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M A Z E L D A Y S C H O O L

December—Tevet 2010 SUPPLEMENT ISSUE

Recently, at our monthly Jewish Women’s Circle,

we gathered around to discuss marriage. During

our conversation, a topic arose of what makes our

husbands happy. We went around the room tell-

ing our stories and when it was my turn, and the

tales of massages and hearty soups were already

discussed, I remembered a simple recipe that

makes my husband happy: staying home on

weekends.

For those of you who followed my ―Weekend

Picks‖ on the web and recently in the printed form,

my family’s weekends are devoted to the kids. It’s

all about running around to zoos, parks, perform-

ances, classes, and birthday parties in hopes of

entertaining our children and ―enriching‖ their

lives. However, one weekend it rained and we

had to stay home. It was that weekend that my

husband, myself and my kids really enjoyed and

it’s the one that stays in my memory. So in this issue

I’d like to share fun and simple activities to do with

your family while the driveway is snowed in or if

you simply don’t feel like getting out of those cozy

pajamas and comfy slippers. Sometimes going

nowhere at all is the best escape.

Irene Gabo

Editor

Parent Page Editorial Team:

Anna Ashurov Irene Gabo

Chani Okonov Alla Vasserman

PAGE2: CraftFun Easy Fold and Cut Star of David

PAGE4: MakeItFun

Games to Make Yourself

PAGE3: FamilyFun Keeping Busy at Home

PAGE6: GroupFun Games and Activities

PAGE7: PoconoFun Mountain Vacation

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Winter Wonderland

* Special Edition *

PAGE5: ImagineFun Pretend and Create

PAGE9: FoodFun Recipes for Winter

PAGE11: KindHero NEW PROJECT!!!

BackCover: SnowFun For a Snow Day

Plus, Places to Go

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K I D S ’ F A V O R I T E S Submitted by Irene Gabo

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Children find this to be quite a magi-

cal project to put together. They are

fairly surprised the first time they turn

the triangles into a star.

You can use these to decorate

wreaths, hang in a row to make a

chain or hang a bunch from a paper

towel roll wrapped in blue construc-

tion paper to make a mobile. Materials:

White paper

Scissors

A bit of glue or tape Instructions:

1. Take a piece of plain white paper

and fold it in half. 2. Fold it in half again.

3. Cut the corner off the paper so

that when you unfold the paper

you get two equilateral (ish) trian-

gles. [Equilateral triangles are the

kind where all three sides are the

same length.]

4. Cut a smaller triangle out of the

triangle you just made.

5. Slide the two triangles together to

make a six pointed star.

6. Add a bit of glue or tape so your

star holds together.

K E E P I N G B U S Y A T H O M E

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In preparation of this issue I’ve polled some of our

Parents Association members for games they

would recommend playing with the family on a

cold day. I am happy to share their

responses with you:

Jenga – original wood blocks stack-

ing games for all ages

Magna Tiles 100 pieces – learn

about spatial relationship through

creative building with this magnetic

shapes

Kids on Stage – the Cha-

rade game for kids

Magformers 3d building set on

QVC (I can’t believe I just rec-

ommended something from a

shopping network but they are

not what they used to be 10

years ago)

Monopoly – a classic. My four

year old son refused to buy my

railroad when I ran into debt

and needed some cash. Thank-

fully my three year old was kind

enough to buy it at a 400% mark

up until her father interfered

and stopped the sale. I lost…..

Othello – wonderful game of strat-

egy that’s easy to learn but hard

to master

Domino, chess, checkers – oldies

but goodies

4 in a row/Connect Four –

two person strategy game

that will keep kids busy for

hours

Smithsonian – What Was I

Thinking- very educational

and fun for the whole family

A great alternative to buying coloring books is this

website, www.coloring.ws. Download and print

coloring pages for free, copy and you have same

sets for siblings. Stress free and its so much

cheaper. Hundreds of coloring options from Jew-

ish holidays to animation.

