We’re making cards for our grandparent(s). I’m making splatters! The splatters are flowers and this is a big old tree. My card is about אביב (aviv, or Spring). I’m making lots of trees. In Shorashim we used our “Pharoah’s Chair” that we made to play a singing game. By using the frogs we made as …
Tag Archive: Pesach
Apr 05
Getting Ready for Pesach
Nitzanim investigated: Bread has flour and water in it. Matzah has flour and water in it. What’s the difference? 18 minutes. From the moment that the water and flour touch, only 18 minutes can pass before the matzah is finished baking. Any longer, and the result is חמץ (chametz) – the matzah has leavened into …
Apr 03
How does Chametz feel?
Pesach is coming! What’s going to be on your seder plate? We play jumping games to learn about the seder plate. First we spin the small seder plate, and then hop to the item we land on. We can play it together, too! Do you feel the difference between matzah and chametz (leavened bread)? “This one’s …
Apr 01
We Play, We Learn
Mah Nishtanah (מה נשתנה) – the Four Questions – have been Nitzanim’s lens into Pesach this year. Here we are singing the Mah Nishtanah at the seder we’re imagining. Here we are playing Memory with Hebrew words from Mah Nishtanah. Here we are drawing posters of the ten plagues, singing Mah Nishtanah while we work. …
Mar 30
Tasting the Pesach Story
This week, Nitzanim children tasted two symbols of the Pesach story: כרפס (karpas - parsley), and מרור (maror - bitter horseradish). (The words are two of our key words for learning מה נשתנה Mah Nishtanah – the Four Questions!) We charted our ideas about what these symbols taste like. Then we identified where in the Pesach …
Mar 30
Frogs Here, Frogs There
We made frogs!! Why? Because they’re fun!! Also, we wanted to have frogs in Beit Shorashim to play with when we act out the Pesach story. We’ve already made Pharaoh’s throne, painted cardboard red so we can switch our blue cardboard water to “blood” water, and have reeds, a basket, blankets, and, of course, baby …
Mar 26
Pesach Play: Student-Led Storytelling in Shorashim
This week in Shorashim we engaged with the images and objects of Passover. We learned about the seder plate and played with seder plate puzzles: We’re learning about the shapes of the seder plate. We ate and played with karpas (parsley): I made a parsley mustache! We played a matching game with objects from the …
Mar 13
Reclining – מסובין (Misubeen)
For each of the Four Questions (Mah Nishtanah), Nitzanim is making an object we can use at the seder. This week we started making a מסובין (misubeen - recline) pillow. Jews recline at the seder to show that we’re free. By this time of the year, we’re used to planning our work before we get started. Everyone …
















