Over the weekend the Jewish feast of Purim was celebrated. I love the Jewish customs and whenever I can I love to introduce some of these celebrations in to our lives.
Today, albeit slightly late, we are celebrating Purim. We pushed our normal workload aside and concentrated on learning what Purim is all about. Purim is the story of Esther, the brave Queen who risked her own life in order to save her people, the Jews. The bad guy in the story is Haman, servent of the King who initiated the decree to have all the Jews killed.
We spent the morning making Groggers, basically a noise maker! When the story of Esther is read (usually in the evening and then again in the morning over the Purim feast) every time the name of Haman is mentioned the children are encouraged to shake their music makers (or in this case empty toilet roll holders, decorated and filled with rice!) and shout "BOO". Then when the name of Mordecai is mentioned they shout for joy "Hooray Hooray".
We also made Hamantashen cookies, a delicate biscuit filled with sweet jam and in the shape of a triangle.
Leah made a cut out doll of Esther and Ethan made a cut out doll of Mordecai. They then laminated them so that they can use them as bookmarks. Ben completed a word search puzzle including the words associated within the story of Esther and Purim!
I find my Jewish Holiday  books from Heart Of Wisdom to be a tremendous source of information and ideas on how to celebrate the Jewish feast. It has added a wonderful dimension to our home schooling life and I really believe that my children will benefit from days like this when they grow up and look back in fondness at the fun we had celebrating the word of God in our home.
Tonight we are sharing a simple meal but all effort is going out to decorate the table and make the evening special. Happy Purim everybody!