Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of accompanying Luke to his school, where they created a parent/child interactive day centered around the holiday of Purim . If you’re unsure of the meaning of the Jewish holiday of Purim, join the crowd. It’s the one Jewish holiday that centers around an historical act rather than one of religious significance. My childhood memories of it include attending a carnival at Sunday school (yum, cake walk!), dressing up like Queen Esther year after year, and eating hamentaschen, a buttery, sugar cookie filled with jelly or chocolate chips.

Luke decided to dress up in his lion costume. No, there’s no lion in the story of Purim. I tried to convince him to dress up like a king, and Annabel tried desperately to get him to dress up like a dragon (no dragons in the Purim story, either), but Luke was adamant. He fit in well with the other kids–one was in his pajamas, one was a cowgirl, and another may have been Lionel Ritchie.

Luke’s teachers helped to guide us through our day together, which led us through different stations that mimicked the actual preschool day.

First, we entered the dance and singing room. We played with hula hoops, did some dances around in a circle, and played the Hebrew version of “Eeny meeny miny mo.” Luke was a bit shy during this part and didn’t want to let go of my hand.

Next we moved on to the art room. Here’s where Luke’s stylish skills shone. Together, we created a craft of a grogger, a noisemaker that’s traditionally shaken when you hear the name of the villain, Haman, during the reading of the Purim story. Luke deftly shoveled colored rice, pom poms, and sequins into a plastic cylinder. I helped him to cover it with colored tape and stickers. And, voila, Luke’s in a band!

They also played “Pin the Crown on Queen Esther,” and it’s amazing how good at it Luke was since he wasn’t blindfolded!

After that, we visited the mini-carnival. Luke and I enjoyed coloring on the mural together, playing a bean bag toss game, and fishing with poles for magnetized characters.

Lastly, we strolled into Luke’s sister’s favorite special–MUSIC! Miss Carol on the accordion wowed Luke, too, as we sang renditions of “ABCs,” “You are My Sunshine,” “Happy Birthday,” (in English and Hebrew!), and those Purim classics, “Chag Purim,” and “I Wish I Had a Little Red Box.”

The kids had enjoyed their snack earlier, but before we left school, I snuck back into Luke’s classroom to grab a hamentaschen for myself.

I know that some of this day was for show, that school days don’t always run so systematically. But I also know that Luke felt very proud taking me by the hand and sharing a school day with me. Our preschool’s motto is “A Child Learns Through Play,” and not only do I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, I learned it firsthand as well.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Family Life, Preschoolers, Toddlers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.