Category Archives: Jewish Toys

Giveaway: Moses & Pharaoh Action Figures

Posted on 03/25/2016 | 13 comments

Photo from ChaiKids.com

Want to win the best Afikomen present ever? Moses and Pharoah Action Figures. ChaiKids is giving away 3 sets, and you won’t find them anywhere else. Continue reading →

13 Comments

Posted in Jewish Toys, Kitsch, Passover

Yom Kippur Mini Catapult

Posted on 09/20/2015 | 2 comments

to practice “hitting the mark”

I’ve used craft stick catapults for Lag B’Omer, but this year I needed a quick, thematic craft for 2nd graders right before Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur liturgy features archery imagery: missing the mark (“al chet,” which is the closest thing Hebrew has to the word “sin”) and hitting the mark. Torah is sometimes translated as “to take aim.” Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Toys, Lag B'Omer, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

Tagged catapult, trash art, Yom Kippur

The Jews and Their Toys (Playmobil Martin Luther accessories, unauthorized)

Posted on 02/16/2015 | 8 comments

(photo credit: Playmobil)

Playmobil’s new Martin Luther doll—”the fastest-selling toy of all time”—comes “complete with quill and Bible,” but I thought he needed another accessory to be truly complete.* Namely, a wee copy of his 1543 treatise On the Jews and Their Lies. Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Humor, Jewish Identity, Jewish Toys, Kitsch

Tagged antisemitism, Jewish history

Menorahs and other lessons through (literally) Jewish lenses

Posted on 12/14/2014 | 9 comments

Stars are crisper in person, I promise. I held the glasses over my camera lens.

Stars are far crisper in person. I held the glasses over my camera lens.

I don’t often tout a store-bought product, but I recently discovered that Jewish Star spectacles are back in production. The holographic lenses convert every focused light source into a Jewish star. Peep at a candle, a ceiling fixture, a lamp, and it becomes a Mogen David. Small light = small star, big light = big star. Imagine looking at a Hanukkah menorah on the 8th night.

Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah, Jewish Toys, Shabbat

Tagged candles, Havdalah, menorah, star of david

Schlemiel on a Wheel, Schmuck on a Truck, Schnorrer on a Menorah, etc.

Posted on 12/09/2014 | 8 comments

Schlemiel on a Wheel (clumsy pushcart seller)

Mensch on a Bench and Maccabee on the Mantle are riffs on Elf on a Shelf. So, here’s my riff on the riffs: a trio of tiny Jews—Yiddish stock characters—on Things. All are cautionary tales. However, unlike the toy/book combos just mentioned, they are not surveillance tools for moral accountability. These guys don’t really care about you or your kids at all. Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Hanukkah, Jewish Toys, Kitsch

Tagged Lego

Jewish Tangrams: Shabbat candles

Posted on 11/10/2014 | 2 comments

Tangram Shabbat candles

Here’s another printable for Jewish tangrams: Shabbat candles. Fold the sheet to hide the solution or keep it flat for beginners. Click image to print pdf. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Jewish Toys, Shabbat

Tagged candles, tangrams

K’NEX spinning Dreidel, DIY kits (home or school)

Posted on 11/04/2014 | Comments Off

easy to make, easy to spin

I’m hooked. I’m not even a K’NEX fan, but it turns out that a K’NEX dreidel is absolutely irresistible to build and to play with. These dreidels spin like mad, are easy to assemble and don’t fling themselves to bits, even when doing battle in a dreidel arena. Imagine students building these at a Hanukkah Carnival . . . Continue reading →

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Posted in Activity, Crafts, Hanukkah, Jewish Toys

Tagged dreidel, K'NEX

Jewish Tangrams: Yom Kippur (printable Jonah and Whale)

Posted on 09/19/2014 | 5 comments

This can be Jonah getting swallowed OR spewed

I made more Jewish tangrams—this time for Yom Kippur. You supply the story of Jonah and the Whale, and kids can mess around with tangrams to represent the Dag Gadol (big fish), Jonah’s boat, and Jonah. Do them in order and you’ve got the whole story.
Narrative play!
I dare you to make the withered vine, too.

These patterns will get you started: puzzles and solutions. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Toys, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

Tagged Jonah, tangrams, whale

Jewish Tangrams: Rosh Hashanah (printable)

Posted on 08/20/2014 | 4 comments

click image to print

Tangrams are “open-ended” materials, meaning they can be nearly anything a kid can imagine, just by re-arranging 7 puzzle pieces. Oh, how I love them.

