3rd-5th Grade Yom Ha'atzmaut Event

Hi everyone,  My name is Lilli Jennison. I am a youth group advisor at a local synagogue. I have two groups, one is kids in kindergarten through second grade, and the other one is for kids in third grade through fifth grade. Each group does an event once a month. I always find it is hard to come up with fun Jewish themed events which is why I made this blog.  Last year for Yom Ha'atzmaut, the 3rd-5th graders had an event to celebrate the holiday. For those who do not speak hebrew, Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israel's Independence Day. 

 This is the flyer for the event. I blurred out the date and location for safety reasons.  I had a tough time planning this event. My major goal was to have a section of the event devoted to training like an Israeli soldier. I googled their training courses and could not find anything age appropriate. I then spoke to a parent who was in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and she told me things that the kids could do.  The major components of this event were:  1. Eating falafel for lunch rather than the usual pizza. 2. Marching to the Social Hall like a soldier.  3. Israeli Dancing. 4. Israeli Jeopardy. 5. Writing letters to Israeli Soldiers. 6. Training like an Israeli soldier. The food came from a local kosher restaurant. We set up a make your own falafel bar. It was tough trying to get some of the kids to eat it. I heard a lot of "I don't like falafel" or "Where is the pizza?" 

After lunch, the kids Marched to the Social Hall like soldiers. With the help of one of the kid's father, the kids learned how to march in two lines. They learned if one person didn't listen, they all got "punished" for it. There were quite a few push ups. No hurt feelings though, the kids enjoyed learning how to be soldiers for the day.  When we got to the social hall, there were a few stations set up. Half of the kids started with Israeli Jeopardy while the other half wrote letters to Israeli soldiers and then they switched. 

After that rotation, came the active part of the event. Half of the kids learned Israeli dancing from a parent volunteer while the other half trained like an Israeli soldier with two parent volunteers who were also in the IDF. 

To train like an Israeli soldier, they first warmed up with some stretches and push ups. Then they participated in a timed obstacle course. This consisted of scootering around cones,  hopping over the rungs of the floor ladder, walking on the balance beam, hopscotching through the flat cones, and crawling through the tunnel. Most of the supplies were a fair price on amazon.  I would say overall this event was a success. We will definitely do a similar event next year. The kids had a great time. When their parents came to pick them up, they all told them what a great time they had. I think next year we may not do the Jeopardy because the questions were a little difficult for the age range. The training like an Israeli soldier and the food were the biggest hits.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Until next time,  Lilli