Birkat Chaverim Blog

I made this one with my daughter (she chose to do a cat) but prior to that we made some of these in my chug/class (I havent found the pictures yet! When I do Ill post them.) Continue reading »

Summer is a good time to post these two projects made by two girls in my class. First is a water scene made out of plastic bags and fimo. I thought it was really neat. She tested what happens when you iron plastic bags a little too long and then made use of the piece as the ocean. She didn’t have to. You can actually iron other pieces together but she liked the effect. The fimo was shaped using a mold I bought that made sea animal shapes. Continue reading »

The title probably should be something like “Taking advantage of Melabev’s book launch to talk about Bar and Bat Mitzvah activities.”

To give a brief overview- Melabev is a community center(s) for people with dementia. They have programs for early stage  dementia patients to both have ongoing mental stimulation and provide respite for their families. They have many different programs, including memory clubs and have programs in several languages.

On June 30th, those of you who live in the central area of Israel might be interested in coming to the book launch for “Alzheimer and other Dementias. Treating and Coping with Mentally Frail in the Community” (Hebrew.) There are all types of articles related to the care of people with early and late stages of dementia as well as articles on supporting families and even spiritual care of dementia patients.  The book launch with be at Melabev June 30 7:30, Derech Beit Lechem 152. For details contact 052 7203025.

Disclosure- my sister edited the book and contributed several articles, including “Intergenerational activities-young people and dementia patients.” Which relates to an activity that could be done for Bar and Bat Mitzvot. Melabev welcomes young celebrants who wish to celebrate their Bar/Bat Mitzvah with center participants. Its fun for people who attend the centers and a good learning experience and chesed opportunity for children and their families.

For more information you can be in touch with Melabev via their website or contact me and I’ll make sure they get your questions.

Making Bat Mitzvah’s (and Bar Mitzvahs) meaningful and fun is often a topic of discussion between parents and children. There are many different things that can be done (and i blogged about a great resource here.)
but here are a few other ideas:

Hafrashat Challah (separating challah)  is a big one for Bat Mitzvahs. As one of the three prominent mitzvot for women as mentioned in the mishnah (of which one is sort of irrelevant for twelve year old girls in contemporary society), its an easy way to acknowledge a girls acceptance of mitzvot and you end up with something yummy.  Two of my nieces did this as part of their Bat mitzvah celebrations, one of them as part of a program with Melabev, a day care center for people with dementia. This could include decorating challah seperating tefillot cards with a card shaped like a challah, a magnet and the text of the tefillot.

Several of the girls in my chug have also been making family scrapbooks as part of their Bat mitzvah activities. They learn more about their families as well as a new skill. In a simplified form, scrapbooking could be done as an activity at a bat mitzvah celebration by asking participants to bring family photos and coming up with an interesting question to answer as part of a scrapbook page layout. it could be holiday, story or event centered as well.

Here’s another idea which is completely different. Cake, cookie or cupcake decorating. You could do this as an opportunity to learn how to frost and decorate cupcakes (here’s an example of a party of that type here.

My niece recently did a variation on this but using edible paper toppers which could be decorated with edible ink pens. Each girl could draw on the paper and transfer the design to the cupcake. Papers and pens with kosher certification include Kopykak’s frosting sheets.
Here are some results:

There are also many programs today that have mother daughter learning opportunities. Check locally for what is available.

If you are looking for a project for a Bat Mitzvah around Shavuot, you could try floral arrangements with old nylons. Nylons can be dyed using store bought dye or food coloring and vinegar. There are a variety of examples on the web for inspiration and tutorials, or you can get a copy of The Art of Handmade Flowers.

For online tutorials and examples of nylon floral arrangements see:

Ehow tutorial with picture
Get Crafty blog with several examples
Creation Blog with small purple flowers
Flowers that Last store which has a photo gallery of examples

Our own modest example with pipecleaners as seen in the post Tu Bishvat flower ideas.

Last week we made candy flower arrangements in honor of the upcoming holiday, Shavuot but it works equally well for Mothers’ day. All the supplies can be found in your local dollar store and even around the house.

Supplies:
Small glass bottles
Dowels cut to desired height
Wire or tape
Candies
Lucky bamboo
Ribbon/buttons/decorations
Pebbles Continue reading »

I like the idea of the Areyvut Bnai Mitzvah Video Essay contest and thought it would be relevant to some of the blog readers. I like the idea of turning family celebrations into meaningful experiences which give back to the community. A while back I requested readers to let us know how they made their family celebrations meaningful. I felt that it would be helpful to others planning celebrations to see what other families have done (I’m still looking for submissions so feel free to comment or post on facebook.)

This contest is basically doing the same thing. Contestants are asked to submit videos of how they have or will incorporate the values of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (charity), and tikkun olam (social justice) in their rite of passage celebrations. The winning video will be posted on the Areyvut website. I like the idea and bet that there will be some interesting submissions.

The contest is open to grades 5 through ten and closes December 25th. See the Areyvut website for further details. Areyvut also has a database of over 200 Bnai Mitzvah mitzvah project ideas that can be incorporated into a Bnai Mitzvah celebration. This resource can be accessed here: Bnai Mitzvah mitzvah project ideas

If you are looking for a neat activity to do for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah that has both an element of fun and mitzvah, why not try a clothing swap? This idea has gained popularity due to the swap o rama rama type swaps where people bring clothing and then professional sewers, screen printers, embroiderers  and others volunteer their time to help people reconstruct clothing out of  pieces they wanted to throw away.

This could be a fun way for families to make some new clothing items for themselves, as well as for others. In addition, leftover clothing items can be donated to a local gamach or charity.

For instructions on how to set up a clothing swap visit the Future Craft Collective website for a  tutorial.