הגשמת חלומות
סְּפָרִים
Book-Related Family Activities
Discussion – How can we cheer ourselves up?
“Even in rough times – Shmulek can count on his harmonica” –What helps you during hard times? You can discuss and share ideas on how to cheer yourself up when you are sad or times are hard: It can be a tune, a dream, or a hug from someone you love.
The Harmonica
Heartbeats of memories
Which songs are your favorite? You can listen to songs you like when you are sad or happy, in the morning , or those that help you fall asleep. You may want to create a family soundtrack of favorite songs to listen to when the mood is right.
The Harmonica
A dream box
Shmulek places his teeth that had fallen out in a box. You can also find a box, decorate it, and place special objects in it, such as treasures that you have found, or paintings of dreams that you would like to make come true.
The Harmonica
Arts & crafts, songs and other activities can be found on the Sifriyat Pijama Pinterest page.
The Harmonica
Close to home, dear to our heart
What is your favorite place? Is it at home? Is it nearby? Or is it far away from home? You can share with one another: What is your special place, what do you like about it, and what is special about it.
The Bus Stop
The grace of a place
You can find good things everywhere; every place has some beauty. Take turns choosing a place, whether near or far, in Israel or elsewhere, real or imaginary, and have the other participants ask questions about it to discover what makes it so wonderful.
The Bus Stop
A good station
How can a bus station make people happy? Scan the QR code and watch the schoolchildren’s heartwarming initiative in Jerusalem.
The Bus Stop
In our environment
What is happening near your home? Go on a short walk outside, and try to discover how you can do good in your own surroundings: How about picking up litter and placing it in the recycling bin? Or offering people waiting at the bus station a drink of water? Or setting up a library on your street with your neighbors?
The Bus Stop
More arts & crafts, songs and activities can be found on the Sifriyat Pijama Pinterest page.
The Bus Stop
A discussion on choosing and investing
You may want to discuss Cyril and Tevye’s choice: Why do you think they chose not to use all the gold? Did that surprise you? Why, in your opinion, did they decide to invest the gold in schooling?
Seven Good Years
Illustrations – Where is the goat?
The goat is by Cyril and Tevye’s side throughout the book. You may enjoy looking for the goat in the illustrations: What is it doing? What is its connection to the family? How about trying to tell the story from the goat’s point of view? What happens to it as the book progresses?
Seven Good Years
A game of treasure hunt
Gather several small gifts that you would like to give your family: A drawing, greeting card, or item. Take turns hiding your gifts and having the rest of your family look for the treasure using clues: “Near and far”, “hot and cold”, or arrows placed around the house.
Seven Good Years
Pinterest –
Arts & crafts, songs and other activities are available on the Sifriyat Pijama Pinterest page
Seven Good Years
Listening to a story
האזינו לפס הקול של הספר!
If you scan the QR code, you will be able to hear the soundtrack of the story. You can listen to it together at home, while traveling, or anytime and anywhere you choose.
Seven Good Years
Discussion
Which perfect gift would you like to get for your birthday? How would you feel if you did not get it? Have you ever wanted something very badly but did not receive it? This book prompts us to discuss our expectations – why this specific gift? Do we really need it or are we simply jealous because we saw someone else has it? You may also want to discuss disappointments, and the things that help us cope with them.
The Perfect Gift
Perfect gifts
How well do you know members of your own family, and what do you think would be the perfect gift for them – would it be something you buy or an experiential gift, such as time spent together, or perhaps a trip somewhere? How about playing a game and finding out? In each round, all participants try to guess what one participant would really like to get as a gift. Those whose guesses are the closest win… the perfect family hug.
The Perfect Gift
A human car game
Whoever said only cars drive round and round with a cord attached? People could too! Two of you could hold the two ends of a long cord, leading one another left, right, backwards and forwards. If you get tired, make a pit stop, and start again.
The Perfect Gift
Time together
“A car with Dad is the perfect gift”. And what would you consider to be the perfect gift? What would you like to do with your father or other family members? You could fix broken items, build or assemble something, or perhaps draw, bake, plant, or dance together. In fact, you can do whatever you want, as long as you get to spend time together.
The Perfect Gift
The Perfect Gift
Discussing – Fed up…?
Do you, parents and children, sometimes feel fed up just like Shraga? What are you fed up of, and what do you (almost) never tire of? What do you do when you feel this way? Can you give Shraga some advice as to what he should do when he feels fed up?
Fed Up
Observing – Discovering the positive
Shraga is fed up, and so he runs away elsewhere. But is that the only option available to him? If you’re feeling fed up, you can always look around you, and discover the positive aspects in our lives. Perhaps you can list all the good things that happened each day. How about making a family scrapbook of positive things, such as “my friend made me laugh”, “I got the book I wanted”, or “I’m healthy”. You could share the best moments of your day with one another, and check to see whether focusing on the positive and recording your best moments in the scrapbook will improve your mood in the following days as well.
Fed Up
Playing – The 'I'm Bored' die
“I’m bored!!!” – how often have you said or heard these two words? To shake things up a little, and spice things up, take a large die, or make one out of a cardboard box. Write some routine breakers on each side, such as “putting up a tent in the living room”, “ball games” or “singing and dancing”. Each time one of you gets bored, throw the die, and get inspired to do something fun. We recommend writing some new ideas on your die from time to time, so you won’t get fed up of them…
Fed Up
Acting the story out – What is the alien saying?