If you are new to tangrams, or to thinking about them Jewishly, see my intro Page for whys and hows, and a link to printable templates. I also give tips about how to make the actual pieces irresistible.

In the intro I say how easy it is to “convert” traditional tangram patterns to Judaism by simply changing a name: pot to dreidel, fish to Dag Gadol, candles to nerot for Shabbat. We convert a silhouette with our intention. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Toys, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

Tagged shofar, tangrams

Alef Bet Sensory Activities (and Hebrew Letter Carnival)

Posted on 06/13/2014 | 2 comments

Lite Brite shin

Maybe it goes without saying that teachers of Hebrew letter formation can borrow the huge bag of tricks devised by teachers of English letter formation, but I’m saying it. A quick online search reveals oodles of brilliant alphabet ideas, and all we have to do is modify for aleph-bet. No need to reinvent the galgal.

A sensory activity can be as simple as you wish: simple in terms of content and in terms of prep. Is isn’t that hard to throw a bunch of wooden coffee stirrers in a basket and ask a kid to arrange them to make a letter. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Edible Craft, Jewish Toys

Tagged Hebrew

Purim Playmobil straight from the box

Posted on 02/22/2013 | Comments Off

All Playmobil except the clay hamantaschen....

Playmobil says “Schultute,” I say Mishloach Manot

Yes, I go to great lengths to make tiny, Jewy accessories for my Playmobil and LEGO folk. But you don’t have to make a single thing in order to make toys Jewish. Sometimes, all it takes is a name change.

Look at this little Playmobil set ripe for conversion: #4686 Child’s First Day at School. See the parcels? Playmobil is German, and the set represents the German tradition of Schultute (school bags): big cones of goodies and school supplies for the first day of school. When I saw the box at a local toy store, I didn’t think Schultute, I thought Mishloach Manot. I saw two kids exchanging Mishloach Manot bags on Purim. For $3.29, I got a Jewish holiday scene and a mitzvah tableau, even though Playmobil doesn’t “do” Jewish.* Continue reading →

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Posted in Jewish Toys, Purim

Tagged Playmobil, polymer clay, toys

Glow in the Dark Dreidel and Glow Arena

Posted on 12/02/2012 | 3 comments

Instant DIY Glow Dreidel Arena

Of course a glow-in-the-dark Dreidel Arena needs a glow-in-the-dark dreidel. Why didn’t I think of it before? My friend Kathryn (at Joyful Jewish) put me up to it after she read about my arena idea last week. And that’s when the stealth crafting began… Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah, Jewish Toys

Tagged dreidel

LEGO dreidel kit: giveaway

Posted on 11/24/2012 | 23 comments

LEGO dreidel kit giveaway

Would you like to win a LEGO dreidel kit? Ideally, you’ve all got enough parts at home to make a whole battalion of unique, custom dreidel models, but in case you don’t, take some of mine. The more LEGO dreidels in the world, the better. Continue reading →

23 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah, Jewish Toys

Tagged chanukah, dreidel, Lego

Giveaway: Moses and Pharaoh Action Figures for Passover

Posted on 03/19/2012 | 49 comments

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 →

49 Comments

Posted in Jewish Toys, Passover

Vashti Reframed: preschool midrash in Lego

Posted on 03/07/2012 | 5 comments

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 →

5 Comments

Posted in Jewish Toys, Purim

Tagged Lego

LEGO gragger for Purim

Posted on 02/26/2012 | 8 comments

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 →

8 Comments

Posted in Crafts, Jewish Toys, Kitsch, Purim

Tagged gragger, Lego

LEGO Dreidels, DIY

Posted on 12/15/2011 | 12 comments

LEGO dreidels

The intersection of Lego and Jewish holidays is always fun. 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 →

12 Comments

Posted in Hanukkah, Jewish Toys

Tagged dreidel, Lego

Mini Lulav and Etrog for a Tabletop Sukkah

Posted on 10/10/2011 | 2 comments

lulav lesson with Playmobil folk

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, a tabletop or model sukkah made from tissue boxes and shoe boxes, and also some ideas for free-builds using Legos, Lincoln Logs and other construction toys.

Lulav and etrog, polymer clay. The pitom is a broom straw

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Toys, Sukkot

Tagged Duplo, etrog, Lego, lulav, Playmobil, polymer clay, sukkah

Build a Tabletop or Model Sukkah

Posted on 10/09/2011 | 15 comments

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 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 →

15 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Jewish Toys, Sukkot

Tagged blocks, Duplo, Lego, sukkah

Yom Kippur: Jonah and the Whale crafts

Posted on 10/04/2011 | 3 comments

use old toys to dramatize 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 →