Category Archives: Activity

Printable how-to for simple LEGO dreidel

Posted on 11/29/2012 | 9 comments

print it, show it to your kid.

Beloved LEGO nerds and LEGO enablers: print this pdf, show it to your kid and let her rummage through the LEGO bins to find the seven, particular pieces. (Rummaging is part of the fun. Match the part to the pic: how many studs across and down? Brick or plate?) She can assemble the seven pieces as per the illustration. She can then add the letters. Voila: a LEGO dreidel.

Should your bins not produce all these parts, just substitute. Four 2×2 bricks are Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged DIY, dreidel, kit, Lego

Dreidel Arenas: easy, instant

Posted on 11/28/2012 | 7 comments

giant Hot Wheels track dreidel arena

If you get crabby when dreidels fall off the table or roll under the sofa, a dreidel arena is key to a happy Hanukkah. An arena corrals the dreidels and defines the play space. And, if your dreidel play includes battles, an arena is a must: the sides keep dreidels in action longer and coax them back toward each other. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged dreidel, Lego

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

DIY LEGO dreidel kits

Posted on 11/20/2012 | 13 comments

DIY LEGO dreidels in progress

I am in search of the perfect LEGO dreidel. In this case, perfection means cheap, easy and fun. The model will need to attract Chanukah carnival go-ers between the ages of four and eleven, each of whom will be offered a chance to make and take said ideal dreidel. Thus, above all, it’s going to have to spin. Really spin.

My search might benefit you, too: you, the grownup with a LEGO lover at home or in the classroom. The act of building a LEGO dreidel is chock full o’ educational benefits. So many elements to consider: you’ve got to have four balanced sides; a low center of gravity; a minimum of friction; a smooth, wide contact point and a design that doesn’t fling itself to bits when it bashes into another dreidel. Figuring all this out with your kid is more than half the fun. Continue reading →

13 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged chanukah, dreidel, Lego

Swim Noodle Dreidel

Posted on 11/16/2012 | 2 comments

spinning Swim Noodle Dreidel

I couldn’t resist. What better accompaniment to a Swim Noodle Menorah than a Swim Noodle Dreidel? Besides, I had noodle waste.

When one trims a swim noodle to the appropriate Menorah candle length, one generates noodle waste.

How I made it:
As a complete afterthought, believe me. It ain’t pretty, but it SPINS. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged chanukah, dreidel

Swim Noodle Menorah

Posted on 11/13/2012 | 26 comments

Swim Noodle Menorah

The Swim Noodle Menorah. Google all you want, but it won’t be there unless it’s here, because I’ve just invented it. Continue reading →

26 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged menorah

Jewish Origami: What Not to Make

Posted on 07/12/2012 | 5 comments

No.

You’ve heard of Jewish Origami. I’m a fan. You may have heard of Dollar Bill Origami, in which dollar bills replace traditional, square paper. I’ve made dollar models—animals, a ring, wee clothing— but there is one famous origami dollar pattern I will never make in public: the Jewish Star. Come on, a Jewish Star made out of CASH? It looks like clipart from Origami of the Elders of Zion. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts

Tagged origami

Easy Family Project: a Jewish Backyard

Posted on 07/10/2012 | 7 comments

through a Jewish lens

InterFaithFamily.com published my article about converting your own backyard (or school or synagogue) into a certified wildlife habitat via a Jewish lens. My other kid-nature posts thus far haven’t been “Jewish” specifically, although we all know that everything is Jewish if you look through a Jewy “lens.” I put “lens” in quotes because I hear it ad nauseum. A useful term, although overused. I’m pasting the article below, but do go over to the link at InterfaithFamily.com so they know someone is reading it. My point is to show that the project is easy, fun, good for the earth, good for your family, and of course, gut fir di yidn:* Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Activity, Nature

Tagged environment, nature

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

Purim game: Hit the Hamantasch

Posted on 02/23/2012 | 2 comments

Filling guide (for vocab and 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 (hooky side)

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 →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Purim

Tagged bean bag, game

Eat a fruit, plant its seeds for Tu B’Shevat

Posted on 02/01/2012 | 4 comments

: earliest spring leaves emerging now

In How (and Why) to Let Kids Plant Parsley on Tu B’Shevat, I nattered on about the meaning behind growing parsley on the Birthday of the Trees. Because, really, isn’t it weird that a parsley project is the go-to activity for a holiday about trees? But in a nutshell, the big idea is this: to germinate parsley on Tu B’Shevat links the earliest of Spring holidays—when the sap/lifeforce begins to wake after winter—and Passover, the paradigmatic Spring holiday. Parsley is Spring on a seder plate. It is the most common representation of the karpas category, without which a seder can’t happen. Makes perfect sense, this link and its timing, but still, tree it ain’t. (Well, a curly parsley stalk does rather look like a miniature tree.)

Better we should grow a tree on the Birthday of the Trees, yes? And what if the tree could be an olive or date or fig or pomegranate: four of the Seven Species of the Land of Israel (Deut. 8:8), the rock stars at a Tu B’Shevat seder? How brilliant to grow an olive tree especially, whose fruit could give us oil to light Hanukkah menorahs. Or a an almond tree, the early bloomer celebrated in Israel on Tu B’Shevat. Or a citron tree to grow an etrog for Sukkot. Or a palm or willow or myrtle to harvest for our own lulav. Chills. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Edible Craft, Tu B'Shevat

Tagged trees, Tu Bishvat

Squirt the Menorah: Hanukkah game

Posted on 12/16/2011 | 3 comments

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 →

3 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged Hanukkah, menorah

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

PVC Menorah kit for kids, revised

Posted on 12/14/2011 | 4 comments

PVC Menorah, 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 →

4 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Hanukkah

Tagged hardware, menorah, pvc

Hanukkah Connect-4: the Gelt Edition

Posted on 12/11/2011 | 5 comments

“Real Gelt” Connect-4

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:

Connect 4 with real chocolate gelt.

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.)

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged chanukah, gelt, Hanukkah

PVC Menorah: advice needed

Posted on 11/02/2011 | 3 comments

my DIY PVC menorah, so far

EDIT: Please see the finished version at PVC Menorah Kit for kids, revised. It turned out SO WELL. Kids love taking it apart and putting it back together (and so do I).

finished PVC Menorah, ready to disassemble and reassemble!

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, and then to “light” it with hardware or pipe caps. 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). Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Hanukkah

Tagged Hanukkah, menorah, pvc

Instant Edible Torah Scroll

Posted on 10/19/2011 | 8 comments

Edible Torah: pretzel rods, fruit leather, Rolos.

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 →

8 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Edible Craft, Simchat Torah

Tagged scroll, Torah

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.