Festival Of The Spring!

Did you know that one of the names for Passover is האביב‎ חג  (Chag Ha-Aviv) – “Festival of the Spring”? Take a look at your Seder Plate.  See the Karpas (typically parsley)? One of the lesser-known meanings of Karpas is that it is a representation of Spring on our Passover table.  Here at the Friedberg JCC Early Childhood Centers we love this merging of two of our favorite times; Passover, the rebirth of the Jewish People and Spring, the rebirth of the Earth!  This week, as we prepare for our Passover celebrations, we are also learning all about Spring and the exciting things it brings with it!

Let’s begin with Passover…

As the Jewish people fled from Egypt, they had no time to let their bread rise, and so they strapped their dough to their backs and let it bake in the sun. We commemorate this every year by making and eating Matzah during the days of Passover. To learn about this, our Jewish Culture Specialist, Miss Yochi, continued to visit each of our three branches to make our very own Matzah Bakery! She didn’t just read a Hagadah though, she taught us about the story of Passover through song, dance and hands on activities. Check out this great video of our Long Beach branch singing “Avadim Hayinu” – “We Were Slaves” with Miss Yochi!

 

Merrick/Bellmore at the Matzah Bakery!

We’re also very busy preparing for our Seders next week. We are creating art extension projects to put on our tables, making chocolate covered Matzah, and rehearsing our roles for these exciting gatherings. Check back next week to read all about them and see more fantastic photos and videos!

And now onto Spring…

Our Long Beach branch continued to enhance our Author Studies with books about Springtime and exploring outdoors! Our Two-Year-Olds welcomed Spring with The Sparkly Garden by Caroline Davis, went on a nature walk and pointed out daffodils and crocuses growing in our neighborhood.  Our Pre-K also studied flowers by reading Spring Snowman by Jill Barne.  This is about a field of daisies that takes on the shape of a snowman! We also listened to Wake Up It’s Spring by Lisa Campbell Ernst which celebrates the awakening of life in the Springtime!

The Long Beach Three’s took a different approach and talked about how windy the month of March can be as Spring begins. We continued our author study of Chris L. DeMarest with his book, My Blue Boat by making our own boats with foam bottoms, twig masts, and paper sails. We held a sailboat race in our class sensory table and pretended to be the wind as we blew our boats from one end to the other!

Sail Boat Races in Long Beach! 

Over at our Merrick/Bellmore branch, Miss Helen’s Pre-K class learned all about the life cycle of a frog! We have our very own tadpole, Jacob, who we each keep track of every day by writing in our very own “My Frog Log” to observe his daily changes. When completed, our logs will have 5 pages about Jacob’s becoming a frog:

My Frog Log

1)   Mommy Frog drops eggs

2)   Tadpoles have long tails

3)   Tadpoles grow back legs

4)   Tadpoles grow front legs

5)   Now they are Frogs!

Check out our Facebook page next week for some great pictures of Jacob!

Springtime fun continued over in Oceanside! Our toddlers had so much fun welcoming in the new season with a great finger-painting art extension project. We chose colors that reminded us of Spring: pink for flowers, yellow for the sun, and green for the grass. We then had a wonderful time letting our imaginations run wild as we painted abstract pieces of art on paper (and our own bodies!) with bright Springtime colors!

Springtime Abstract Paintings in Oceanside! 

Spring is definitely in full bloom at the Friedberg JCC Early Childhood Center! We can’t wait to have so much fun out in the warm weather this season. Don’t forget to check in again next week when we tell you all about our Seders!

If you’re looking for more Springtime fun at home (and a way to clear out your chametz before Passover), check out this great idea for PB & J Blossom Sandwiches from Disney Family Fun! And check out our Facebook page for more wonderful photos!