Throughout the book, the alien speaks a language that readers cannot understand. Can you tell what the alien is saying? What did it say when it was left out in the snow after Shraga had gone? What did it say upon Shraga’s return? And how did Shraga respond? You could act out the alien’s text, give it a special voice, and tell everyone what it does when it’s fed up…
Fed Up
suggestions for game cards and arts & crafts can be found on the PJLibrary Pinterest page
Fed Up
Discussion – If I had a magic hat
If you had such a wondrous hat – where would you want it to take you? And what would you ask of it? You may enjoy looking at the illustrations and telling each other which place you would have liked to visit, who you would have wanted to meet, and which memento you would have liked to bring back with you.
Galilea
Being creative – Following the magic hat
This book is an homage to the poem Magic Hat and the poetess who wrote it, Leah Goldberg: Gali-Lea. Leah Goldberg was one of the first and most important Hebrew children’s literature writers. You could also be creative by using this poem as an inspiration: sing the song entitled Magic Hat, dance along, wear hats, and act out both poem and story about Galilea. You could even make your own magic hat, and decorate it; who knows where it might take you?…
Galilea
Being explorers
Which beautiful places have you visited or would you like to visit? You may want to make a photo album or scrapbook filled with places close to home or far away, realistic or imaginary. You could even invite friends and family over, and ask them to tell you about where they born or the places they’d visited: Where are these places? Have you ever visited them in your dreams? What was it like there – was it hot or cold? Quiet or noisy? And… what was coming home like?
Galilea
Playing the movement game: Cold – Hot, Wet – Dry
Make a large paper circle and divide it up into eight equal parts. Write the following in them: cold, hot, wet, dry, up, down, quiet, noisy. Take turns playing by rotating a pencil at the center of the circle and announcing the word it points to. The rest of the participants repeat the word out loud, and add its antonym (opposite): “wet” – “dry”. At each turn, go around the house looking for something cold, noisy or hot, and so on. During the next round, you could look for something that has two or more of these attributes.
Galilea
Pinterest – for more magic hats and ideas for arts & crafts, please visit the Galilea page on the PJLibrary website and on Pinterest.Pinterest.
Galilea
Discussing – Doing things on my own
“He who sowed sorrowfully, now reaps joyously” – the children in this book enjoy working hard and being independent. Do you, children and parents, enjoy working and creating yourselves? What kind of work do you enjoy doing together with friends or family members, such as your grandparents? And what do you enjoy doing all on your own?
You may want to think together about the kind of work that you find hard, but also rewarding.
Lemonade
Simple pleasures
There are simple, everyday pleasures like drinking lemonade together, smelling a fragrant flower, or listening to a story. You may enjoy making a family collection of pleasures together: draw moments of joy on notes, and post them up in a central area of your house. You could “pick” a note each day, plucking it off the wall, and taking a moment to share some simple joy together.
Lemonade
Playing a fragrant game
This book mentions many scents – lemons, herbs, and roses – that may inspire you to play the following aroma quiz: pick some fragrant items (soap, a vanilla bean, mint leaves, orange zest, etc.) and start playing. Take turns closing your eyes, smelling one of the items given to you, and trying to guess what it is. Can you guess by using your sense of smell alone? You could allow participants to use their sense of touch too. When the game is over, you could place the fragrant items in a small basket, and smell them in moments of simple pleasure.
Lemonade
Growing joyously
You may want to take a walk near your home to look for fruit trees, flowers, or herbs. You could try growing some herbs in your garden or a planter – mint, tree wormwood, sage, or lemongrass. This could be the perfect opportunity to give your child a job – being responsible for watering the plants – so that when the time comes, they will be able to pick them joyously, and use them with pleasure!
Lemonade
פינטרסט
suggestions for game cards and arts & crafts can be found on the PJLibrary Pinterest page.
Lemonade
Anda Amir (1902–1981)
Israeli children’s poet and author, Anda Amir, was born in Poland, and immigrated to Israel in 1920. She wrote many children’s poems that accompany Israeli children to this day, among them The Hedgehog Wanted to Dance, The Sparrow, and Golden Ship. For her numerous stories and translations Amir was awarded the Bialik Award in 1936, and the Israel Prize in 1978.
Uncle Moon in the Sky – Collected Poems
A different kind of reading
Reading a poetry book and a storybook is not the same. The poems included in this collection are short and catchy, and you may enjoy reading them over and over again. You could invite your child to leaf through the book, and select a different poem each time. In a little while, your child will know the words, and be able to recite them on their own.
Uncle Moon in the Sky – Collected Poems
Putting on a show
The animals in the book are humanlike: the teddy-bear takes care of the doll; the moon loses its hair; and the bunny goes shopping. You may want to suggest that your child use some toys and stuffed animals to act out their favorite poems.
Uncle Moon in the Sky – Collected Poems
Remembering rhymes
Do you remember poems you used to recite as a child? After reading this book, you may want to try and remember poems you once knew off by heart, and introduce them to your child.
Uncle Moon in the Sky – Collected Poems
Singing together
Some of the poems included in this collection have been put to music. If you do not know the tune, you could look it up online, listen to it, and sing together. You may also enjoy accompanying your singing with simple musical instruments: a tambourine, bell, harmonica, or pair of wooden spoons.
Uncle Moon in the Sky – Collected Poems