swim noodle omer
Count the omer with swim noodles! I needed a BIG omer counter for a classroom (and maybe the school entrance, too), and this is it. I love abacus-style omer counters because it is a pleasure to slide something across something: I feel like I’ve counted, I’ve moved, I’ve gone from here to there. All the more so with swim noodle “cookies” and my beloved PVC pipe. The two materials create just enough friction. Continue reading
Rainbow loom omer bracelet: one rubber band per day
I made this today just to feel what it would be like to count the omer via Rainbow Loom. It felt fiddly, but worthwhile. Mindful. I had to pay attention and I had to make decisions about color coding. Some kids will like this, some kids will flee in the opposite direction. My own child preferred to watch Pokemon rather than experiment with me, but hey, Pokemon. Continue reading
Here’s yet another post only a Sunday School Teacher could love. I made a portable Torah Scroll for a preschool Simchat Torah family program a while back, to demonstrate “What’s in the Torah.” The idea was to let kids fill the Torah Scroll with objects that represent some of what is—you guessed it— in the Torah. The activity can be tweaked to fit many age groups, and the more irresistible the objects, the better. Continue reading
the Sea of Reeds withThumbprint people
Just in time for Shavuot, here’s another Mt. Sinai project. It’s really a three-holiday diorama, but your kid can make just the Shavuot portion in about half an hour, once you’ve raced around the house collecting supplies. Continue reading
Posted in Activity, Lag B'Omer, Passover, Shavuot
Folks are asking about the chocolate Ten Commandment tablets from my Lag BaOmer post. So easy, I promise. And won’t they look splendid atop Mt. Sinai muffins?
chocolate-esque candy bark
don’t eat these
I made plaster versions, too, for some of my little Israelites on our Lag baOmer Walk. They had to “receive” the Ten Commandments at the mountain, right? But I warn you Continue reading
Posted in Edible Craft, Lag B'Omer, Shavuot, Simchat Torah
Lag B’Omer! Here’s a quick glimpse at what we did…
I wanted my K – 3 classes to “embody” the connection between Passover and Shavuot via the Counting of the Omer, to use their bodies to travel from Passover—where the Israelites became a Free Nation, to Shavuot—where the Israelites became a Holy Nation.
view from the Sea of Reeds toward Lag b’Omer and Shavuot
First, we crossed the Sea of Reeds and became a Free Nation. On the floor were 49 steps toward Mt. Sinai on the opposite side of the room. See Mt. Sinai up there, far away? Continue reading
Posted in Activity, Edible Craft, Lag B'Omer, Passover, Shavuot
Moses and the Lego Tablets
Google “Lego Moses” and you’ll get beaucoup hits. But just because he’s been done, doesn’t mean I can’t have a go. This one is in honor of Shavuot.
My Moses wears a do-rag because it is not cool to meet an omnipotent Divinity atop a mountain with your head uncovered. Nowadays, you can’t walk into a synagogue without putting something modest on your keppe, and the tradition had to start somewhere. Besides, it was sunny in the Wilderness.
What I really wanted was a Lego way to incorporate the famous rays of light Moses radiated after the Big Meeting (Exodus 34:29). Thanks to a glitch in translation from Hebrew to Latin (#Saint Jerome) those rays are depicted as horns in countless artworks, and are, in part, the root of the persistent idea that all Jews have actual horns. Continue reading
Duplo dairy
Who wants to make messy, homemade ice cream for Shavuot? I do. It’s the one time a year my family makes ice cream, so right there it’s a highlight of the Jewish calendar. “The Giving of the Torah,”of course, is at the core of Shavuot, but “The Making of the Ice Cream” is a bit more memorable if you are five.
If you don’t have a proper ice cream maker—and I don’t—the kids can make it with Ziploc bags. Even if you do have a machine, the low-tech baggie way is a good, gloppy group activity. Continue reading
This article supplements my Kveller.com piece about making Shavuot Mt. Sinai Muffins with kids.
