I have been meaning to post an educator's guide to An Extra Seat for a while. This time of year is a good time to do it given the books focus on ahavat chinam and helping others. In particular, when witnessing so much is going on around the world today (hurricanes, monsoon...) and the acts that people are doing to help. Background: The story, written ...
Popsicle Stick Torahs
Yet another very simple Torah project. Simple Popsicle stick Torahs. This idea was made according to the direct specifications of my three year old. You may choose to be more elaborate and more creative in your crafting. We have other Torah crafts that might interest you. You can make pastry dough Torahs, and even a Har Sinai project. Do you ...
Wiki Loves Monuments Contest- Jerusalem
I've been meaning to post this for a while. Over sukkot we did a rather fun activity. Wikimedia Israel ran a little contest to get people to submit images of Heritage sites in Israel. I've always enjoyed the wiki loves art and wiki loves monuments type of projects and I knew that my daughter enjoys taking photos. I also knew she was a bit competitive so ...
Malka Dubrawsky Fabric Sukkah Decoration
Aren't these beautiful? And simple to make. These were made by Malka Dubrawsky with scraps from her somewhat new line of fabric, "A Stitch in Color" which isĀ based on her hand dyed fabric- I recommend you take a look at the fabrics they are based on as they are quite beautiful. What I like about the idea is that 1. They look great 2. They are ...
Sukkah hanging
A very simple sukkah hanging project. 1. Cut strips of paper, plastic the same width and length. Rectangular shapes. 2. Punch holes on either side. 3. Put brass fasteners inside the hole and open the brass fasteners. 4. Sort of twirl the papers around so they create a sphere. 3. Attach whatever you'd like as a a leaf and as a hanger and you are ...
Hair Clips for Girls…and boys
I never posted these but we had fun with them. Two crocheted flowers to match dresses (we like adding ribbon): This one has a button- Plus my favorite a simple clip for a boy (could be for a girl too but in this case it was made for a boy.) If you are familiar with the custom of chalaka/upshern, you may know that growing a little boy's hair un ...
Cool Recycled Sukkah
We went to Beit Avi Chai for their sukkah happening and they have a cool sukkah up where the walls are made of recycled bags. Thought I would share- I'm thinking about doing this next year :) The model sukkah exhibit had a number of interesting sukkah's, including several which touched on the social protests (I have been waiting for people to start t ...
Water science experiment for Sukkot
Given the connection between water and the holiday of Sukkot, I want to share some links for water science experiments. Experiments Experiment about rain puddles The Homeschooling ideas blog has an erosion experiment, as well as, other interesting water experiments. The erosion experiment can be tied in to the story about Rabbi Akiva and the rock. ...
Two science experiments for Rosh Hashanah
These came about by accident but were fun and take about five minutes. 1. Honey paste After reading that honey and cinnamon paste are good for coughing and laryngitis, we made a simple paste completely by experimenting on quantities. Then we tasted it. Its sort of like a mild hot tamale candy and is also good on bread and as a tea. I can't tell yo ...
Sukkah Garland
Not sure if garland is the right word, perhaps hanging is better. In any case this is extremely simple to do and we like it because we like to reuse our decorations from year to year and sometimes it rains. One solution we have for that is laminating pictures but hanging things often get a little worse for wear. However, felt holds up fairly well in ...