creative jewish mom

Science Experiment For Kids: Ice and Kosher Salt Sculptures

Here's a fun and simple science experiment for kids that's artful, cool (literally) and requires only some very basic supplies. And the results are downright gorgeous, or at least intriguing, depending on the colors one uses! Infact, I hesitate to call this a simple science experiment for kids, since anyone of any age who appreciates colors and the beauty of ice crystals will certainly enjoy this one! I was inspired by a post over on The Artful Parent, where an ice block made in a milk carton is used, but I decided to make a smaller castle like shape by filling the bottom half of a recycled plastic bottle with water. Ours melted leaving lovely holes on the inside, and it really looked like a crystal palace of sorts!

You'll Need:

• kosher salt (use can mix in some regular salt too, but I think the large salt crystals are more beautiful)
• food coloring or liquid water colors
• a block of ice, we made ours in the bottom portion of recycled plastic bottles
• a plate or preferable a deep tray to catch all the liquid as it melts
• an eye dropper (optional)

How To:

Cut open plastic bottle to release ice and place on plate with the bottom flower-like side up. Dump salt crystals onto the top of the ice and then with an eye dropper start placing drops of color on top. We didn't have an eye dropper, so we actually used tiny shot glasses to just pour the color over our block of ice which worked too, but it's preferable to do this in smaller quantities to at least prolong the activitity a bit!

As the ice melted we looked closed at how the salt was melting the ice and discussed how in some cold areas of the world, salt is often used on the streets during the winter to melt ice. And that's it! Enjoy. This could be a nice project to do with a group of kids at a summer get together, and come back tomorrow for another great project that you can do at the same time to use up your little pots of food coloring!

 

Coloring Salt With Chalk: Jerusalem Scene For Tisha B'Av

Crafting with colored salt that you can make yourself is so much fun, especially for kids who are more process oriented than expressive. While home-made colored salt poured in layers into recycled jars is certainly pretty, and there are lots of oohs and ahhs as the layers are built, I wanted to give more meaning to this project. So I decided that the layers of sand could most certainly represent the rolling hills of Jerusalem, right? Or they could also represent the hills of sand in the Judean dessert just outside of Jerusalem.

We finished off this project by sketching rows of houses onto our jars to remember Jerusalem, in preparation for the solemn holiday of Tisha B'Av, coming up next week. A dessert scene with palm trees and camels and a procession of travelers on their way to Jerusalem would be great too!

You'll Need:

• table salt
• colored chalk
• plates
• a funnel (or something that one can use as funnel)
• white glue
• a permanent black marker
• recycled jars

How To: Pour salt onto plates and color the salt with chalk by drawing on the plate. After you've colored several colors, start pouring layers of colored salt into your jars. Dont forget to use plain white salt too! When you've filled up the jar, pour a layer of white glue on top in order to prevent the sand from moving, once the glue had dried. Set aside to dry overnight, and if desired, sketch Jerusalem or dessert scenes on your jars, and display.

And if you'd like to teach your kids about the significance of Jerusalem, and the Holy Jewish Temple, the Beis HaMikdash, (that is blatantly absent from so many history books, but certainly represented on google), now is the time! 

Vacation Crafts- Nature Crafts With Rosebuds

Here's another super simple vacation or any time craft, courtesy of my eight year old daughter! I'll have to admit, I was eyeing the plate of rose petals that my mother had put aside to add to her "organic" recycling bin, as they were just so lovely. And sure enough, when I got up the next morning, my daughter had already figured out that with just a stapler and some rose petals and leaves, one can make some beautiful artful roses! So my friends, add a stapler and some staples to your traveling craft kit and let the kids go to town stapling leaves and petals, either to paper or just to themselves, and sit back and watch what they come up with! And on the afternoon just before the holiday of Shavuos when many children love to decorate the house with leaves and flowers collected in nearby fields (if you are fortunate to have some....) well, a stapler might just come in handy this year!

Vacation Crafts- Rubber Band Balls

Rubber band balls are great vacation crafts since they're not messy, require very few supplies and could even be made in the car! Plus rubber band balls double as a science experiment of sorts, and could be a fun gift to leave behind if you're visiting friends or family. I would love a bowl of these on my desk! And funny enough the merchandisers over at Target seem to agree with me, as after we made ours I saw some very neat looking ones for sale in their office supply section! But I'd say go for the homemade kind, especially if your brothers had paper routes and there are still bags of rubber bands hanging around your mom's house!

You'll Need:

• a small ball of some kind, or even a very tight ball made from a wad of newspaper
• rubber bands in a nice assortment of colors
• a sense of humor for when the kids realize that rubber bands are great for shooting too!

Enjoy!

Vacation Crafts....Fun With Sidewalk Chalk

What are vacation crafts exactly? My definition of vacation crafts would be crafts or activities that are easy to transport, require minimal setup and can be enjoyed by a range of ages without adult supervision, such that the adults can catch up with the relatives they're visiting, or have a little bit of down time themselves. With summer vacation just around the corner for many, now is a great time to start planning some fun summer craft acitivities for the kids, and I think that sidewalk chalk is a great one! (Though do check with those you may be visiting to make sure it's okay with them.)

And while the kids are out there in their pyjamas and the sun is overhead, (which in case you're paying attention means that it's at least noon and they're still in their pyjamas?) so why not have some fun with silhouettes? And come to think of it, it would also be fun to trace shadows with chalk for the starting point of a fun sidewalk chalk activity, don't you think?

