Israelites for a day

This week we have studied the Exodus, the ark of the covenant, and the tabernacle in history. Yesterday we took a suggestion from the book's enrichment ideas and made a tent. The kids pulled down blankets and pillows from their beds and used the kitchen table for "poles". They even took a little candle in their tent for an added touch.

We decided to get really into character and give ourselves Hebrew names: Jacob, Joshua, Sarah and Rachel. (Oh, and the cat was renamed Sphinx. She was bought in Egypt before we left for the Promised Land.) The kids acted out a typical day, as they imagined it, for Israelite children. They collected manna, found "sticks" for a fire, shot quail to eat(with cowboy dress-up guns, no less). They pretended to listen to Moses and to help take down the tabernacle and get ready to move again across the wilderness. When they got a little off track and donned their Indiana Jones hats and scoured the desert for treasure, the lesson ended. What a fun time! Later after dinner, the kids wanted to play outside-after dark. So we took our lesson one step further and built a bonfire in the backyard. We counted 6 lonely stars in the sky and I wondered how many the Hebrew children could count. I'm sure there were more stars visible than they could possibly count! Acting out these stories was such an effective way of teaching my little boys. These activities spurred on so many more thoughts and questions than simply reading the story, or even doing an art activity. We should do this more often!