Two sets of Moses and Pharaoh Action Figures ready to ship....frogs included. Photo from ChaiKids.com.
A giveaway. My first. I make this leap in order to share something marvy for Passover. I love Jewish toys, and if there is cuteness or kitsch involved, I love them even more. Take this Moses and Pharaoh action figure set. No really, take it. I have two sets to give away. I want to share them with two winners who will play the heck out of ‘em. Let me explain… Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Toys, Passover
Two-faced: one side...
Yesterday, I discovered my preschooler playing Purim with the minifigs. I had already assembled a few characters before I got distracted in the kitchen. I came back to find him with a doll in hand.
“Who’s this?” he asks, “and why does she look so mad?”
It’s Vashti. I remind him that she was fired as queen. Although he finally gets that “fired” does not involve actual flame, the word still feels violent, and it worries him.
“Well, maybe she didn’t like being queen,” he said. “Maybe she’s much happier now she’s not queen.” He took off her hair, gripped her face, and spun her head around. Continue reading
Lego gragger with canoe paddle flange
For Purim, we call it a gragger, but the generic and rather wicked-sounding term is “ratchet instrument.” Jews hardly have a monopoly on this thing. Throughout the world it’s been a child’s toy, a police call, a poison-gas alert, a football (soccer) noisemaker, a percussion instrument, a scarecrow and a lure for corncrakes. And now, finally, it’s Lego.
World, I give you Lego graggers. They spin, they make noise, and although Continue reading
Filling guide (for vocab and ease of bean bag selection)
Every Purim carnival or party needs at least one station that lets kids haul back and throw something. “Fill the Hamantasch” is a more accurate title, but I do like the alliteration of the H with “Hit.”
I made this for a Purim tot program a few years ago. A giant hamantasch is the target, the middle of which is lined with velcro strips: the “hook” side. The projectiles are blobby felt bean bags in colors that represent traditional hamantaschen filling: black for mohn (poppyseed), brown for lekvar (prune butter, YUM), red for cherry, orange for apricot. The felt bean bag surface will stick to the prickly velcro, no prob.
The giant hamantasch, lined with velcro hooks
I had to mount my fake hamantasch onto corrugated board (S-core board) and then tie that onto an old Little Tikes easel. No way could I mount it on the wall and Continue reading
Squirt the Menorah
I live in Nashville, so I’m not so much in touch with the rest of the Hanukkah carnivalling world. Is “Squirt the Menorah” a popular Hanukkah game? The only Google hits seem to be my own.
I should say “Squirt the Hanukkiyah,” but it doesn’t have the right ring to it. Menorah works fine in this case.
Now, usually, when we light Hanukkah candles, they stay lit until they go out by themselves. It’s a no-no to blow them out or extinguish them in any way. Squirt the Menorah involves shooting water pistols at a lit menorah, which sounds pretty treyf to me. But we don’t play it during Hanukkah on the really real candles, the candles upon which we’ve said the commanded blessings and all. No, we play Squirt the Menorah ahead of time, when it’s okay to extinquish the candles with a squirt gun. Odd, but okay. Continue reading
Lego Dreidels
The intersection of Legos and Jewish holidays is usually entertaining. Especially if the constructions actually do stuff. Like spin.
Here are a few Lego dreidels we created with oddments at home. They all spin, some better than others. Ideally, they’d all have the proper letter on each side: nun, gimmel, hey and shin, but I only added letters to the dreidels we figured on Continue reading
PVC menorah kit, ready to disassemble and reassemble
The finished PVC menorah worked beautifully at the Chanukah Carnival. The volunteer who staffed that station devised a great ploy to generate interest: he left it half-assembled and then asked kids if they would like to “help finish it.” They sure did. Boys and girls, I am pleased to report, in seemingly even numbers. Leaving it half-built was a wise move. This left just enough of the structure up to entice would-be builders, yet not enough to look finished (and therefore not as alluring). If he had disassembled the whole thing between turns, the kids would have seen nothing to draw them to the table.
Setup: I put everything on a huge baking tray on a card table. The tray was the working surface, and the raised sides (like a jellyroll pan) kept pieces from Continue reading
Connect 4: Gelt edition
Games and crafts should say, “touch me.” Whether in a whisper or a scream, they should entice. And what screams “touch me” like chocolate?
Here’s a variation on a classic board game perfect for Hanukkah parties, carnivals or just fun at home:
Simple, yes? You’d think. But size matters. We all know gelt brands vary in palatability, but they also vary in diameter and width. And successive generations of Connect Four frames vary in inner dimensions. The old yellow and blue frames—some with tab and slot assembly, some with pin and hole assembly—are not created equal, and the snazzy new dark blue versions are totally different. (Any of these will do, but not the new Launchers incarnation or the travel size game.)
my DIY PVC menorah, so far
Addendum: you want to see the revised version? Go to the later post: PVC Menorah Kit for kids, revised.