Other terrific websites for crafts and games to do

with kids or for kids to do by themselves http://www.thomasandfriends.com/usa/

Thomas.mvc/Home

http://pbskids.org/sesame/elmo.html

Grow at home –I recall how much fun it was plant-

ing a bean or onion and watching it grow when I

was a kid. Taking care of it, watering it, watching

the sprouting. Try it with your kids. It’s very easy

and there are many sites taking you through the

process, such as http://hubpages.com/hub/Fun-Classroom-

Activities-to-Interest-Children-in-Plants

Another fun activity for older kids is the game of

Battleship. I am feeling nostalgic just thinking

about playing it with my dad and finally beating

him. He was so proud. Play online for free: http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/logic/

bship/

By the way, www.superkids.com is a wonderful

website for older kids to try logic games, build their

vocabulary or simply play a game of hangman or

tic tac toe.

By now you have all heard how important pre-

tend play is for kids and I am assuming between

doing items 1-5, you need a break. Let your kids

imagination run wild. Not enough items for pre-

tend play in the house? Try these: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?

id=10175

For older kids, creating a winter collage is

a fun project to make use of those old

magazines laying around. Check this out: http://www.education.com/activity/

article/create-winter-weather-collage

K E E P I N G B U S Y A T H O M E Compiled by Irene Gabo

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G A M E S T O M A K E Y O U R S E L F Submitted by Ilona Dektor

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Can you imagine how many plastic

bottle caps are thrown away each

day in the US?! As a result, tons of

waste is produced. Here is a simple

and fun activity using using plastic

bottle caps, best of all, you can use

them again and again! What you'll need:

- Plastic bottle caps (size and color

doesn't matter - you can use caps

from OJ, milk, soda, etc.)

- Paper (scraps work well with this ac-

tivity)

- Markers

- Adhesive magnet sheet What to do:

- Cut out circles of paper to fit inside of

the bottle caps

- Using markers, have your child write

as many (or as few) letters as he/she

knows. You can write the rest.

- Gently insert each paper into a bot-

tle cap.

- Cut small squares of magnet adhe-

sive. Have your child stick them onto

the back of the bottle caps.

- Use them onto a magnet board, re-

frigerator, or any magnetic surface. How to play:

Depending on your child's age, you

can vary the difficulty level of the ac-

tivity. You can work on letter identifica-

tion, phonemic awareness, combining

sounds, creating simple/site words,

spelling, etc. Be creative & have fun!!!

Here are a few fun, simple, inexpensive,

and "green" activites/games/crafts to make

with children during the winter vacation.

- Ilona

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What you'll need:

- Clean, empty egg carton

- Small toys (small enough to fit inot

each "egg space") What to do:

- Have your child arrange the small

toys inside of the egg carton

- If you have a large variety of these

toys, you can arrange them by cate-

gory (e.g, animals, foods, etc) How to play:

Depending on your child's age, you

can work on identification skills (Where

is the ___?), categorization skills (Take

out all of the white animals/jungle ani-

mals/etc), critical thinking/listening

skills (find the animal that lives in An-

arctica, eats krill, and can swim for

hundreds of miles, etc).

Enjoy & be creative!

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Submitted by Ilona Dektor

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No need to throw away your unused holiday paper plates, use

them to make fun & simple masks with your children! What you'll need:

- Paper or plastic dinner or dessert plates

- Plastic wrap

- Scissors & Markers (other art/craft supplies can be used if you have

them at home) What to do:

- Have your child decide what kind of mask they would like to

make. It can be anything from an animal to a favorite cartoon/

movie character.

- Help your child draw the character onto the back (white side) of

the dinner/dessert plate by outlining the basic image. (*Make sure to draw the eyes large,

since you'll be cutting them out) Have your child color in the rest.

-Cut out the eyes (make the holes large enough for your child to see)

- make a small hole on either side of the "mask" and lace through a long piece of twisted

plastic wrap. Measure around your child's head and secure accordingly by knotting each

side. How to play:

Allow your child's imagination to run free!!!

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G A M E S T O M A K E Y O U R S E L F

by Chani Okonov P R E T E N D A N D C R E A T E

Though my children have many toys and

games at home, I always find that their favorite

play experiences involve everyday objects and

their imagination. It’s back to basics!

