At the “Beit Tsindlicht” Children’s Educational Center — the main preschool of the Jewish Community of Dnipro — a special series of weekly themes continues, each dedicated to one of the Days of Creation. The overarching concept is titled “The Six Days of Creation: The Beautiful World Around Us.”
This week’s focus was “The Fourth Day of Creation: The Sun, Stars, and Moon.” The children learned many fascinating facts about these celestial bodies — their purposes in relation to humans, and how each one is unique. For example, they discovered that the Moon shines with reflected light and orbits the Earth, while the Sun is our own star, around which the Earth revolves. They also learned that stars are similar to the Sun but are located far out in space. A special emphasis was placed on the phases of the Moon, which hold great importance in the Jewish calendar. The Jewish month begins with the New Moon, and many Jewish holidays are based on the lunar cycle. This made the lesson especially meaningful and relevant.
Throughout the week, this theme was explored through different activities. During outdoor play, children discussed how to behave safely in the sun and learned how sunlight influences life on Earth, including the formation of climate zones. The concept of day and night was brought to life in a hands-on lesson using a flashlight and a globe, allowing children to visualize how our planet experiences light and darkness.
“One of the most exciting activities was an art session devoted to constellations,” shared preschool teacher Malka Averbuch. “We didn’t just look at pictures of real constellations — we also drew our own imaginary star patterns and played a game called ‘Find the Little Star.’ At the end of the week, we had a foam party where the children, like floating through clouds, searched for hidden shapes of stars, suns, and moons.”
The week was full of light — both literally and figuratively — helping children discover the wonders of the sky and their meaning in Jewish tradition and daily life.
