creative jewish mom

Hanukkah Drawings On Graph Paper Re-Visited

The other day my 9 year old son came home with this version of the little graph paper Hanukkah doodle that I posted last week. Of course I uttered a few oohs and ahhs, as it's quite a work of art. Okay, not exactly an example of pure creativity, but the idea is to create, even if it means drawing within the confines of graph paper for those who lack the confidence to just draw. Sigh. (Do check out that previous post here for step by step instructions courtesy of my 10 year old daughter!)

And, for those who even have a hard time drawing something using the graph paper squares, so get them to make a pattern by simply coloring in the squares, the results are beautiful too!

And once you have a beautiful pattern like this one, you can certainly cut the paper into shapes to glue onto holiday cards or gift tags! Honestly I wouldn't mind sitting down right now with some markers and graph paper, it seems like such a relaxing mindless little activity that everyone could benefit from once in a while!

Hanukkah Doodle Pictures For Kids

Here's a fun way for kids to draw Hanukkah menorahs and Hanukkah candles! My kids learned this little trick years ago from friends, and as Hanukkah approaches, everyone seems to draw these little shapes in their gridded math notebooks. I love the idea of drawing simple patterns, as I posted about a year ago here, so thought I'd share this one with you as well. And you can see more of our hama bead Hannukah ornaments here.

While my nine year old son drew the Hanukkah menorah, my ten year old daughter was kind enough to draw some step by step instructions for you all! Enjoy!

Drawing Exercise: How To Draw A Hand With Dimension

Here's a fun drawing exercise that's great to have under your hat (or up you sleeve) when the kids are in need of an activity, and you're in need of an activity that doesn't require fancy supplies or make a mess! I saw this idea a while back on Craft Schooling Sunday (will provide the link when I have a spare moment to look for it) and finally got around to trying it out! I drew the pink version and my daughter did the versions below.

How To: 

Trace your hand on a piece of paper. Draw lines across the paper, and when you reach the outline of the hand, make a curved line the spans the area within the hand. Continue in the same manner until the whole hand is filled! As you can see in my example, the fingers were the most successful part of the drawing as the lines were the most curved. Enjoy!

Drawing On Baking Paper!

Drawing on baking paper is a fun way to encourage your kids to draw, as variety is always part of any recipe for success! I've been trying to encourage a few of my kids to draw, as for some reason the desire just doesn't come naturally, who would have thought?

This lovely pattern was actually drawn by my daughter, who does love to draw, and she said she started drawing the pattern and just couldn't stop! I think it looks like a great scarf, and as a fun project you could even encourage your kids to imagine that they're fabric designers and to draw a pattern for a scarf on their square of paper.

In case you're not familiar with baking paper, it is in fact similar to tracing paper, but I love the fact that it comes in big square sheets (at least here) that aren't too big for a kid to handle! Plus, here in Israel tracing paper is on the expensive side, so baking paper is a very reasonable alternative.....and in some cases even better as it's heavier. And of course you can easily pick some up on your next trip to the store. Took me years to figure this one out, and now when I need some tracing paper I just head for the kitchen!

Note: An American reader just wrote to inform or rather remind me that baking paper is called parchment paper in the Unites States. Though come to think of it, I remember parchment paper being more creme colored than the baking paper we have here.........of  course creme could be lovely too!

Toilet Paper Roll Owls Great For A Rainy Day

I love any craft using recycled toilet paper tubes, or are they toilet paper rolls? Not sure really but in any case, if you've been saving them (as I have) then you can whip out a few and make yourself some cute owls. I thought this would be a great starting point for a little craft project with the kids this afternoon. I find that if they see how cute the finished product can be they'll be more likely to actually sit down and make something, whether or not their results are at all similar to mine. 

I think I'll bring out some paint, some paper, a glue stick and regular glue, some sequins maybe some feathers (if I can find some) and see what I can inspire my little ones to create. I hope to share the results with you! And if there aren't any little ones around, so this is a great craft for big ones too....wouldn't these look great as place cards for guests at your holiday table? Or hanging out just about anywhere? Grab a black felt pen, medium nib, and have some fun!

Of course, toilet paper roll owls are all over the place, but I was specifically inspired by this photo, to give credit where credit is due! All the best!

Make Doodle Coloring Pages From Connect The Dots

Ya see, I told you to expect some doodling around here! Once you add some doodling to your life you may even find it quite useful! Last night as I was preparing dinner, my daughter was copying the designs on my doodle envelopes, but this turned out to be too challenging for my sons 6 and 8, so I quickly found them a connect the dots book for a little quiet fun. Okay, now what? Go over their outline with a black pen, add some doodles and give it back to them to fill in with color! That's called thinking on your feet thanks to doodling!

Doodling As Surface Design and Meditation

Instead of doodling on little scraps of paper that usually get thrown into the garbage, how about doodling on some envelopes and saving them for sending out holiday greetings and birthday cards? As you well know, the internet is an amazing source of information, and yesterday, while researching art journaling, which I hope to do with my daughter, I came across a whole community of people who make art based on doodles as well as a school of thought and business called zentangles, which teaches doodling as a form of meditation!

And if that wasn't exciting enough, well there are a ton of little diagrams here, showing how to make all kinds of little doodle drawings......I immediately grabbed some pens and some envelopes as they happened to be on hand, and got started. And I must say, while I don't think I'll be doing anything as specific as the zentangle method, I love the idea of using doodle art as surface decoration!

And I have to tell you, my kids were absolutely fascinated! The little doodle drawing on the blue/green envelope on the upper right is the doodle that we all did in grade school, and I'm just thrilled to have added a few more designs to my repetoire! You can expect to see a whole lot of doodling going on around here in the future, because let me tell you.....it's not only addictive but really relaxing....! 

Here are links for the three doodle drawing in black:

• woven zig zag
• archer
• twisted rope

 Enjoy and let me know where your doodling takes you!