TENTS My children love to build tents using

blankets and any standing object in the room

available. Whether in the bedroom, playroom

or dining room—drape the blankets between

two pieces of furniture to create a cozy space

underneath. Add pillows and some toys or dolls

and let the imagination go.

SHOPPING Help your child set up a pretend

―shop‖ with toys, or any other objects you have

around the house. Groceries, fruits/veggies

and old shoes (especially if they are different

sizes) are fun too. You can label the items with

―prices‖. If you have a toy register or play

money (even from a monopoly set), then your

shop is even better. If those aren’t available,

use your imagination to use whatever is around.

Give your child a basket or shopping bag to

place purchases inside. Pretend to be the

cashier and let your child ―go shopping‖.

CARDBOARD BOX If you get any deliveries,

don’t throw the boxes out so fast! Keep one or

two around for fun projects. My children love

to sit inside the boxes and pretend that it is a

boat, car, or just some magical space. Stack-

ing the boxes, or placing them sideways to

make shelves opens up to new ideas.

…continued on page

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Whose sound was it anyway.

A blindfolded person guesses who in the room

makes meow, quack, moo or any other

sounds. Toddlers get a kick out of this one.

A broken phone.

The first in line murmurs to the next one a word

or a phrase and the next one murmurs it to the

next one. The last person in the chain an-

nounces the phrase loudly. It is amazing what

might have left from the initial phrase.

Love Story.

First one around a table writes a sentence on

an announced topic. After completion she/he

folds the paper and passes it to the next

one. The next one, without reading what is in

the paper, writes her/his sentence on the same

topic, folds the paper and passes it to the next

player. When everybody finishes the first round

the paper gets unfolded and the story is read to

the players. Get ready to laugh very loud.

Meet your friend.

Players write down on a paper unknown facts

about themselves. The papers get tossed in the

large pot. Then a random paper gets picked

and read to the players who are trying to guess

the authors,

Measuring footsteps.

Since kids of these ages might not understand

distances it is fun to measure your apartment

with child's and/or your steps. After doing it for

a while ask your child to estimate how many

steps there are from an object to an object and

then ask him/her to check with measurements.

Scientific experiment.

Take a celery & cut a stalk in two but not to the

end. Stop a little further from the middle. Put

drops of different colors into water in two jars.

Place each stalk in different jars. See the next

morning what happened to the celery. This ex-

periment will show how a vegetable "drinks". To

make it more vivid, cut the colored stalks

into smaller pieces to follow the water moves.

ACTIVE INDOOR GAMES

Running with a ball.

Everybody gets a tea spoon and a ping-pong

ball. The task: to carry the spoon with a ball

around an apartment. To make it more difficult

ask players to hold the spoons in their mouths.

A ropewalker.

Keeping both arms away like wing, walk on the

very border of an area rug like it is a rope. You

can also place an actual rope. A glass of wine

will make this game a bit more challenging.

Mini-football.

Make football gates out of spoons and

forks. Use a ping-pong ball as a foot ball. The

goal is to get the ball in the contender's

gates. It seems to work better on a hard floor.

Hide an object.

Hide an object somewhere in

your apartment with the goal of finding

it. Players should use their voices to guide the

one who is looking.

Zhmurki.

Cover a player's eyes with a blindfold. The rest

of the group uses small bells or their voices for

identification of their location in the room. The

first who is caught becomes a catcher. Keep

fragile objects away.

Growlers.

Lay down on your back on the floor and crawl

around. This game requires healthy load of silli-

ness and some physical strength.

INTELLECTUAL INDOOR GAMES

You do not even have to stand up. Good to

play with friends around.

Quick talker.

The first person says a random word and the

next one says any word that he/she associates

with it. Continue to the next around the cir-

cle. Are you ready to embarrass yourself?

G A M E S A N D A C T I V I T I E S Compiled by Irene Gabo

and Alla Vasserman

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FAMILY ACTIVITIES IN

THE POCONOS

AREA:

Ski Big Bear 196 Karl Hope Boulevard Lackawaxen, PA 18435 Phone: 570.685.1400 Fax: 570.685.3660 E-mail: bigbear@ltis.net Website: www.ski-bigbear.com Description: Ski Big Bear offers skiing, snowboarding and tub-ing. Eighteen trails, six lifts, ter-rain park and 100% snowmak-ing provides great family winter recreation. Snowsports school and rental shop available on-site.