For the synagogue’s Chanukah Carnival this year, I want to add a Build a Menorah station for kids. The goal: to assemble a menorah from bits of PVC pipe. They don’t get to keep the menorah and it won’t actually work (as in, it isn’t wired and it isn’t fire-safe for candles). No, the real goal is the process: for kids to figure out how all the pieces can fit together properly, and then to take them apart for the next person to try. They can choose to make a 7-branch Temple Menorah or a 9-branch Hanukkah Menorah (Hanukkiyah).
The new station should give the older kids something else fun to do while the little ones are busy with Dreidel Fishing and Squirt the Menorah and so forth. It will appeal to the types that love to build anything out of anything.
I bought the pipes, fittings and an awesome cutting tool that—Hallelujah—makes my hacksaw obsolete. The tool wasn’t my only surprise, as evidenced by my facebook status: Continue reading
Edible Torah Scroll. Resemblance to a bacon wrap is unintentional.
Simchat Torah starts Thursday night. The “Rejoicing of the Torah” is a happy holiday, not surprisingly. Every week, Jews read a portion (parsha or sidra in Hebrew) from the Torah, and no matter which schedule we follow, we all finish and begin again on Simchat Torah. The moment the reader chants the last word of Deuteronomy and then the first word of Genesis is one of the highlights of the liturgical year. What are the last and first words? See below.*
At synagogue on Simchat Torah, there is plenty to keep the kids engaged and happy, especially at the evening service. Flag-waving, candy-scarfing kids can also carry toy Torahs on the noisy processionals (hakafot); beat kosher rhythm Continue reading
Lulav lesson
Our action figures now have a model sukkah well-appointed for hospitable gatherings. Actually, we have several, because it’s hard to stop once we start. Yesterday’s post tried to outline a classic craft: the tabletop or model sukkah made from tissue boxes and shoe boxes, plus some ideas for free-builds using Legos, Lincoln Logs and other construction toys.
Lulav and etrog, polymer clay. The pitom is a broom straw
Here is the lulav and etrog, sized for Playmobil and Duplo folk. They dwarf our Lego mini figs, but we use them anyway. Like the challah, apple slices and shofar assortment from Rosh Hashanah, I made them from polymer clay.
The etrog (citron) has a broom-straw pitom (stem). Lots of funky rules and folk wisdom about that pitom, by the way.
The lulav: palm frond in the middle, 3 myrtle branches on the right, 2 willow branches on the left, resting in a woven palm frond holder. I did have the Continue reading
Box sukkah for Lego mini figs,with Lego kiddush cups and polymer clay challah
At Sukkot, we are commanded to dwell in a sukkah. This ideal may be out of reach for many, but it is definitely do-able for dolls. Any action figure our kid plays with can be an honored guest or hospitable host/ess in a tabletop or model sukkah.
A model sukkah is an easy, fun, and classic way to explore Sukkot with kids. Using whatever materials are already at hand, you can create a sukkah in miniature, play with it all week, use it as a centerpiece, and along the way take a look at the customs of the holiday and the rules of sukkah construction. Not sure about the details? Brush up at MyJewishLearning’s Sukkot page.
First, show your kid a real sukkah if you can, or pictures of different sukkot (plural for sukkah, and hey, the name of the holiday, too!) in books or online. It won’t make much sense Continue reading
Jonah and the Whale
Yes, I know we don’t eat during Yom Kippur, but kids do, and my kid will be eating these. As will all the children at my syagogue’s young family service, right after they crawl through the Belly of the Whale (a play tunnel).
Kveller.com just published my post about repurposing a store-bought snack into an instant, Jewish holiday food.
I invite you to read it at Kveller: “A Whale of a Snack for Yom Kippur.” And, if it passes muster (or mustard), can you “like” it there, please, so that Kveller will know someone is reading it?
Meanwhile, there is still time to buy a bag of Bugles for another “Jewish” snack: edible shofars. Continue reading
Posted in Activity, Edible Craft, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur
Tagged edible shofar, Jonah, shofar, whale
Playmobil re-enactment of Jonah and the Whale
Looking for crafty things to do with kids to prepare for Yom Kippur?
One theme is Jonah and the Whale. It’s the story we’re all going to hear on the afternoon of Yom Kippur, whether we are in the big sanctuary or in the kids’ service. Jonah’s tale is supposed to make us think about all sorts of Jewish values/middot: obedience, faith, repentance and forgiveness, to name the biggees. Yom Kippur is one heavy-duty holiday.
