Fun Friday: Hanukkah

Field Trip
-Find a local Hanukkah celebration and attend it.
-If you have any Jewish friends, express an interest in participating in part of their Hanukkah Celebration. Many will be willing to invite your family to come.


Crafts
-Make a menorah. Martha Stewart made one from a tree branch or you can craft one out of clay or any other medium you think would work.

-Make Hanukkah cards for any Jewish friends you have. Here are directions for making cards with a 3-D menorah.

-Make candles either for use in a menorah or for everyday use. Martha Stewart has directions for making beeswax candles. These are probably the easiest and least messy taper candles for kids to make at home.


Activities
-Buy some chocolate coins (check the party supply area) and hand them out to the kids as gelt.

-ThekidzPlace.com has several Hanukkah-themed printable coloring pages, online jigsaw puzzles, and online sliding puzzles.

-BillyBear4Kids.com also has several fun hanukkah-themed activities.

Think About It Thursday: Hanukkah

Hanukkah is the celebration of the miracle of one day's worth of oil lasting for 8 days. Have you ever experienced a miracle, even a small one? Write about it. If you can not remember any miracles in your life, write about one that happened to someone you know or write about one you would like to have happen.

Research another Jewish holiday and write a report about how and why the holiday is celebrated.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take this time to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas. If you do not celebrate Christmas, that's ok too, I still hope you have a great day!

Worldly Wednesday: Israel

While Israel is a hot spot for violence, I am going to stick with the more peaceful facts when teaching about it.


Flag: Shown at top of post. The star in the middle is known as the Star of David.

Location: Israel is located in Western Asia along the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, as well as The West Bank and The Gaza Strip.

People: The majoirty of the people living in Israel are Jewish (just over 75%). Israel is the only Jewish state in the world. Although it is a Jewish state, there are many people of other religions who live there as well.

Government: The Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is the head of the government and the Knesset is the legislative body.

Capital: Jerusalem (Tel Aviv is another major city and the center of Israel's economy)

Official Languages: Hebrew and Arabic

Currency: Israeli New Shekel (ILS) (4.402 ILS = 1 US dollar)

Food: I found a page on North Carolina State University's website that lists 3 Israeli recipes: Falafel, Israeli Salad and Three Bean Salad

Time Travel Tuesday: Hanukkah

While it is probably the best known Jewish holiday, Hanukkah is not the most important Jewish holiday. None-the-less it is still an important one.

Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights and is a celebration that stems from a group of Jewish fighters, known as the Maccabees. After their temple was defiled by the Hellenistic Syrians, the Maccabees were able to eventually "win" the temple back. When they went to find oil to light the temple candles, they only found enough for 1 night. Miraculously, the candles all burned for eight nights from that one little jar. The following year, the rabbis designated those days (starting on the 25th of Kislev (November/December)) as a holiday to celebrated with praise and thanksgiving.


This is a brief history, but you can find more at the following websites:

Chanuka.com
and
MyJewishLearning.com

Math Monday: Hanukkah

I feel it is important to study other cultures and religions in order to better understand those who are different from us and to teach tolerance. Having said that, I want to state that I am not Jewish, but will only post information that I have either learned first-hand or researched about Hanukkah. If anything I post is incorrect, or you simply want to expound on it, please feel free to leave me a comment. ALso, if any of you have Hanukkah traditions or lesson ideas, please let me know and I will give you full credit if I post it.

Now, on to the math...

Probability (and/or simple addition/subtraction)
- Make, or buy (party supply stores often have them for a reasonable price), a dreidel. Older kids can use introductory probability when playing with the dreidel. (Directions for play can be found at MyJewishLearning.com) Younger kids can practice addition and subtraction skills as they play the game.


Word Problems
- Traditionally, gifts are not exchanged for Hanukkah, however due to the proximity to Christmas, many American Jews have come to exchange gifts. Gelt, or money, is what is traditionally given to children at Hanukkah. If Jacob receives 10 bags of gelt, and each bag holds 8 pieces of gelt, how many pieces of gelt does Jacob have?

- Hanukkah is celebrated for eight nights. One part of the celebration is the lighting of the menorah. There are 9 candles on the menorah. The center candle is called the Shamash. Each night of Hanukkah, at sunset, the Shamash is lit and then, starting at the far right side of the menorah, the candles are lit. On the first night, one candle is lit; on the second night, two candles are lit; and so on. Only on the last night will all nine candles be burning. After the candles have been lit on the eighth night, how many candles will have been lit during Hanukkah? DO not forget to include the Shamash! (Answer: 2 the first night, plus 3, plus 4, +5, +6, +7, +8, +9 for the subsequent nights).


Measuring
- Measure the candles on a menorah.

- Make Potato Latkes and/or Sufganiot (jelly filled doughnuts), traditional Hanukkah food.

Regarding Sunday postings

I have decided that I will not be regularly posting on Sundays any more. I believe it should be a day of rest and when I am unable to prepare the post ahead of time, I find myself stressing about it on Sunday. I will still post Scouting activities, but not every week. I appreciate your understanding. Stay tuned for today's post later this evening.