Promised Land State Park Winter Recreations Route 390 Greentown, PA 18426 Phone: 570.676.3428 Tollfree: 888-PAP-ARKS Fax: 570.676.5043 E-mail: promised-landsp@state.pa.us Website: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/promisedland.aspx Description: Promised Land State Park offers many winter activities. Registered snowmobiles may be used on more than 23 miles of desig-nated snowmobile trails. The trails, which are on both state park and state forest lands, are open daily after the end of deer season in late De-cember, weather permitting. Cross-country ski-ing and snowshoeing are permitted on all trails. Bruce Lake Natural Area and Conservation Is-land are the best trails. Ice fishing is popular on both lakes. Bass, pickerel, panfish and on Lower Lake, trout, are the common species captured through the ice. Ice-skating occurs on Promised Land Lake. Contact the park office for informa-tion.

Compiled by Anna Rakhlis

LOCAL REALTORS FOR YOUR POCONO

RENTING OR PURCHASING NEEDS:

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Steamtown National Historic Site Lackawanna Avenue and Cliff Street Scran-ton, PA 18503-2018 Phone: 570.340.5200 Tollfree: 888-693-9391 Website: www.nps.gov/stea Description: All aboard the Steamtown National His-toric Site! Open year-round, the site offers endless op-portunities to enjoy a nos-talgic journey through rail-roading's colorful past. A fully operating roundhouse, turntable and lo-comotive restoration shop, technology and history museums, full-service visitor's center and a state of the art 250 seat theater com-plex serve as the perfect back-drop for daily visits and seasonal special events.

Walking Tours of the Historic Milford Harford and Broad Streets Milford, PA 18337 Phone: 570.296.8700 E-mail: info@pikechamber.com Website: http://www.pikechamber.com Description: Self-guided tour of the Milford historic district that dates back to 1733. Stroll-ing these tree-lined streets fills you with peace, beauty, and a touch of nostalgia. (A section of Broad and Harford Streets receive designation as National Historic District in 1999).

The Crossings Premium Outlets 1000 Route 611 Tannersville, PA 18372 Phone: 570.629.4650 Fax: 570.629.6050 E-mail: shopper@premiumoutlets.com Website: www.premiumoutlets.com/thecrossings Description: Outlet center featuring over 100 designer and name brand outlet stores offer-ing savings of 25% to 65% everyday. Located off Exit 299 of Interstate 80 in Tannersville. Open year-round except Thanksgiv-ing and Christmas Day. Senior citizen and group discounts avail-able.

Crystal Cabin Fever Sculpted Ice Works Inc. Lakeville, PA 18438 Phone: 570-226-6246 Fax: 570.226.0110 E-mail: crystalcabinfever@sculptediceworks.com Website: www.crystalcabinfever.com Description: Don't miss the Po-conos coolest winter event! Each year, ole-man winter blows an icy blast of creative inspiration into the team of ice carvers at Sculpted Ice Works. These tal-ented professionals create Crystal Cabin Fever, and in-door, interactive ice dis-play. Now in its fifth season, Crystal Cabin Fever was created to cure the "Cabin Fever" people often feel in Febru-ary. Originally a life sized ice cabin was built and the event drew thousands of visitors. Each year, the Crystal Cabin Fever team selects a unique theme with creative variations of the Crystal Cabin and ice slide. Live ice carving shows and demonstrations will be ongoing. Ad-mission is $10, children under 15 are just $6, and children under 3 are free. Crystal Cabin Fever runs from February 11-28, 2011.

SS Speedways – Indoor Go-Karts Business Route 209 Stroudsburg, PA 18360 Phone: 570.420.5500 Fax: 570.420.9921 E-mail: speeddls@ptd.net Website: www.ssspeedways.com Description: Have you ever wanted the thrill of driving a real racecar? This is racing at its best! S&S offers family fun for the newcomer and rac-ing enthusiast alike! The tri-oval track requires a 54‖ minimum height. Open year-round expect for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. A snack bar, video game and pool table are available for those that like to watch! Private parties available. Now you can be one of the best at S&S like our NASCAR visitors! Close to I-80, Route 33 and Route 209. As about our rookie specials! Visit us online at www.ssspeedways.com.

