cutting board. Deflate risen dough by punching it. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces and knead each piece for 3 minutes. If dough is sticky, add a little bit of flour as you knead.
- Grease 2 large baking sheets with margarine, and set them aside. Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Divide each loaf into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope about 1 1/2 in diameter. These will be 3 strands of your braid. Bring the ends of the strands together and begin braiding. After it is fully braided, tuck the beginning adn end of your braid under the loaf. Repeat for the other loaf, and place each on a prepared baking sheet. Cover each loaf with a slightly damp towl and allow the loaves to rise once more, for 45 minutes.
- After the loaves have risen, use a pastry brush to spread beaten egg over each one.
- Bake on a low rack for about 35 to 45 minutes. The fully baked bread should be a deep golden color and should sound hollow when tapped.
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Gross Motor Play
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Shape Hunt: For this activity, you will need a marker and a few sheets of paper. Draw a picture of a shape on each sheet of paper. Examples include rectangle, circle, triangle, square, etc. Then have your child go on a search around the house for items that are that shape and have them bring them back to the shape picture. See how many of each shape you can find!
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Outdoor Time
- Decorating for Shabbat: Go for a walk outside in your neighborhood or in your backyard. Collect flowers and other things from nature to decorate the Shabbat table.
- Nature Impressions in Playdough: Go for a walk outside with your children. Find a few fun or interesting items in nature. Examples include, pinecones, leaves, flowers, etc. Roll out a piece of playdough on a tray or table. Have your child practice pushing the items into the playdough to make impressions. Look how the items rub off in the playdough.
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