A felt afikomen bag

Our Afikomen bag ready for the Seder night.

We took the whole inspiration from Creative jewish mom for this no-sew felt afikomen bag and we made our own version.

For a complete tutorial, check out the Creative jewish mom afikomen bag post over at kveller.com.

Shabbath Shalom

SHABBATH HAGADOL SHALOM!!!!

A Seder plate and kiddush cup for Passover

Inspired by the paper Seder plate saw at Joyful Jewish  we made our Seder plate craft this year starting from the original craft idea to create one of our own favourite Pesach craft.

Material needed:

round golden cardboard (as the ones used under cakes)

light brown felt to cut and paste under the cardboard.

blue glitter pen to make some board decoration of the Seder plate

a transparent plastic glass

markers for decorations of the glass

coloured beads to decorate the glass

glue

velcro if you want to attach and remove food from the plate making it more interactive, as we did.

pictures of seder plate and matza that you find from Joyful Jewish here Seder plate foods and matzah

Makkot cards memoty game in plastic envelopes

I took two small plastic envelopes to do our Eser Hamakkot cards game ready for my daughters. Usefull to look at even during the Seder.

Children will match the correct pictures and names to the words to gain an understanding of how the Makkos affected the Mitzrim in contrast to the Jews. 

Very simple Memory game in which children match the Hebrew word for each Makka with its illustration. This game is an excellent way to review the ten plagues and practice Hebrew Kriya at the same time. 

Click here for  cards PDF

You can add to the cards a cartoon makkot wheel.

Spin the makkos wheel and point to each makkah in turn. Each makkah is drawn in a pie-shaped slice of the wheel. This is a good visual aid for the children to understand the entirety of the ten plagues in one glance and to help them in seeing the sequencing of the makkos.

Click here for the wheel PDF

Nissan impressions...

My little daughter when we were walking back home in the afternoon had her first "Nissan impression" and asked to take a pic...here's the result.

Shabbath Hagadol playing project.

Shabbat HaGadol ( שבת הגדול) is the Shabbat immediately before Passover.  
According to tradition, the 10th of Nisan in the year of the exodus was a Shabbath. 
It was considered a great event, in fact a miracle, that the Israelites could on that day select a lamb for sacrifice without being molested by their Egyptian masters, who, at other times, would have stoned them for such daring (Code of Jewish Law, Orach Chayyim 430: 1).

Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, "In the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house." (Shemot12:3) 

So we made a little bedroom with the korban ready for Pesach.
You just need a medium cartoon box, polystyrene, collage paper, magazines, fluorescent stars, lamb and doll.
Then you place inside it some decorations made out of  collage paper
some paper objects the childre will cut from magazines
a pillow, covers and carpets made of felt
a polystyrene bed
sticking fluorescent room stars 
a little lamb and a doll.

I have two daughters so there are two girl dolls inside the room...

getting ready for Birkat Ha-ilanot with children

The month of Nissan is filled with remarkable moments , but one of the moments that my children wait with pleasure is the blessing of the fruit trees. 
This blessing is traditionally said when one is in view of at least two flowering fruit trees, anytime through the end of the month of Iyyar (in a climate where you can say it in Nissan it's considered best to do so). 
So we made a personal braka booklet for my daughters to use to say the braka under the trees and to take a picture of the moment to add inside the booklet.

 outside cover

inside braka and a place for the picture of the moment

The braka goes like this:
"Blessed be You, Yah our God ruler of space and time, for God left nothing lacking in God's world, and created in it good creatures and good trees, giving pleasure through them to the children of Adam."

ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם שלא חסר בעולמו כלום וברא בו בריות טובות ואילנות טובים להנות בהם בני אדם

Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha-olam shelo chiseir ba-olamo k'lum uvara vo briyot tovot v'ilanot tovim l'hanot bahem b'nei Adam

 

Shabbath Para with children

My daughters painted red two toy cows so for Shabbath Para we had our Para Aduma

This Shabbath is Shabbat Para, the 2^nd of 4 special Shabbatot before Passover. 

