This week the holiday festivities continued with the celebration of Hanukkah. All of the classes except the 3rd-6th graders read books, played dreidel, and did activities related to the Festival of Lights.
The 3rd-6th graders stayed in the service with the adults this week to enjoy the holiday music and reflections. Larry sang with the choir, and Maeve and Clara both sang with the choir and played pieces on their instruments. The rest of the class got to enjoy the performances. It was a wonderful holiday celebration for all.
The K-2nd graders had class with me this week since Molly also sings with the choir. I told them the story of Hanukkah and the revolt of the Maccabees. Then we made star of David wish stars to hang on our Christmas trees. We had 6 wishes to make for the year to come. After our art project, we sat down together and played dreidel, using bubble gum as our gelt. It was a lot of fun! We ended the lesson by making our own dreidels to take home so we could teach our families how to play.
In the pre-K room, Sandy and the preschoolers read a lovely book that was from a Hispanic Jewish point of view. Then they played dreidel. The kids delighted in spinning their dreidels and “betting” with goldfish crackers. Yum!
In the nursery, the infants and toddlers read two Hanukkah stories and drew pictures of the menorah.
If you would like to continue these Hanukkah lessons at home, here are some suggestions: for the 3rd-6th graders, have them compare and contrast Christmas traditions with Hanukkah ones. For the K-2nd graders, ask them to tell you the story of the Maccabean Revolt and make your own wish stars for 2012. For preschoolers, play dreidel with them. You could use fruits and vegetables as gelt – then everybody wins! For infants and toddlers, hang up their menorah pictures or create more at home. They’re the perfect window decoration this time of year.