Trying to Build a Sukkah

This week the students enjoyed outside constructions time.  They were provided with PVC pipe of various sizes and connectors. They were very excited to try them out. "Let's make a rocket ship!" Ori suggested.

"No, how about we make guns?" Yitzi countered.

"Nah. Let's make a sukkah," Yochanan said.

"Yeah!!!!" they cheered.

Everyone set off to try and build a sukkah. 

First there was lots of parallel play bulding where everyone attempted to build their own sukkah.

 This was not very successful. [Interestingly, Allison C. and Chaya B. had the clearest understanding of how to build a structure. I wonder if it is an innate gift or from observing their fathers].

 The students were growing frustrated with the lack of immediate results and wondered off to do something else. 

 Donny was thrilled to come to recess and find the building material. As he began to work, the preschool returned, thrilled to have a big leader.

 Classmates of Donny saw his work and excited joined in.

 Now it was a team effort of spacial reasoning, problem solving, and good communication.

 Except for Binyomin who continued with his design plan next to the others.

 Everyone was excited about it. 

 But it involved more math than they realized, to get the different pieces to line up.

It was almost finished when...

 Donny's recess ended and another group came out.

 The kindergarten and first graders attacked the project with gusto.

But did not have the same finesse as the previous group, and without Donny's leadership, the structure collapsed. 

After Yom Kippur, Donny came out for recess and looked for the sukkah. When I explained what happened, he decided to start again.

 Again the big kids worked on it.

 With help from a few Pre-Kers.

 And it was almost finished with the 'big' kids had at work on their cooperation, communication, mathematics, and construction.

The rest of pre-K was enjoying playing ball instead.

It is probably better that we will be in our own Sukkot and not at school over Sukkot. 
Chag Sameach!!!