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Tag: Counting the Omer

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DIY Abacus Counting the Omer
Arts, Crafts & Sensory

DIY Abacus Counting the Omer

by adminupdated on April 24, 2024April 24, 2024Leave a Comment on DIY Abacus Counting the Omer

This DIY Abacus Counting the Omer is easy to make from materials you have in your house, and is a great tactile way to count the Omer! Counting of the Omer is a special ritual that counts each of the 49 days between the second night of Passover and the holiday of Shavuot. Last night, …

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When I opened this sweet new release, Shabbat Shal When I opened this sweet new release, Shabbat Shalom by @suzyultman , earlier this week, it was such a treat and I knew it would inspire an after-school activity this Friday afternoon. I first read the words and quickly learned that the book was inspired by Suzy’s weekly Shabbat gatherings with her grandmother. It generated such warm fuzzy feelings of the love and joy and togetherness of family. After yesterday, the message and beautiful drawings land with even more force: oh how we need the peace and rest that Shabbat promises! Even on the cover Suzy calls out this promise: let’s rest and reset! I feel this need so incredibly much today. This morning I attended the @kvellercom event, A Collective Moment of Grief for the Bibas Family. We had prayers, songs, blessings and space for all the big huge feelings that are consuming all of us right now. It was powerful. One of the many things that I am taking away from this experience is the rabbi’s question: What is one way you can bring light into the world this Shabbat? In my broken state I really didn’t have any thoughts. Many people shared ideas about being in community, hugging their family close, and being in nature. Little kernels of inspiration started inside me and led to today’s craft: we painted a wooden disc for our Shabbat candles, then decorated it with flowers gathered from our garden. We spent time in nature, with the bright sun shining down upon our heads, and brought that nature not only into our craft but into our Shabbat. In a nod of remembrance to Suzy’s grandma and my own, I set out my grandma’s candlesticks for our Shabbat candles this evening and so sadly, a third for all the hostages who cannot light their own. We cuddled on the couch and read Suzy’s book all together again. We hugged, we were together, we brought in nature, and we rested and tried to reset. Continued in comments … #shabbatshalom #bringthemhome #bringthemhomenow #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #jewishcrafts #jewish #jewishkidlit #community
If you have kids in the house you probably already If you have kids in the house you probably already know it’s now the countdown to Purim, which tends to often be one of the favorite holidays for most children 🙌 An intriguing story, tasty food, and a carnival captures the attention and excitement of most kiddos, and adults too! I love that we are also commanded to give to charity and our families and friends as a way to celebrate this holiday too ❤️ This year Purim starts the evening of Thursday, March 13th, less than a month away! I set up our Purim #shelfie with the same 2025 Tu B’Shevat plan: filled with books, activities, and crafts that my kids have experienced in previous years so they can visit and explore the shelves and activities as they wish, with minimum instructions from me. Don’t worry, I am also planning for some hands-on family holiday exploration but I’m listening to my needs and trying to balance all the things so for now: - Purim symbol sensory bin (with felt and Pom Pom hamantaschen matching invitation) - Bin of costumes to dress up in - I Spy Purim Groggers (one of my all time favorites!) - Loose parts crown decoration - DIY Purim story character peg dolls - Purim symbol memory game - Purim number cards (many different types!!) - Boo Haman Posting Box (another favorite!) - Numeral Gem Crown Match - Purim 3 Part Cards - Purim Book Box with all our amazing Purim books from @pjlibrary and @kar_benpublishing - Our DIY groggers (so fun!) - Costume matching game - DIY Scroll of Esther - Purim Story Sequencing Cards - Some Purim Decorations All of these have either been described here on instagram (check out stories and the Purim highlights!) and/our website, link in bio. Many of the print outs are available as part of our Purim Activities Packet for Early Learners, also linked in bio. What are you excited to explore this Purim? Do you have your costume chosen? Your mishloach manot planned out? Love to hear all your ideas and inspiration!! #purim #jewishholidays #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #preschoolactivities #jewishcrafts #preschoolathome #jewish