And hey, the Jerusalem Post picked it up on JPost Weekly Schmooze!
Mt. Sinai Muffin, Jordan almond Tablets, coconut grass, Twizzler slice flowers and a few Lego Israelites
Edible Crafts are one of my favorite ways to prepare for and celebrate a holiday with kids. Shavuot has built-in festive foods like cheesecake and blintzes and all things dairy—great things to make with children. But, they take time. Continue reading
Posted in Edible Craft, Jewish parenting, Shavuot
Tagged candy, edible craft, Edible pen, Hebrew, Lego, Shavuot
Easy 10 commandments origami
This simple paper-folding craft is a fun way to prepare for and celebrate Shavuot, the holiday that commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments, and by extension the whole Torah.
With your help, even a young child can fold and decorate the “Tablets.” The finished product can stand up on a table or lie flat as a card. Continue reading
Posted in Jewish parenting, Shavuot
Tagged craft, Hebrew, origami, Shavuot, Tablets, Ten Commandments, Torah
For weeks I’ve had two flyers up on the fridge. The Toddler keeps rearranging them with antique wooden fruit magnets, so I’ve had many opportunities to notice them and actually read what they say. But what I failed to see until yesterday was that they advertise Must Attend Events scheduled for the same day, same time: the beginning of Shavuot.
One is an advertisement for Shavuot services at our synagogue—a Tikkun Leil, or all-night study session—which includes my husband in the lineup. He is giving a lecture called “A Mountain Held Over Our Heads: On the Joyful Difficulty of Revelation?” The question mark is courtesy of the nice man who printed the flyer, and who probably didn’t understand the title, thought he needed confirmation, and forgot to get it. Continue reading
Comments Off on Scheduling Shavuot
Posted in Jewish kids in nonJewish school, Shavuot
Tagged calendrical conflicts, Shavuot
Shavuot starts the evening of May 28. It’s a two-dayer here in the Diaspora, for those of us who do the extended versions of holidays. (Now is the time I start combing the web for gluten-free blintz recipes…..)
Today, I offer the start of the Shavuot link list on http://www.JewishEveryday.com. If you have any links to add, please leave a comment and I’ll wedge them in.
Again, I cannot help but notice that my own denomination, Conservative Judaism, is a bit under-represented. Why is it that other folks have better graphics and sites, generally speaking? I know the USCJ, the mother ship of us Conservos, is having its own tsouris at the moment, but I do wish they’d hire somebody web savvy to redesign everything and give us more PDFs of how-tos. Chabad, for example (with whom I have severe moshiach issues) leave us in the digital dust. I am hoping someone will prove me wrong by sharing some kicking conservative links.
Shavuot Resources:
Shavuot
• URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) Shavuot Parent Pages
• “Best of the Web” Shavuot Links from the Jewish Agency for Israel
• Ima on and off the Bimah: last year’s blog entry about Shavuot
Sites for kids and parents together:
My Jewish Learning.com: Shavuot resources for kids
NSW Board of Jewish Education: BJE Academy
What is Shavuot, The 3 Pilgrim Festivals, Cool Things to Do for Shavuot, Shavuot Links
Akhlah.com: Traditions, Commandments, Vocabulary, Crafts
Torah Tots: All About Shavuot, the Story of Rurth, Fun & Games, Coloring Pages, Greeting Cards, Holiday Recipes
Chabad.org: Shavuot resources for children
Teacher Planet: Shavuot Resources (activities, crafts, links)
Swim Noodle Menorah
LEGO Gragger
Altoids tin travel menorah
Spin it, Eat it: The Caramel Dreidel
Edible dreidels, regular and mini
Jonah and the Whale Cracker
DIY Lego Mezuzah
PEZ + Mezuzah = PEZuzah
Menurkey (repurposed figurine)
DIY LEGO dreidel
LEGO minifig Passover seder table
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Bible Belt Balabusta 
