Edible mini bonfire for Lag Ba’Omer

Edible fire for Lag Ba’Omer

Here’s a quick snack-tivity for Lag Ba’Omer, and believe me, I need quick.   My Sunday classes are about 25 minutes each, including setup and cleanup, but this little project can bag one Lag Ba’Omer tradition in 5-10 minutes, tops.  

I like to teach using REAL stuff, but we can’t legally (or sanely) build a fire in the classroom, so I’m bringing rocks, tinder and sticks for one we won’t light.  At least the students can see how to lay a real fire, and see one model by which to build a mini, edible version. 

Materials:
small plate
frosting (or cream cheese)
M&Ms
pretzel sticks (Snyders Sticks)
fruit leather, roll-up in flamey colors

How to:
Kids smear a circle of frosting on the plate.  This anchors the next step: a ring of M&Ms.
Break pretzel sticks in half and wrap a bit of fruit roll-up on a few.  Stand ’em up and pinch together.

Why do we light fires on Lag Ba’Omer?  Not because the holiday has a “log” in its name…
Well, there are several reasons, but in my allotted time and with my particular grades, I’m just going to let it go with Bar Kochba signal fires. Bar Kochba gives me the chance to mention Rabbi Akiva, too, which brings me to another tradition we’ll be honoring that day: bows and arrows, albeit sets made out of soft foam.  More on that later…

P.S. If you are a scout leader or naturalist or just an extremely thorough person, you can add tinder / kindling to the list of materials. Something shreddy like coconut or those teeninsy, oblong sprinkles. My dad, a former Scoutmaster, would tell me to add a tiny bucket of water (“Never build a fire without a bucket of water right next to it.”)

I just found this adorably detail-oriented scout guide for how to craft uber-safe and correct edible campfires, down to a marshmallow equivalent of the 5-foot safety ring. I love whomever thought this up and posted it.