Birkat Chaverim Blog

I haven’t made these but they seem fun for traveling. The first two I stumbled across via The Crafty Crow, who did a fun set of posts about games from around the world.

Korean Board game The post on crafty crow uses craft sticks, rocks and a drawn board game to make this, but I imagine that in a pinch one could find things to make this even while traveling. Its a bit like Sorry.

Picaria A strategy game sort of like Tic Tac Toe but more complicated. Its a Native American game

Last year I hunted down lots of bingo, scavenger hunts, coloring sheets and mazes for a family trip with multi aged children. One thing we didn’t end up including in all those games were dot to dots. As a kid, I really liked doing and designing dot to dots- I used to like making them for my friends. I found a source for complicated ones and simple ones. The first site has dot to dots that change weekly based on ones syndicated in newspapers.

One of the girls in the chug (class) brought in slices of a cereal box to use as game pieces for her game. I liked that idea and used it with my daughter to make a travel game for my older niece who is a camp counsellor this summer. It had to be something that would a.fit in a matchbox and b.easy enough for a three year old to contribute. I remembered the beautiful slotted building discs by Joel Henririques and thought that would be perfect for what we wanted to do, although in a modified simple fashion. Continue reading »

We have been making travel games over the last few weeks in our chug/classes. The idea was that almost all the girls are going away somewhere once school is out and all of the “somewhere” require traveling. Having some travel games would make the traveling part of the trip more fun. For inspiration I pulled out a HABA game I bought my daughter a while back (see image.) I also pulled out three books that I thought might be useful for ideas: Continue reading »

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, as a post in the travel category as a resource. One issue that always seems to come up while travelling is staying in touch with loved ones at home. This can be expensive on both sides depending on your long distance options from home and what type of phone connection you have during your travels (roaming cell, local cell, hotel number etc.)

There are lots of options but here is a new and exciting solution- Zenofon.  This is a phone service that uses social media and a referral system which allows sign up by referral link only.
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There’s still time to talk about Noah stuff. This morning I pulled out some stickers I bought for my daughter last year around this time of year for Parshat Noach and thought it would be great to post about them, even though they are not art or craft. I bought them originally to use for travelling, and they were great for that so I wanted to share.
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This travel toy was a big success on a family trip with a group of children between the ages of 1-10. Materials required: Shoelaces (we use colorful ones)
Cheerios (or other food items with holes in them) Alternatively small plastic “kuku’s” or hair ornaments.
Combine to form necklaces and bracelets. Older children enjoy creating their own necklaces and bracelets for themselves and for younger children. Younger children (age one) enjoy eating them from the string- this takes a long time! 2 year olds require a little assistance in stringing but enjoy the making and eating process.
This activity was a big hit, and several of the children who would ordinarily never touch Cheerios, gobbled them up.
This activity is also successful with other small items that travel easily. On the 9th of Av my daughter created her own version of “fixing/building the Beit Hamikdash” using colorful hair ponies/kukus. Update: Photos posted.

The blog ABC and 123 in conjunction with Its the Small Things is hosting a contest to win a $10 gift certificate in the Its the Small Things store. The store has all types of fun handmade toys that are perfect for travel (travel race track, mini chalk boards, dress up bear etc.) The contest closes on July 20th. See ABC and 123 for more information.

I have been meaning to start writing posts about travel related toys, games, and activities because I have an interest in family celebrations, and they tend to involve alot of travel. I would like to talk about things that might make travel easier, especially with small children.
I would like to start this type of thread by mentioning home made felt boards made with felt and old tshirts.

To start here are several simple felt boards that can be made prior to travel. These are great for older children to make with younger children. Older children also enjoy playing with younger children with these felt boards. These work great with two year olds and 9-12 year olds (at least the ones I know.) They can also be made to fit a theme- family, a type of celebration, travel, location, mitzvot (good deeds) or fun. I have included a few examples.

To make:
 Cardboard, masking tape, old tshirts or felt and markers.

Cut a rectangle piece of fabric, slightly larger than your piece of cardboard. Tape the material to the cardboard. Decorate or leave blank. For pieces either cut simple shapes or draw items such as cars, buildings, people or whatever you and your child want. Thats it!