Research has shown that young children learn best through active, hands-on experiences.

In other words, children learn by doing. Play provides the foundation for academic learning.

To incorporate the menorah into our Hanukkah theme, we placed candles into real menorahs!

This activity accessed several developmental areas.

Each candle was color-coded to match a corresponding cavity on the menorah.

By discerning between an array of different colors, students exercised their matching and visual perceptual skills.

This experience also encouraged your little ones to investigate, discover, and learn new ideas related to a culture different from their own.

By collaborating with their classmates, they also fostered their decision-making skills, supporting their emerging social-emotional development, as they best problem-solved how to share supplies to meet a common goal.

We have been learning about the many words that begin with the letter D, because our word for the week is Dreidel! We began our week with the words dreidel, dirt, and dinosaur.

To help make this activity fun and memorable, our task was to place dinosaurs inside a large letter D. By doing this, your little one incorporated several developmental domains. They not only accessed their ability to evaluate space (How many blocks will fit?), but were given an opportunity to work with their peers.

Social development is an essential component to many of our activities. They build self-esteem, create community, and encourage conflict resolution, which is essential as your little ones continue to grow and flourish!

According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud; at the time of rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night, every night.

There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah.

An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle.  To incorporate this into our week of our Hanukkah festivities, we conducted an oil experiment with oil, water, food coloring, molasses, and honey.

Doing so enabled your little one to acquire new language (words like density, heavy, viscous, cloudy water) as they applied their knowledge of science concepts such as observation, speculation, and implementation.

Potato latkes are also known as potato pancakes. They are a loved addition to the Hanukkah palate. Latkes are traditionally eaten during the Jewish Hanukkah festival. To continue our celebration of this most exciting holiday, we created latkes for a dramatic play activity.

To do this, we used cheese graters and potato peelers to slice up potatoes. We then added these potatoes to muffin trays, plastic frying pans, and other cooking accessories that we later cooked in pretend ovens. We then served to these to our friends!

Cooking activities are not only a fun, engaging activity for children, but one that can be used as an important teaching and development tool for all ages. The act of following a recipe can encourage self-direction and independence, while also teaching children to follow directions and use thinking skills to problem solve. Such actions support cognitive development.

Chopping, mixing, and grating the potatoes required for our latkes are also skills that help develop your child’s small muscle control and eye-hand coordination. The strengthening of these muscles are critical for the manipulation of writing implements.

Creating our latkes also fostered language development. With its own vocabulary, Hanukkah is a great opportunity for acquiring new words and meanings. This takes advantage of opportunities for your budding chefs to match pictures to words and articulate questions inspired by their new experiences.