A Simple Pipe Cleaner Craft: Tic Tac Toe!

A super simple pipe cleaner craft that's also a game. No explanation required right? Pipe cleaners are one of those simple craft supplies that one should always have on hand, as there are really so many great uses for them! In the past I have posted about pipe cleaner birthday crowns, and pipe cleaner sculptures, as well as pipe cleaner and pom pom critters! And now, you can even stash some in your purse and make a quick tic tac toe game when the need arises!

And of course, you can make some extras to use for scoring or tallying just about any game. I do think this would be a great way to teach a young child this classic game, don't you?

A Sharpie "Tie-Dye" Crafting Experiment!

Ever heard of creating tie-dye like patterns on fabric with sharpie pens and alcohol? It's a fun crafty experiment to do with the kids, (or with yourself, of course!) and if you do as I say rather than as we did, you may end up with something quite beautiful, and even useful as an applique of some kind. I once saw an entire comforter cover done with this technique, and it was fantastic.

The results of our little experiment are quite honestly not exactly museum worthy, or even blog worthy, but I have seen some gorgeous examples of this using beautiful colors which ran together more nicely than our basic red, blue and black.  I would say avoid black altogether, and you'll probably agree with me by looking at the before and after photo below!

You'll Need:

• permanent markers in nice colors, avoid black
• a piece of cotton fabric, we used a piece of an old undershirt, you could even do this right onto a t-shirt, though I'd experiment on some scraps first
• rubbing alcohol and eyedropper
• a cup or glass
• a rubber band

How To: Stretch your piece of fabric over the mouth of the glass and secure with a rubber band, such that the fabric is taught. Draw a nice pattern with your permanent markers, try bulls-eye patterns or other concentric designs. Using an eyedropper carefully apply drops of alcohol to the exact center of your pattern. As the alcohol spreads outwards it will take with it the ink, hopefully creating a beautiful pattern. And even if the results aren't exactly as you'd hoped, it's still a fun activity, and after all sometimes it's about the doing not the results!

Sprouting Sunflower Seeds Plus A Fun Scarecrow Craft!

Here's a fun indoor gardening project for the kids. Ever tried growing your own sprouts? And to make it even more interesting, you can craft your own scarecrows, fences, or sprout your sprouts in a recycled container that the kids have decorated. How about half a milk carton?

The sprouting method we used here doesn't necessarily produce the highest yield, when compared to other techniques, but it's simple and the kids can take care of it themselves.

You'll Need:

• raw sunflower seeds (in their shell) or anything else that sprouts, like whole dried beans
• a little bit of dirt, enough to cover your "garden" with about 1/4" deep of soil
• a container to hold the above
• or if you live in Israel you can buy a kit at Shufersol in the veggies section!

How To:

Spread soil in container. Pour enough water over soil such that it is very moist but not muddy. Spread seeds or beans over the soil. Keep moist and wait. Ours took a week to start sprouting. But it was worth the wait, and with our scarecrow (made by my 8 year old daughter) watching over the crop, well it's just too adorable!

And by the way, you could also do something similar with grass seed for a longer lasting, non-edible project!

Make Abstract Art With Eggshells: Fun For All Ages!

I must admit, until I saw the beautiful fall project conceived by "that artist woman" and linked to here on Craft Schooling Sunday, I never quite understood why anyone would want to craft with eggshells. That was then, and this is now.....so let me tell you, eggshells really are a great crafting material! And in case you're sceptical, as I was, they're easy to wash and they dry quickly.  Just one word of caution: should you decide to save your eggshells, I would find a discreet place to hoard them or your friends and family may start to worry about you! And like I say from time to time, just tell them I set you up to it!

You'll Need:

• clean egg shells
• acrylic craft paint
• black paper
• white glue or modge podge

How To:

1. Paint egg shells and set aside to dry.
2. Once egg shells are dry, working in small areas of your paper, brush on a coat of diluted white glue or modge podge and smash small sections of egg shell into the glue with your finger, such that the eggshell breaks into fragments. Continue working this way to cover the paper, and set aside to dry.
3. Once dry, go over the entire surface with a coat of diluted white glue or modge podge. 
4. You can use this sheet of eggshell mosaic for collage or other craft projects, but we're still enjoying ours in it's abstract simple state. Check back tomorrow to see how we've used this eggshell paper.!

 

Fun With Wax Paper: Pressed Leaf And Flower Art!

Here's another great craft activity using just wax paper and fresh leaves and flowers! This activity has two parts, making it that much more fun, and time consuming, usually a good thing right about now? First take a nature walk and collect leaves and flowers, and then use the things you've collected to make beautiful window art. Or wrap your creations around jars or vases and use as candle holders, gorgeous!

You'll Need:

• wax paper
• brightly colored flower petals (ours are bouganavillea) and interesting leaves—try to find things that are flat
• an old phone book (optional)

How To:

1. If you like, you can flatten leaves by placing between the pages of an old phone book and adding weight on top of the phone book. The flatter the leaves the better, though using fresh green ones results in more beautiful, though temporary, results. The green leaves we used were brown by the next day, while the bouganvillea stayed pink, and will retain its color when dried.
2. Arrange leaves and petals on a large piece of wax paper, working on the same surface where you'll be ironing.
3. When you are satisfied with the arrangement, add a second piece of wax paper on top of the leaves, and iron with a pillow case between your wax paper and iron.
4. Admire your beautiful creations, and enjoy them all year long as a reminder of summer!