creative jewish mom

Remembering Jerusalem: Crafts For The Three Weeks

The period of mourning for Jerusalem that is referred to as "The Three Weeks" on the Jewish calendar is coming next week, so lets add some meaning to this important time with some creative crafts! For those of us who live in Israel, and for whom the idea of Jerusalem is real, the crafts are a great reminder that while it is summer vacation (my boys are actually still in school until the end of this three week period) and a time to unwind from the pressures of the school year, we mustn't forget that it still a time for reflection. For those living outside of Israel, I'd say filling the house with crafts for the three weeks is crucial to stress its importance.......so let's get crafting. Below you'll find more than enough links to keep you busy for at least three weeks!

Baby Food Jar Votive Craft For The Three Weeks

We love having guests with sweet babies, and are more than happy when there are baby food jars to craft with!  Even before the guests left I found the small jars that I had put aside from their last visit, and together with some new tall ones, a craft idea was born: baby food jar votives with scenes of Jerusalem. This is our first craft this year with this topic, and the timing is perfect, as we can enjoy these jars for the next three weeks, and when the lights are turned down on the evening of T'Isha B'Av they will be lovely and a good reminder of what the holiday is all about!

Decoupage is a perfect craft for all ages, and results that are both abstract as well as pictorial look great together. So gather some jars, any size of course, and some simple supplies, and make a bunch of votives to use indoors and out!

Jerusalem And The Kotel Collage Craft For The Month Of Tammuz

It is officially now summer vacation for all of my girl students at Crafting A Future, but I will be continuing our weekly crafting sessions until the end of July, as our endeavors wouldn't be complete without some crafting to honor the fast on the 17th of Tammuz as well as the important holiday on Tisha B'Av!

With my 1st and 2nd grade girls, last week we made collages of the Kotel (the Western Wall) which they've all seen photos of, but some of them have not yet had the chance to visit this holy spot as it is not always such a simple trip with little children from our home here in Northern Israel, especially since most of my students come from families that do not have cars.

This week we used the kotel collages as a part of a larger collage representing the city of Jerusalem. My sweet students had so many questions "Morah (teacher) what color are the rooves in Jerusalem?"
"Morah, are there curtains in the windows?"

I tried to explain to the students that in the old city of Jerusalem, the houses are literally one on top of the other, but as this was a difficult idea to grasp (even though we also live in a similar scenario in a historic old city with houses built on hills, just like in Jerusalem) and the girls ended up depicting Jerusalem as a somewhat more modern suburban city with little houses lined up, sweet!

Next week we will be decorationg some little paper mache silhouettes of girls to add to these collages, stay tuned!

Recyled Cosmetic Box Craft For Kids With A Message (For Tammuz Too!)

This simple idea for upcycling small medicine and cosmetic boxes was brought about on account of my neighbor the principal who needed some ideas for using some donated "craft" supplies!

This idea, which is for using cosmetic boxes or even food boxes, with windows is all about rebuilding the world with love! (And for the month of Tammuz, about rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash!) Certainly in keeping with all the heart related crafts we're seeing everywhere right now, though a bit more targeted towards thinking about how we and our children can do acts of kindness to make the world a better place.

As a group activity, one could use the windows to write these acts of kindness, or kids can draw a portrait of themselves with a sentence about what small acts they will do to rebuild — their school, their neighborhood, their city, or even the world.

Oh, and of course, one turns the box inside out and draws what looks like stone walls or any kind of surface one would use to re-build. Then of course, you make a structure of some kind with the boxes, either free-standing, or attached to a wall, and it will be meaningful as well as artful!

Let me know how you use this idea!

 

Cut Paper Collage For Tisha B'Av

Tonight is the solemn Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av, (which commemorates the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem) and as with all holidays we try to get in the mood, whether it be joyful or the extreme opposite in this case, by doing a little crafting. Yesterday I had four boys hanging around and decided to engage them with a little cut paper collage, with the theme being the wall of the Kotel, the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The green plants represent the bushes that grow from between the cracks high up on the wall.

I just love the results and the simplicity of cut paper, always one of my favorites regardless of the topic.

So get out the colored paper, some scissors and glue, and get to work. 

I just realized that this craft has much more meaning that I originally realized - it's really all about rebuilding the Holy Temple stone by stone. And how can each and every one of us do this? By doing acts of kindness for others every single day, and by working at being considerate and caring, and thankful for all the good in our lives. Let's get started, shall we?

For those of you honoring the holiday, may you have a meaningful fast and may we all merit to see the reconstruction of the Beit Hamikdash again soon, speedily in our days.

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! 

 

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Crafts For Tisha B'Av: Last Year's Tissue Paper Project!

 

In an attempt to give you at least two ideas for nice craft projects to do with the kids, either before or during Tisha B'Av, I've decided to re-post a project from last year. Some of you may remember it, but most of you haven't been with me quite that long, and may not have gone through the archives, right?  Anyway, after a whole year of projects, a little look back certainly doesn't hurt! And I just realized that I didn't even post this for Tisha B'Av, though that was my original intention!

You can find the details for this tissue paper on cereal box cardboard project here. And to those of you will be fasting (I will), wishing you a meaningful fast!

Remembering Yerushalayim: A Tissue Paper Collage For Tisha B'Av

I want you all to know that I take my self appointed position as Creative Jewish Mom very seriously. So much so that despite a very packed schedule at the moment, I knew that there would be those readers who would come to my site just for some ideas of projects to do for Tisha B'Av, and I didn't want to disappoint them. So.....this morning I gathered up some tissue paper, my eight year old daughter and an old frame with glass (found on the street I might add.....) and we made this!  A really simple project with wonderful results. And a true reminder not to forget Yerushalayim (Jerusalem)— not the modern city we know today, but the city of thousands of years ago that was the home of our Holy Temple, The Bais HaMikdash.

You'll Need:

• Tissue paper cut into thin and thick rectangles, roof shapes (lots of domes), and cypress trees.
• A runny mixture of white glue and water.
• A base for your collage—a large piece of white paper, or even better, a piece of plastic or glass already in a frame, like ours here! (Obviously the glass is a bit dangerous, so do provide supervision for small children!)

How To:

1. Cut shapes from tissue paper. I did this for my daughter to get her started, while older children can certainly do that themselves.
2. Using a paint brush, apply glue mixture to your base, one small area at a time, and place pre-cut tissue paper shapes gently onto the glue.
3. With the brush, smooth tissue paper and apply another layer of glue mixture on top.
4. Apply window and door shapes after completing the overall composition.
5. Hang and enjoy, possibly in a window where these collages look like stained glass!