We read about the Para Aduma, the rare red heifer, whose ashes were used in the bizarre and mysterious purification rite of the ancient Temple. 

The message for us is that it’s time to begin planning to purify our homes and ourselves for Passover. 

But when we take a close look at the text of that purification rite of the ancient Temple, we immediately ask, “It makes no sense; how could this be?”

For this rite, the ashes of the Red Heifer were sprinkled on those that had become impure, usually because of contact with the dead, and they became pure, while those who prepared the ashes became impure. 

Even King Solomon questioned the understanding of this rite when he said (Mishley 7:23): “I said I would be wise, but it is far from me.” 

Perhaps it is because, in the presence of death, there are no answers, only questions.

Shabbath Shalom!

Megillah Esther case with children

Children can create their own megillah case using an aluminum foil roll which makes for a perfect carrying case.

Materials Needed:
• Aluminum foil box and roll
• Stiff white paper and contact paper
• Colored decorations and jewels
• Markers
• Label with Hebrew words “Megillas Esther”
• Tape

Instructions:
For the case:
1. CAREFULLY remove the metal teeth from the edge of the aluminum foil box.
2. Cover the whole box with the contact paper.
3. Decorate the top of the box .
4. Paste the Megillas Esther label on the side of the box.

Purim character masks with children

Four delightful masks of Purim characters that can be used in a variety of exciting ways.
Children can decorate their masks and use them as props to dress-up or to help them
act out and dramatize the Purim story.

Instructions:
1. Color in the masks and then decorate them with sequins, glitter, stickers, fabric, etc.
2. cut out the eyes, nose, and mouth
3. Attach strings by the temples.

Purim shalsch manos game with children

Color and cut a Purim basket, a wine bottle, friuts and Hamantaschen the n laminate them.

Put velcro behind every piece and on the basket. Children will enjoy to empy and put together the items in the basket

Parashah Tetzaveh with children

The Kohen Gadol cut out figure

The choshen Mishpat done by my daughters

 and the Mitznefess

Purim happy clown with children

We made a Purim happy clown, ready for Purim as shaloch manos or to enjoy the Adar month Description:
A small-sized soda or water bottle decorated like a happy clown makes an adorable shaloch manos that comes complete with one food type built in…just add mezonos! This shaloch
manos will delight all who receive it.
Your children can assemble and create a shaloch manos that is both attractive and functional to be used on Purim.
Materials Needed:
• 1 bottle of soda, water, or other drink
• 1 3-oz white plastic cup
• 1 9-oz clear plastic cup
• Fun Foam, pink and blue or red
• I big pom pom, several small pom poms as pictured
• Yarn for hair
• Googly eyes
• Fast Grab Tacky Glue

parashah Teruma with children

Because my elder daughter really likes the parashot concerning the Mishkan, we started with the building of the Aaron Chodesh.

You just need a wood box that the children will cover with a gold paint, two wooden sticks to paint in the same way, a printed image of the Keruvim to glue on a gold cardboard and then on the top of the box. Always on the top you can glue a golden cloth tape or ribbon.

Inside we put a golden plastic base and made two blue plasticine tablets, you can even write the Aseret Hadiberot on it with a needle.

My children like a lot to move the Aron Chodesh and then put it in a drawing of the Mishkan.

Shivat Haminim with children

Learning Shivat Haminim with my children following the memory cards.

They enjoy to put names and images together and get used with hebrew names.

Tu B’Shvat is a Jewish holiday whose origins stretch back thousands of years, to the days when most Israelites were members of an agricultural society. In this vein, this series of Tu B’Shvat crafts and games attempts to bring the Jewish perspective to bear on agriculture and trees, and on how this life, its challenges, and the mitzvot connected to agricultural living can inform Jewish life today. For older children reflecting around the time of Tu B’Shvat is meant to provide classic material for discussion of contemporary issues of food (and its unjust distribution), social justice, and poverty.

Or see below the "Go fish" card names