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R E C I P E S F O R W I N T E R Compiled by Alla Vasserman

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Here is an idea for a healthy side

dish straight from Jewish cuisine. I

found this recipe at the Jewish cook

book published in Riga (Latvia) in 1989.

A little background on this fascinating

grain: Buckwheat contains a medici-

nal chemical called rutin that is be-

lieved to strengthen capillary walls,

reduce hemorrhaging in people

with high blood pressure, increase

micro-circulation in people with

chronic venous insufficiency. Buck-

wheat contains D-chiro-inositol found

to be deficient in Type II diabetes and

Polycystic ovary syndrome. It is being

studied for use in treating Type II dia-

betes and the research has shown

promising results. A buckwheat protein

has been found to bind cholesterol

tightly. It is being studied for reducing

plasma cholesterol in people with hy-

perlipidemia.

As an added bonus the cottage

cheese in this recipe will bring the load

of Calcium and vitamin A.

Ingredients:

I cup of buckwheat

200 g of low fat cottage cheese (low

fat)

1-2 eggs

butter, salt, sugar to your taste.

Cook the buckwheat. Boil two cups of

salty water and add buckwheat, bring

it to the boiling point than turn the fire

to the lowest and simmer until the wa-

ter is absorbed. When ready and

cooled add the cottage cheese, pref-

erably mash it in advance to give it a

fine texture, butter (it might be omit-

ted), salt, eggs. Make small cakes (3

inch long, 1 inch thick), place them on

the greased pan and bake until

ready.

It happened that during the last week

I had at least four conversations with

Mazel moms whose own moms

(grandmas) complained about their

daughters failing to heal their kids

properly, meaning not like they used

to. I was smiling politely to those

moms until I got the same complaints

from both my mom and grand-

mother. So I asked them what was the

proper way to cure sniffles. Well, they

mentioned Gogol-mogol among other

fool-proved remedies but they forgot

the recipe. I found it in a beautiful

cook book published in Moscow in

1952. I doubt that Gogol-mogol has

any medicinal value but I remember it

being tasty.

Ingredients

2 eggs. Separate yolks from egg

whites and keep both of them.

3 tbl spoons of sugar

1/2 glass of syrup or juice

(raspberry, sour cherry)

2 cups of milk (low fat is the best

choice)

1/2 cup of cold water

Whip 2 egg yolks until it become even

and thickish. Add salt, sugar, juice. Mix

it well then add milk and water. Pour

egg whites, already whippet into the

hard foam, into the ready mix. Fill the

glasses and... sante!

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N O M I N A T I O N C O N T E S T R E C I P E S F O R W I N T E R Compiled by Alla Vasserman

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If once upon a morning you feel like cooking and tasting something that people cooked

and tasted in 1817, try this recipe taken from the "New Pastry and Cook Book" published

in Russia in 1817.

Ingredients:

1/2 cups of sour cream

8 eggs

salt and paper

Pour sour cream into a deep frying pan and boil it so the half of it is gone. Then pour eggs

over the sour cream (The recipe does not specify whether they should be beaten first),

Add salt and pepper. When cooked, cover the pan with a lid for a brief while.

Since this recipe was written in a rather old Russian cookbook, I am not sure if I gave it a

good translation. Here is the original recipe:

Положи на блюдо, на котором подавать, полстакана сметаны, взвари, чтобы

поукипела половина; выпусти на это восемь яиц, соли и крупного перцу. Когда

сварится, припеки сверху раскаленною лопаткою.

(Новая кондитерская и поваренная книга", 1817)

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MAIL MAN Kids love writing and getting letters.

Get out some paper and envelopes. Have

everyone write letters to each other, place

them in envelopes and address them to the

person the letter is for. Place the envelopes in a

box and let them gather over a day or so. Your

child will loving being the mailman who goes to

―deliver‖ the letters to everyone in the family.