Another day of animals with us exploring the San D Another day of animals with us exploring the San Diego Zoo Safari Park! And another 5 hours of walking and seeing lots and lots of wildlife, some that we’ve never seen before. Our favorite experience was the Africa Tram, it was really amazing to see all these animals roaming over acres of land. We then headed to say goodbye to La Jolla and hello to Valentine’s Day (and later Shabbat with the beautiful challah we bought) with the most delicious pastries and challah from @parisiengourmandises , such a gorgeous kosher bakery. We gorged ourselves with so many yummy treats and missed being able to get to the Birch Aquarium this trip but think the animals, sweet treats, a final hot tub experience and enjoying our special challah and Shabbat, were a wonderful way to finish our San Diego trip ❤️ Favorite animals of today: Matt: burrowing owl + Visayan Warty Pig Kristi: nursing baby elephant + South African Springbok + Okapi K: bonsai garden A: Visayan Warty Pig + sand cat + bighorn sheep + cheetah + Red River Hog E: sandcat O: bald eagle Favorite pastry: cardamom brioche May your Shabbat be full of peace and may we see the safe return of the three hostages scheduled to be released tomorrow 🙏 #shabbatshalom #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishchildren #familytime #familyvacation #sandiego #sandiegozoosafaripark
5 hours exploring the San Diego Zoo 😮, then the 5 hours exploring the San Diego Zoo 😮, then the Maritime Museum, 18,000+ steps later collapsing into the hot tub after such a full and fun day 🙌 Spending Tu B’Shevat at this zoo was actually pretty amazing—we learned a lot about how the Zoo is helping with wildlife and botanical conservation, which is a lovely connection with how the holiday is contemporarily celebrated ❤️ Favorite animals we saw today: Matt: Fossa + trumpeter hornbill; Kristi: klipspringer + capybara + penguins; K: trumpeter hornbill + hyrax + tapir; A: capybara + wild cats + penguins; E: Komodo dragon; O: Komodo dragon + giant panda Favorite ship: Star of India **The volunteer docents were absolutely AMAZING at both the zoo and the Maritime Museum. So full of knowledge and helpful** #sandiego #sandiegozoo #familytime #conservation
It’s Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees! W It’s Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees! We are huge tree and nature fans over here and I absolutely love that we have a holiday all about celebrating nature ❤️ This year our Tu B’Shevat celebration and Seder look different since we are staying in an Airbnb while on my conference trip, but I made sure to grab a few essentials from home (the lovely Tu B’Shevat Seder tree platters my kids made years ago, the @pjlibrary Tu B’Shevat Seder Haggadah. We made mujadara (@purplecarrotxo recipe style 🙌) for our main (date) course and let the Haggadah guide us through thinking about the different types of fruits and nuts and seasons, offering blessings and thanks for all, then inviting the kids spin and choose from the fruits and nuts on the table ❤️ Chag Tu B’Shevat Sameach 🌳❤️🌳 Highly recommend making your own sweet Tu B’Shevat Seder plates by decorating the tree cutouts from @woodpeckerscrafts . Use WithLoveIma5 for a discount and feel that nature love every Tu B’Shevat to come ❤️ This was the last day of my conference and after it finished we toured the USS Midway (I’ll share in stories!), then (finally!!) got some ice cream before coming back to the Airbnb and enjoying our Seder 🙌 #tubshvat #tubshevat #tubishvat #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #jewishcrafts #familytradition #thankyoutrees
I had my conference all day but the crew picked me I had my conference all day but the crew picked me up for a short afternoon break where we got to take a hike along the Bayside Trail to the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in the Cabrillo National Monument, then a beautiful walk along the Sunset Cliffs at sunset 🌅🙌 before returning me to the conference for the dinner reception. Most of the presentations today covered state and federal policy and the potential impacts on the families we serve … which are, of course, terrifying. Some beautiful ocean sunsets are definitely needed to balance the worry, fear and overwhelm ❤️ #sandiego #earlychildhoodeducation #zerotofive #familytime
We got to squeeze in an adventure through a smuggl We got to squeeze in an adventure through a smuggler’s tunnel/cave and some seal (sea lion?) watching this morning before my conference started ❤️ #sandiego #familytime
It feels a little naughty but a lot nice to be spe It feels a little naughty but a lot nice to be spending the week in San Diego! I have a work conference and I’m lucky enough to have my family come with me. We arrived late last night so didn’t start adventuring until today but boy did we fill today with lots of beauty and fun—beach, cool rocks, tide pools and Annie’s Canyon Trail, which was my absolute favorite and just so incredible ❤️ The conference starts tomorrow so the next couple days won’t have as many family adventures but I think we will still manage to balance family, work and fun! #familytime #family #familyvacation #sandiego #familyhike #beachtime
