Mock Israel trip | Imamother

amother

Mon, Apr 29 2019, 8:21 am

Planning a pretend trip to Israel for preschool classes for Yom Ha'atzmaut.
What are some cities you'd put on itinerary with corresponding crafts/activities?
(This is mostly for a not-religious crowd so I can't do anything "too religious"...We've done sun visors and salt crafts for the Yam Hamelach, hummus and orange juice making at a Tel Aviv cafe, writing notes at the Kosel in Yerushalayim, etc other years. )

gingleale

Mon, Apr 29 2019, 5:44 pm

My kids did this every year of preschool. They did pita making and ate them with chocolate spread. They visited the shuk and smelled and identified various spices and made bsamim bags. They milked cows (rubber gloves filled with milk with a hole in each finger to squeeze out the milk) at a kibbutz. They did sand activities at the beach. I'll come back and post if I remember other activities.

daagahminayin

Mon, Apr 29 2019, 6:09 pm

Please make sure the preschoolers know it’s not for real.

I was so disappointed as a 4 year old after we had made our own passports and gone upstairs to the big kids’ auditorium - I guess I was expecting the roof to come off and a plane to take us to Israel or something - to find out it was all a sham and we weren’t going anywhere, only in our imaginations. Gee, thanks, Morah!

amother

Chocolate

Fri, May 03 2019, 9:35 am

We expand the experience by creating an airport/airplane area in the drama center. We build it up for quite a few days to prepare for our 'trip to Israel". That includes making passports (the kids draw pictures of their faces), write their name and birthday. We paint a big box white or decorate the outside and lie it on it's side to be the airplane. We line chairs inside for seating. We attach a wing on the side. We create a control panel with fake dials and a real steering wheel. The 'pilot and copilot' wear headsets and jackets. A snack in paper muffin cups is distributed from a tray on the day of the actual flight but not on the play days early in the week when the kids are experimenting and experiencing. We cordon off an area with string and the kids have to line up and slide their 'luggage' (empty computer boxes that look like suitcases) through a cut open upside down box that has streamers hanging down. There are kids behind one side of a kiddie table stamping passports with smiley face stampers. Once everyone is seated (sometimes there is standing room only) the teachers do a fasten the seatbelt demo and make a few announcements and we make a going up noise on 'takeoff' and a going down noise as we 'land' with a bump. Then everyone claps. So much fun!