creative jewish mom

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DIY Arrows Craft For Lag B'Omer Or Summer Camp!

With the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer coming up this Thursday night, now is the time to make some simple DIY arrows, and maybe a simple bow to boot! The bow and arrow is an important symbol of the holiday, so google it to learn more! These arrows were made by a 4th grade student of mine, and they truly are fabulous! Many years ago I made a colorful arrows craft, but this one is closer to real deal, which the kids generally prefer, and that is fine, in this case! A bunch of arrows in a vase, or stuck into a glass vase filled with kosher salt makes a fun Lag B'Omer centerpiece, afterwards you can hang them from the ceiling as a mobile, flying through the air that is! Okay, lets make some simple DIY arrows!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here. While we are in the middle of a period called The Omer on the Jewish calender, which is a period of mourning with no music, haircuts, or weddings, there is a festive day within this period called Lag B'Omer, Lag meaning lamed gimmel, which is 33, meaning the 33rd day (of 49) in which we count the Omer leading up to the holiday of Shavuot on the 50th day.  The 33rd day is a celebration in honor of the great sage Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and a day of festivities, bonfires and haircuts for 3 year old boys, ah yes and weddings too! This special day is coming up on Thursday night so the heat is on literally with all the bonfire crafts I've been making with my crafting students, and because I'll be hosting large numbers of guests for the shabbat meals following the holiday. I have a whole box of decorations from last year, so while I've made some new ones as well, I think I'll be getting that box out and making the necessary repairs.......okay, lets take a look at the features from last week's party!                       

Quilled Paper Bonfire Craft For Lag B'Omer

I have pulled this one out of the archives, yet again, because it is truly simple with great results, and right about NOW would be the time to make one, or a few! I had thought of doing this craft with my 6th grade craft students, but a colorful cardboard tube bonfire won out, so maybe next year!

Call it a quilled paper campfire, or call it a quilled paper bonfire, either way it is a fun craft for all ages and requires only very simple supplies. The wonderful Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer is coming up on the night of May 2nd, so now is the time to start thinking about some simple crafts to celebrate. The bonfire is one of the major symbols of the holiday (and kids in my neighborhood are now hoarding wood of all kinds to contribute to bonfires around town) and as it turns out quilling with orange and yellow paper is a great way to depict fire! So whether you will be celebrating Lag B'Omer or are looking for an artful summer craft, this quilled paper campfire or bonfire is perfect.

Ready to get rolling? (Got it, a quilling joke....) Let's do it.......

Recycled Cardboard Tube Logs For Play Or Crafting!

With the festive Jewish holiday coming up in just a week, now is the time to get crafting, that certainly is happening around here on account of my 20 or so 4th, 5th and 6th grade (boys) students, who are keeping me literally on my toes! Last week we worked on drawing woodgrain patterns on colored paper, which was very fun and successful for some, and very challenging and not so enjoyable for others, and there were many surprises on my part regarding for whom it was a challenge. This week, we used those drawings to make colorful and fun logs for a Lag B'Omer bonfire, using all kinds of cardboard tubes that I've been saving. The results are just fabulous, and they would be great as is as toys used together with wooden blocks or kapla or any creative toy, so I may just have to make a set with that in mind! But for now we are firing up the glue gun and making bonfires! Okay, lets do it!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! The festive Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer is coming up in less than two weeks, so now is the time to crafting! I'm busy making wood grained drawings with my students, some of whom loved the exercise and some of whom found it very difficult.......so when the fourth graders show up this week I'm going to do something a little less challenging with most of them, namely make some fun arrows, as the bow and arrow is a symbol of Lag B'Omer, as is of course fire, namely a bon fire in honor of the great sage Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai was was born and passed away on this holy day. Last year I filled my living room with neutral colored crafts for the holiday which was quite lovely, this year, hmmmm, recycle them? Likely the best idea as I need to get back to the art. And to my ongoing dollhouse saga that I have yet to share! Okay, lets take a look at the features from last week's party!

Bougainvillea In Bloom Once Again In My Northern Israel Container Garden

Yippee, my stunning magenta Bougainvillea is back in bloom after loosing all its leaves and sleeping during the coldest winter months. While Bougainvillea is a tropical plant it does do well in climates that have cool nights, like even San Francisco and my Northern Israel mountain location that is colder than San Francisco by quite a bit but somewhat similar. It turns out, that the only color of Bougainvillea that actually can live in pots generally around here, is this color, but not complaining! I have seen white and orange thrive as trees in the ground however, but that is not the general rule. So if you are planning to give bougainvillea a try, and you absolutely should, do ask which color is the hardiest in your location. And for those of you with snowy winters, you can grow bougainvillea as a houseplant, or get yourself a little greenhouse, my dream actually!

The great thing about Bougainvillea is that it literally blooms for months and months. Right now the entire plant are the blooms, or bracts, so the color is especially dense. At some point these blooms will fall off and the plant will then grow green leaves and another cycle of blooms. I think I'll just have to keep track this year!

Drawing With Kids: Colorful Woodgrain Drawings To Use For Crafting

Having now drawn many A4 sheets of colorful wood grain drawings together with a total of 8 schoolboys aged 9-12, I can say that this is truly a great exercise, and one that is enjoyable and simple for some, and quite challenging and difficult for others. I did note that the boys who excell the most in school and don't have any serious behavioral problems did a great job with this, whereas the several boys whom I know have either ADHD or some attention disorder problems created drawings that were much less detailed and generally messy. But that is okay, because we are not going for perfection, and an exercise that is difficult is also a good one! We'll be using these pages to make a bonfire craft for L'Ag B'Omer that everyone will enjoy, and the initial pain will be eased, I hope! So friends, sit down with a child or children, or yourself, and create some woodgrain drawings. Keep reading for how I instructed the boys as I drew together with them!

Fun Woodgrain Drawings For Crafting And Journaling

With the Jewish holiday of L'ag B'Omer coming up in 2 1/2 weeks, now is the time to get crafting, and continuing with last year's woodgrain themed crafts, I'm now going down the path of wood grain, but adding color to the neutral crafts I made last year. And to my surprise, there are so many ways to go with this idea, and it is truly fun and relaxing! The resulting sheets of colorful wood grain pattern can then be used in journaling, scrapbooking and in my case crafts! So lets do it as we get ready for L'ag B'Omer, ah yes and you could also use them as place mats!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! That period right after Passover is always a bit strange for me, with a "what now?" feeling, and yet, the Jewish holiday of L'ag B'Omer is in 3 weeks, so of course there are crafts to be made and my crafting groups for grade school boys is starting up again this week. My studio got almost organized for Passover, so truthfully I need to try and finish that as well as the many craft projects that have never been photographed, including a fun new deep dive into DIY dollhouses and such, stay tuned for that and enjoy the features from last week's party!

Is Your Child Struggling? How Tutoring Can Help

With today's intense competition in the classroom, there are many children who unfortunately are struggling with schoolwork. Some parents may find themselves very concerned when their child finds a specific subject difficult and consequently lags behind the others. Thanks to the excellent approach of a variety of tutoring options, such as those offering tutoring in Sydney, these difficulties can be professionally addressed, enabling students of all ages to realize their own potential. Lets learn a little bit more about how to keep your eye out for signs that your child might need some extra help, and how to determine what kind of extra help suits your family.