Looking for another simple and sweet Tu B’Shevat Looking for another simple and sweet Tu B’Shevat activity? Look no further and grab an empty jar or container (or buy one from the Dollar Tree but I liked how I was able to use some of my containers I’ve been saving for *some amazing craft* and it’s such an applicable Tu B’Shevat teaching to reuse and repurpose recycled goods 🙌), decorate however you wish, soak a cotton ball (we added the pouring element which is such a great practice for kids), squeeze it out so it’s not sopping (yay fine motor skill and hand strengthening practice!), place it in the bottom of your container, then sprinkle some chia seeds on the cotton ball. Wait a few days and watch the seeds sprout!!! We’ve done this activity before (in my classroom and at home) but this year we are using a see-through plastic container so I am really excited to be able to better observe the seeds sprouting. They do need to be lightly sprayed every couple days and … we are leaving for a week on Saturday so this experiment may or may not work for our family this year but I’m hopeful and excited we are trying! We supplemented this activity with reading the sweet Tu B’Shevat book Trees Make Perfect Pets by @paulczajak and I seriously feel this book in my soul and could totally see my younger self taking my pet tree everywhere. Who knows, maybe I should try it as a grown up and bring some extra love and specialness to our days 😉 I love trees, I love chia seeds, and you know I love hands-on Jewish crafts and activities so this was the perfect way to end my day before dinner, a good book and bedtime ❤️ #tubshevat #tubishvat #tubshvat #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #preschoolactivities #preschoolathome #jewishkidlit #earthday #reuserecycle #recyclemeplay #pjlibrary #recycleandplay
As you can tell, I’m all about simple right now As you can tell, I’m all about simple right now because that’s all my bandwidth can manage. Good thing hands-on and meaningful activities don’t have to be complicated! To initiate a review of the seven species and their connection to the holiday of Tu B’Shevat I set up this very simple sensory bin, prepped with a fabulous (and simple!) tool: the glue gun! I traced a large number seven with the glue gun and also made seven smaller numeral sevens with the glue gun (draw on waxed paper then peel off). I tossed the seven sevens into the bin, along with our seven species cards. Our sensory bin filler? Leftover acorns, caps, sticks, leaves and seeds we collected in the past week or so plus the flower cuttings from sweet bouquet Matt gave me that were ready to say goodbye to their vase. I really like the combination of flowers and leaves in their different stages all mixed together, such a fun sensory experience with great tactile feedback. I invited the kids to search for the seven sevens, setting them up on the numbered spaces, as well as the seven species cards. They then created a pretty little design on the number seven with the sensory filler, the glue gun tracing providing a nice barrier outline. We also looked through the Tu B’Shevat Seven Species Book we made last year, all to remind us what these seven species are and to get us ready to celebrate the holiday next week! ✅ sensory fun ✅ counting and number recognition and practice ✅ Tu B’Shevat learning You can find our seven species cards as part of our Tu B’Shevat Activities Packet for Early Learners, link in bio! I’ll share in stories my sweet boy playing the Tu B’Shevat Symbol Memory Game that’s also part of the packet 😊 #tubishvat #tubshevat #tubshvat #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #preschoolactivities #preschoolathome #sensoryplay #sensoryactivity #sensoryplayideas #sensoryplaytolearn
It’s been a minute since I’ve had it in me to It’s been a minute since I’ve had it in me to set up any crafts or activities for the kids but it definitely felt good to set up this super simple Oak Tree Art in honor of Tu B’Shevat and our love of oak trees. We love all kinds of trees but oak trees have a special place in our hearts. Matt’s Hebrew name includes Alon, Hebrew for oak tree, and O’s middle name is Ilan, Hebrew for tree. For years we spent every weekend walking around the oak grove at our local arboretum. There’s just something about oak trees that make us happy. And this craft also made everyone happy: I reused a paper grocery bag to make the trunk, picked some of our wintery oak leaves from the front yard tree, then let the kids glue and crumple and glue some more to make their own sweet little oak trees, wishing them a special happy birthday wish as we created ❤️ Do you have certain trees that make you feel extra happy, peaceful or just embracing by that beautiful connection to nature? #tubshevat #tubishvat #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #preschoolactivities #jewishcrafts #preschoolathome #happybirthdaytrees #welovetrees
