At Zimmer, every unit is taught with specific values and mindsets which we wish to impart to the children. At the toddlers level, we wanted the children to walk away from Chanuka with the feeling of "Holidays are special and happy days" as well as having the knowledge that there are specific practices for the holiday: lighting the menorah, playing dreidel and eating latkes and doughnuts. As the years go on, we add on the historical story of the Maccabees as well as add on to the meaning and messages of the holiday.
The children were quite intrigued with the dreidel, watching it spin round and round.
We added on a dreidel game of our own - giving each child a chance to spin our big stuffed dreidel. Once the dreidel stopped spinning we would take note of what color it had landed on, and gave the child a token of the same color. What a fun way to practice our colors!
The children also had the opportunity to create their own dreidel image painting. But how do we know if the child understands what it is they are making? We can only find out if we take the time to ask. So before we started, Morah showed the children the dreidel cutout and asked the children what it was. Once we affirmed they were connecting the one dimentional cutout to the 3D object, we showed the children how we were taping the stencil over another paper. Smocks on and paintbrushes out to paint it all around and... it was sure exciting to see the stencil come off and find the dreidel underneath.
We had a wonderful time working with our daddies and their hammers to indent decorative pieces for our school menorah. 
And what would Chanukah be without making some yummy doughnuts!
See you tomorrow,Morah Chaya and Morah Gittel