OFFICE Do you have any old calculators or

phones? Kids love to pretend to ―work‖ like

Mommy and Daddy. Give them some pens,

notepads and newspapers. If you have a spare

keyboard lying around, it’s even better. The

best part is watching them imitate you and

your spouse.

AIRPORT You and your child can set up a pre-

tend airport by lining up some of the household

chairs in rows for the ―airplane‖. Select a pilot.

You can get out a small suitcase or duffel bag

and ―pack‖ some toys inside for the trip. Oh,

the places you’ll go...

SWIMMING Fill the bathtub with water. Let kids

put on a bathing suit and go ―swimming‖ in the

tub. Kids always seem to get a real kick out of

this one.

COOKING One of my children’s favorite toys is,

oddly enough, a set of cheap pots that I don’t

use. They love to ―cook‖ all kinds of dishes for

me and for each other.

CREATIVE ART Though it does not involve pre-

tend play, open-ended art releases the crea-

tive juices just the same. Giving my kids copy

paper, crayons, a pair of scissors and glue or

tape, can keep them busy for a quite while.

The crafts they invent are truly impressive.

I M A G I N E F U N C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 5

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Here’s a story that Ilona, a PreK mom, shared: My

mom has a store in Sheepshead Bay, and one day a

customer came in with an amazing story. A young

man was studying in medical school overseas. He

was going through tough times as his beloved

mother had just passed away. Though he was strug-

gling emotionally and financially, he felt that he

needed to continue his education as a tribute to

her. One evening, a fellow student and this young

man went out for a drink. As they sat discussing their

lives, a homeless man came over and asked for

some money. Despite their own financial struggles,

they each took out several dollars and handed it to

him. A man at a nearby table was observing this

interaction. He came over to them and commented

on the act of kindness that he had just witnessed. He

chatted with them for a while, listening to the stories

they shared. The young man told him about his hard-

ships. At the end of the conversation, the older man

revealed that the resort they were having drinks in

was actually his resort and because of the kindness

that the young men showed the homeless man de-

spite their own struggles, he wanted to do something

for them. He offered to allow them to live at his resort

free of charge for the duration of their time in medi-

cal school. He gave them a place to live and an

unlimited meal plan. :) He said "You so selflessly

helped others, so I want to help you."

Lastly, here’s a story from Morah Chani: One Friday

afternoon when I was a teenager, my mom was in

Mt. Sinai hospital and my cousin and I were driving

into the city to spend Shabbat with her. The ―chain

of kindness‖ began with the Bikur Cholim organiza-

tion that keeps an apartment near the hospital and

was setting us up free of charge. On the way, there

was terrible traffic and it was nearly candle lighting

time. We didn’t want to drive on Shabbat, or carry

our things, so we asked the cab driver to pull over.

We told him that we’d come to the cab service of-

fice after Shabbat to pick everything up. We left our

packages behind and walked the blocks to the hos-

pital. When we got there, my mom was glad to see

us, but we had no food at all. The ―chain of kind-

ness‖ continued when we met a gentleman who,

upon realizing our situation, magically appeared

with grape juice, challah, fish and other Shabbat

foods for us. The next day, I was further amazed by

the stream of men and women of the Upper West

Side Jewish community who voluntarily visited pa-

tients to bring Shabbat cheer. The experience

showed me that all you really need to make it

through a difficult situation are kind people who,

whether or not they know you, will take care of you.

As many of you remember, Mazel Day School has

initiated a "KIND HERO" project. Its purpose is to re-

mind all of us that community service and kindness

are the cornerstone of Judaism. It encourages us to

teach our kids that being a good person is, if not a

ticket to a happy life, but most likely a trait charac-

teristic of a successful person. It underlines that acts

of kindness happen everyday. Despite the reputa-

tion of modern busy, rude and inconsiderate people,

most of us have at least one story of how a com-

plete stranger or a neighbor did a good deed just for

the goodness of it. Kids loves stories and the stories in

return teach kids how to live life. With these in mind,

our newsletter got an idea to create a bank of the

stories about Good People.