Today, January 27th is Holocaust Remembrance Day, Today, January 27th is Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the many many lives lost in the Holocaust. In our house we read some of the few children’s books about the Holocaust and lit two yahrzeit candles for our adopted Shoah children—children who died in the Holocaust before they could become a bet mitzvah. If you are interested in adopting and being responsible for remembering specific Shoah children I highly recommend contacting @onemorecandle and The Remember Us Project. May such atrocities never happen again and may we always stand up for ourselves and others in the face of hatred. #holocaustremembranceday #neveragain
Last night my grandmother, Janet Ghirardelli, of b Last night my grandmother, Janet Ghirardelli, of blessed memory, died. Matt and I feel blessed that we could be there, having one last opportunity to say goodbye and that we love her. My grandma was not Jewish and so is not following traditional mourning and burial practices. I find myself yearning to find an appropriate balance between wanting the comfort of permissible grief, for stopping the world to focus on this personally monumental change to our world, and wanting to hide in bed and cry. As my family so often does, we are creating our own rituals to mark this life event and to find connection and comfort when and how we need it. We thought about attending services and saying Kaddish with our congregation, but I just didn’t feel like I could face a whole group of people. My shell is so thin and it’s been cracking constantly today. And while I appreciate the beauty of the idea of having a community mourn with you, I just don’t feel strong enough to break down in public. So tonight we started by lighting a yahrzeit candle for my grandma. Yahrzeit candles are traditionally lit each of the seven days of shiva, the seven days of mourning following a loved one’s death. Even though we won’t be sitting traditional shiva, we lit the candle and shared memories about our grandma. We also lit our Shabbat candles, with one extra to represent the hostages who are not able to light their own Shabbat candles; may they all return home soon and fill their homes with light and love 🙏 By the light of these candles, we talked and ate pizza takeout as that has special memories of Saturday lunches at my grandma’s, her baking a frozen pizza in the oven and cutting it up carefully for her great-grandchildren, always served along with small cups of goldfish and a dessert of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles the kids got to put on for everyone. Simple treats they really looked forward to and that always make us think about her ❤️ May this Shabbat be restorative for all of us, giving us the gentle love and support we need, and may the end of Shabbat bring the first of the released hostages and, as soon as possible, all those who remain ❤️ Shabbat Shalom ❤️ #grief #loss
We kicked off our Tu B’Shevat exploration with t We kicked off our Tu B’Shevat exploration with this simple, but oh so lovely, loose parts tree creation. The kids loved that the invitation used some of their stick collection and they had such a great time maneuvering the nature items and the loose parts to create a really beautiful tree. Happy early birthday to the trees! #tubshvat #tubshevat #tubishvat #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #preschoolactivities #preschoolathome #looseparts #loosepartsplay
New calendar year, trying something new for our Je New calendar year, trying something new for our Jewish holiday explorations over here … instead of fully setting up a themed Shelfie and showcasing every activity at once, I will set up as I’m able (it’s been a lot emotionally these past couple weeks and my work FTE is increasing, eek!) and plan to highlight one activity at a time, as the kids explore and enjoy them. The very sweet holiday of Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees, starts in just a month, on the evening of February 12th. I pulled out our Tu B’Shevat tub and set out various activities and printables we’ve done in the past, as well as our beautiful collection of books about trees 😍 Since none of these activities are new, the kids can explore as they wish without instruction, which feels like a good speed and plan for us right now! Tomorrow we’ll share our first new activity of this holiday’s exploration!! We have a lot more Tu B’Shevat information and activities in our Tu B’Shevat Hub on our website, link in bio! #tubshevat #tubishvat #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #preschoolactivities #jewishcrafts #birthdayofthetrees #pjlibrary @pjlibrary
