Flat Joseph was very excited to meet new friends in the Junior Kindergarten class at the Jacob Duman JCC.  All of the children welcomed him by introducing themselves and giving him high fives.  There was even a cubby waiting for him with his picture on it so he could put his special blue backpack inside. 

The children were learning all about Passover and Flat Joseph participated in many Passover projects during his visit.  He even had the opportunity to help lead the Passover Seder at the JCC!  Another highlight of Joseph's visit was when he had the privilege of joining one of the teachers and her family at their Passover Seder.  Attending the Seder was a child from Heller JCC and he remembered her from his time spent visiting that school!

Flat Joseph learned all about technology when he was introduced to the computer (which is much faster than his old dusty typewriter).  He also enjoyed playing in the sandbox, eating snack and lunch with the children and even resting on a cot during naptime.

The JK children made a special book for Flat Joseph called, "If I Could Make Something from Nothing, I Would Make..." Each child drew a picture of what they would make and came up with some fabulous ideas.  They even made a museum exhibit based on the moral that you can always make something from nothing. 

The Junior Kindergarten children really enjoyed their visit with Flat Joseph and were so happy to have him in their classroom. 

The Latke class at Beth Shalom enjoyed welcoming Flat Joseph. Before the Latkes were introduced to Flat Joseph the children decided to make their April self-portraits as Flat (insert child's name). It was so much fun to see their bodies as flat people!

All week Flat Joseph participated with the children in learning about Israel. Floating in the Dead Sea, feeling the heat of the desert and taking care of the animals on a kibbutz were just some of the things Flat Joseph and the children learned. He even joined us as another guest visited the school and showed us pictures and told us stories of life on a kibbutz while she and her family lived in Israel.

At the beginning of the week, he helped welcome in the new week during Havdalah and on Shabbat he stood with the children in front of the open Ark.

Flat Joseph, thanks for visiting our school!

The Dragonflies were so excited to start learning about Passover alongside our special visitor, Flat Joseph! Flat Joseph and the children learned about the story of Passover and all about Moses, Pharaoh, and the ten plagues. They also invited Flat Joseph to participate in a taste test. He tried matzah and Wheat Thins crackers and then chose which one he preferred. Though they did have distinct tastes, the children noticed one thing that they had in common: both were flat, just like Flat Joseph!

Flat Joseph also helped get ready for Passover by helping the children clean their play kitchen and remove all the chametz. There were great discussions about what should stay and what had to go, and then everyone got to work cleaning with the classroom toy mops and brooms.

After reading 2 books about making matzah, the children made their own by mixing flour and water together and rolling out the dough flatter than Flat Joseph! After poking it with a fork, it was cooked it in a very hot oven. Everyone thought it was delicious and the children even gave Flat Joseph a bite!

The Dragonflies truly enjoyed just having Flat Joseph around and letting him see what a day is like in our classroom!

Joseph arrived at Moriah ECC as spring was felt in the air. Beautiful weather lured the children outdoors, and Joseph tagged along. The Dragonflies were excited to discover that flowers had bloomed in the playground, and shared what they found with Joseph.

Small groups of children were brought into the Teva [nature] room to teach Joseph some of what they had learned about worms and worm farming.

Outdoors, groups of children joined Joseph and the worm farm. Many children expressed concern that Joseph might be frightened by worms because they had felt that way prior to their own experiences at school. Many offered to show him how to gently hold a worm; some even showed how many can fit into one’s hand!

As the children taught Joseph about worms and worm farming, the teachers were provided a window into all that had been learned over the past few months.

The Tiger and Bear classes at Glasser Preschool were very excited to meet Flat Joseph. The children were asked what they would like to do with Joseph during his visit. Many wanted to color and do art projects with him, play in the kitchen and cook him food, make challah with him and dress him up. The children enjoyed playing with his clothes. His outfit changed daily. His button was the children's favorite thing to put on him. In addition, Flat Joseph played in the block area. We sang songs and read stories to him.

We enjoyed our visit and we hope he enjoys his next adventure. Thanks for spending time with us!

When Flat Joseph arrived at JCC at Am Shalom, the children read his book, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat and tried to figure out exactly who Joseph was. The children came up with very creative thoughts . . . He was a vet because there are animals around him. He was a farmer because there were cows. He has a menorah, so he must be Jewish. He was a tailor because he sewed his clothes. And he wrote a story too and made something out of nothing.

How could we make something out of nothing? We started a discussion on recycling. One of the children remarked that they finished a toilet paper roll and then used it for an art project

Flat Joseph was visiting us during Purim so we decided to take him with us on our field trip to Gidwitz, where we told the story of Purim and sang Purim songs. We all performed an act of chesed (Hebrew for kindness). He also joined our Shabbat celebration on the bimah and sang songs, lit the candles and said the blessings.

All the children in the 4 year old classes at JCC at Am Shalom really enjoyed their interactive experience with Flat Joseph. We learned some new concepts and reinforced some old ones. We will miss him and hope he comes back for another visit.

Flat Joseph had a fabulous time at the Bernard Horwich JCC! The children were first introduced to Flat Joseph through his stories. We read Joseph Had an Overcoat in Hebrew and English. We compared the books, and noticed how the pages were mirror images of each other. We learned that Joseph's Hebrew name is Yosef. The children were eager to see the contents of Joseph's backpack, and to review his travel binder. It was great to see what Joseph did at all the other preschools.

Joseph came to us during the very happy month of Adar, and we made sure to include Joseph in all the festivities. Flat Joseph helped us bake Hamentashen, packed up Mishloach Manot baskets, listened to the megillah, marched in our Purim parade and participated in a Purim sing-a-long with our music teacher, Morah Barbie and some of the seniors from the Council for Jewish Elderly. Joseph was such a good sport and even let us dress him up in dozens of different costumes! We really enjoyed getting to know Flat Joseph and wish him the best of luck as he travels to his next destination!