At the moment, we are collaborating a series of 5

radio shows with Radio Pozitiv (http://

www.radiopozitiv.com/). During the shows, radio

listeners will call and tell their story or e-mail them to

us and to the radio. Over the course of the 5 weeks,

WINNING stories will be selected to receive special

recognition and awards. We are asking you, Mazel

families, to write or to tell your story to the newsletter

team about your Good Person before January 3rd.

Please email them to mazelnewsletter@gmail.com.

The school will choose the most compelling story

and it will become the opening story for the radio

show. The radio will call you and if you choose you

can tell about your Good Person to the entire world.

Here is a story that I will share with Ron:

Once upon a summer, about 45 years ago, my

grandparents, Manya and Sam were traveling back

home to Odessa. They were having a lay over in the

small Ukrainian railroad station called Apostolovo.

Think Belle Valley, Ohio that small and lost place it

was. My grandparents were sitting and waiting for

their ride when a middle age man came over and

asked for money to purchase a ticket. He said that

somebody stale his valet and promised to pay them

back as soon as he gets home. My grandparents

gave him money, surely not without hesitations,

and... forgot about it forever. They were not very

trusting people but definitely compassionate. About

a month passed by when they received a money

transfer with a thank you telegram. I learned about

this story when I was going through the stack of post

cards that we received around the holidays. I asked

who was this person that I never met in person but

saw his post cards every holiday. Then Grandma Ma-

nya told me the story. I actually have stories where

my grandma and other people that are or were

close did great deeds just because...

N O M I N A T I O N C O N T E S T by Alla Vasserman

B‖H

12

SP

EC

IAL A

CTIV

ITIES

As the weather outside

gets colder and the snow

appears, it’s a good time

to speak to our children

about being a caring

neighbor and helping eld-

erly people around us. We

all have senior citizens liv-

ing near us who may have

trouble navigating the blis-

tery weather outside to go

out to buy food or get

medication from a phar-

macy.

It would be a great mitzva

to visit these people with

your kids and offer a help-

ing hand, sometimes if just

to talk. They are often

lonely and helpless and

your act of kindness will

not only be appreciated

but would be a great les-

son for the kids.

~ Irene G.

PLA

CES TO

GO

MAZEL DAY SCHOOL 2901 - 2915 Brighton 6th St

Brooklyn, NY 11235

Phone: 718-368-4490

E-mail:

mazelnewsletter@gmail.com

We’re on the web!

www.mazeldayschool.com

QUALITY RUSSIAN-JEWISH

PRIVATE SCHOOL

CARTOON OF THE MONTH Cold Molds Borrow some pans from the

kitchen. Use them to build crystal fairy castles out of

snow or to create cakes for a cold-weather "buffet".

Ice and Easy Freeze colored water into ice cubes,

then hide them around the yard for a winter time

scavenger hunt.

Tic-Tac Snow Two players go for the championship

in this classic games. Make a grid on the snow with a

stick and use crisscrossed sticks and pine cones as

game pieces.

Sugar Daddy. Give your friendly snowman a candy

-coated makeover with licorice, lollipops and gum-

mies. Ice skating in Bryant Park.

Shake up Use strong glue to attach a plastic toy to

the inside of a jar lid, then add baby oil and glitter for

a homemade snow globe; it makes a fun souvenir of a

great day.

F O R A S N O W D A Y Compiled by Irene Gabo, Alla

Vasserman and Ilona Dektor

B‖H

TOY INVENTOR'S WORKSHOP -

Rockets (12/26 1:30-2:30pm)

Ages 5-8

145 Brooklyn Avenue

$7.50 museum admission

(Brooklyn Children's Museum)

718.735.4400 or

www.brooklynkids.org

WINTER IN THE WILD (12/26, 1-

3pm) Explains how animals

adapt to winter!

Prospect Park Audobon Cen-

ter, Lincoln Rd. & Ocean Ave.

entrance, All Ages, FREE ad-

mission, 718.287.3400

www.prospectpark.org

KID’S WORLD on Neck Road

and East 14th Street in Brooklyn

has open play time from 12 to

4 pm on Sundays with special

appearances by different

characters and kosher pizza.

Only $8 per child. Check out

their schedule and other ac-

tivities at

www.kidsworldoffun.com