This week has felt long and heavy but today we exp This week has felt long and heavy but today we experienced a beautiful, incredible happening: after two days of unconsciousness, being unable to open eyes or respond, moving fitfully in discomfort, my grandma miraculously opened her eyes, sat up and was able to talk! Hallelujah! Such feelings of gratitude and relief after days of overwhelming sadness, at her expected loss and at seeing her in the hospital in such distress. As one of our Hanukkah gifts I bought this new book, To You I Call: Psalms Throughout Our Lives by Rabbi Jade Sank Ross. I had envisioned using it for the first time for something fun, a psalm for anticipation or gratitude. Instead, I turned to the Psalm for Beginning Hospice Care. The new hope is that my grandma will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, into hospice care. We are so happy she is alive and that we will get to see her … but the emotions are still huge and strong. So if you’d like, we are saying the Mi Shebeirach again for her tonight and if it’s your custom to do the same and want to add her name: May Janet Ghirardelli be blessed with healing, with restoration, with care and always, with love. Amen ❤️ #jewishlife #jewishfamily #jewishprayer #prayerforhealing @reform_rabbis
Happy last night of Hanukkah (Night 8!) and happy Happy last night of Hanukkah (Night 8!) and happy first day of 2025! Our plans to head to the snow for the day had to shift as apparently the snow had melted and the rain started in the morning so we enjoyed a hike at Jack London State Historic Park instead. Love starting our new year with a day of nature adventures! When we came home, we lit our hanukkiyot, all candles of every Hanukkiah full and shining bright, ate our last night of latkes, bimuelos, and Hanukkah cookies, then enjoyed cuddling on the couch together watching our home movie of 2024 adventures drinking hot cocoa (with the adorable frozen whipped cream Hanukkah cut outs inspired by the brilliant @rebekahlowin , even if ours melted 😂) ❤️2024 was full of a lot of fears and tears and my heart still feels broken from the continuing nightmare of October 7th and the hostages still to come home, but watching this movie together reminded us of all the joy, happy moments and so much love that existed this past year too. May 2025 bring us all more peace, more light, more people home where they belong, and so much more love ❤️ Happy Hanukkah and Happy 2025! #hanukkah #chanukah #hanukah #happynewyear #happy2025 #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishchildren #familytime #familyadventures #bethelight
Hanukkah Night 7 + New Year’s Eve = Glow Party a Hanukkah Night 7 + New Year’s Eve = Glow Party and Ice Cream Treats 🕎❤️🙌 We enjoyed one of our favorite latkes, Indian Spiced Latkes, made adorable chocolate sprinkle dreidel toppers and blue whipped cream for our ice cream treats and read through our 2024 Blessings Jar ❤️ Then we started the Maccabeats Hanukkah mix, turned on the foam glow sticks from K’s bar mitzvah as well as some Dollar Tree ones, then danced and sung and laughed together in the glow of the sticks and our Hanukkah candles ❤️❤️❤️ Happy Hanukkah, Happy Last Day of 2024 and Happy New Year! #hanukkah #chanukah #hanukah #newyearseve #happynewyear #glowparty #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishchildren #familytime #icecream #icecreamtime #familydanceparty
Even with a couple of us moving slowly due to a co Even with a couple of us moving slowly due to a cold, we still enjoyed Hanukkah Night 6, our Crafts + Cuddles Night! Made Matt’s favorite bimuelos, seasoned with anise seeds, and had multiple platters of the sweet treats we’ve made this week … which is a lot 🤪 For our crafts this year we made crayon resistant thank you cards, fire starters for ourselves and friends, popsicle stick bracelets and some beautiful rosemary Stars of David ✡️❤️ I was bummed our crayon Hanukkiah centerpiece wouldn’t stay lit but we still enjoyed all the other beautiful candles lighting up our house and holiday 🕎❤️ #hanukkah #chanukah #hanukah #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren #jewishcrafts #familytime
Happy Hanukkah Night 5, our Make, Eat + Give Night Happy Hanukkah Night 5, our Make, Eat + Give Night! I loved eating our spinach and raisin latkes + chocolate latkes dessert in the glow of our DIY rock Hanukkiah centerpiece 😍 I also loved the opportunity to remind our kiddos that even if potato latkes are the type of latkes most well known, there are so many delicious types of latkes that are enjoyed all over the world ❤️ With bellies full of Hanukkah deliciousness we worked together to make yummy treats to share, ate a few ourselves (full bellies won’t stop that!) and of course licked the spoon 😉 #hanukkah #chanukah #hanukah #jewishfamily #jewishkids #jewishpreschool #jewishchildren
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