For little kids, I’m keeping the holiday simple. My ideal Jonah and the Whale take-home message is: Jonah screwed up, said he was sorry, and then did what he was supposed to do in the first place. Loosely, this is teshuvah, or repentance. But, still, the story is tricky. Far easier to extrapolate is the scary take-home message: if you screw up, God lets a whale eat you. Pretty creepy. To nip that in the bud, Continue reading
Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Toys, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur
Tagged Jonah, whale, Yom Kippur
Posted in Activity, Jewish Toys, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur
Tagged Rosh Hashanah, shofar, Superman, toys
Edible shofars...straight from the bag
Bugles snacks from General Mills are the perfect mini-shofars.
Please see this brief article at Kveller.com, in which I list the merits and uses of Bugle shofars and lament the recent loss of kosher status. If you don’t keep strictly kosher, you are in luck! You get teeny, tasty shofar snacks for Rosh Hashanah!
“I Need Store-Bought, Thematic Snacky-ness, and I Need it Now!” (Raising Kvell post)
If you like the article, please mention it on the Kveller comments immediately below it. I would love to hear from you.
Shana Tova, and bon appetit!
edible shofar
Posted in Activity, Crafts, Edible Craft, Jewish Toys, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur
Tagged edible craft, edible shofar, kosher, Rosh Hashanah, shofar
Playmobil Rosh Hashanah: clay Yemenite kudu shofar, ram shofar, round raisin challah, apple slices
This site is about kids and parents spending Jewish time together making stuff that is fun, cute (kitschy counts as cute), cheap, and most of the time, functional. I aim for kid-centric. I like to help enable even toddlers to participate in holiday prep.
But making Jewish holiday accoutrements for Lego and Playmobil figures out of polymer clay, I admit, comes close to crossing a line. My preschooler can do little more than make freeform shapes and blobby ovoids, and when presented with more than one color of clay will gleefully end up with gradations of grey. Still, because scale and verisimilitude have not really occurred to him yet, he has a great time “making useful things” for his figurines.
Relativity: Playmobil, Duplo and Lego
Scale and verisimilitude is my dealie. Whilst the child next to me has fun rolling and smashing and pinching and blending, I get to make miniature accessories to outfit three communities of toys in our home: Duplo, Lego and Playmobil. And of course, they all celebrate the Jewish holidays.
One more note in my defense: this stuff is fun for older kids, too. Even surly preteens Continue reading
Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Toys, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur
Tagged Apples, challah, Duplo, Lego, Playmobil, polymer clay, Rosh Hashanah
image from JGateways.org: Mayer-Johnson symbol greeting card for Rosh Hashanah
Thanks to Shira Dicker, I just learned about Gateways, “Boston’s central agency for Jewish special education,” and am pleased to pass along a page of their holiday resources. Granted, I have no experience in this area, but I adore any attempt to include the widest possible range of abilities in holiday preparation and celebration. Gateways has quick, downloadable instructions on how to make stuff like:
• The classic apple-print Rosh Hashanah card, but with scrupulous step-by-step visual and written instructions. They include options like an improvised slant board for kids with accessibility issues and a quickly-assembled foam-covered fork for kids who need a firm handle on a slippery, paint-soaked apple. Plus, what to do if someone logically wants to eat that apple currently being used as a vehicle for paint. (I mean, it’s an apple and it’s even got a fork in it…) Continue reading
Adult's hands cover child's hands on the two handles
Wait, why do the kids need to cut the apples? Isn’t it easier and faster just to do it yourself? Yes, but letting kids share in the prep has oodles of benefits. It’s quality family-time, it creates anticipation, it’s fun, and it becomes a personal reference point to a holiday that kids will remember and can build upon. Still, I wouldn’t attempt this or any parent/child exploration/task/activity if I wasn’t in a decent mood at the moment. Common sense dictates when to chirpily invite a preschooler to assist in the kitchen and when to beg him to find something quiet to do in another room.
And second: the quickie version of this task is already covered in my earlier post about why and how to make an Edible Honey Bowl from an Apple with Kids (here and at Kveller.com). But if you are excruciatingly detail-oriented and/or concerned with safety (and legal action) about letting kids in a group setting cut their own apples, read on. Continue reading
Handmade polymer clay accoutrements for Duplo folk
Twee, yes, but groovy: the Duplo Rosh Hashanah. This is what happens when I find a baggie of clay at a yard sale—random Fimo and Sculpey packs already opened, slightly hairy, and obviously from the Year Gimmel—right around the time when we determine that our Duplo people just don’t have what for Rosh Hashanah. Now they have what.
Featured here are two whole-wheat raisin challot, braided in a circle for the holiday that celebrates the never-ending cycle of the year, and a plate of apple slices ready for some Duplo honey. Duplo Toddler holds a Yemenite kudu shofar, and Duplo Girl sports a standard ram’s horn.
Note to parents of lively children: Continue reading
Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Identity, Jewish Toys, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur
Tagged Apples, challah, clay, Duplo, fimo, Lego, Rosh Hashanah, sculpey, shofar
my Tumblr pics
