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Sign up for ‘Mommy and Me’ with a Jewish twist

Community Press
Teacher Morah Ziporah Cohen and son

Blue Ash, OH – Each week, “Torah Tots” and “Bagel Babies” gather in Blue Ash at a special Mommy and Me program that blends Jewish tradition with fun and socialization.

This novel approach to the preschool experience explores Jewish heritage through stories, songs, crafts and circle time.

Program director Morah Ziporah Cohen said, “Jewish traditions support early childhood development and healthy, mental, emotional and social growth. As parents we don’t always have the chance to stimulate our children through play. Here we can do a lot of things which are harder to do at home, such as finger painting and other fun activities that often make a mess at home.”

Torah Tots held on Monday mornings for ages 24 to 36 months and Bagel Babies on Tuesday mornings for ages 12 to 24 months are finishing their fall season with Mommy and Me classes at the new Chabad Jewish Center, 3977 Hunt Road.

This fall’s session, “My Holiday Shapes” saw holidays and learning shapes blended in unique ways.

“Many special holidays shape the Jewish year with a shape inherent in each,” Zeporah said.

For example, students can associate Rosh Hashanah with round Challah bread. Children saw how Purim is celebrated with the triangular shaped Hamantasch pastry. The rectangular menorah candle and Hanukkah’s traditional four -sided dreidel toy mark another solemn part of the Jewish calendar offering various visuals for learning.

Upcoming sessions include “Shabbat Shalom” beginning Jan. 8 and “Color Me Mitzvah” beginning April 30.

A highlight of “Holiday Explorer” before Rosh Hashanah this fall saw the children help make their own applesauce, paint with honey, “dance like bees” and learn special songs marking the Jewish holiday.

“Our Mommy and Me program will have mothers and their baby or toddler singing, clapping, playing, making a mess and spending loving quality time together once a week,” said Ziporah, an experienced and certified early childhood educator, who has taught in California and New York before moving to Cincinnati with her husband, Rabbi Berel Cohen, youth director of the Chabad Jewish Center.

Zeporah said she tries to create a “community” within the classroom getting parents involved as hands-on partners and facilitators in the learning experience.

Bagel babies and Torah Tots encourage a multi-sensory experiences that stimulate emerging language, motor development, socialization and bonding between parent and child all the while intertwining Jewish theme with exciting activities.

Play time.
Painting with honey occupied the moms and tots.

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