Glue Stick Mezuzah

See Make a Mezuzah page for mezuzah basics.
See Make a Mezuzah Scroll for ways to make a “training scroll.”

Simple, attractive wooden kits are available, but you can make your own cases with found materials. Show your child a variety of mezuzah cases if possible (or versions online) and then hunt together for appropriate materials.

FREE / FOUND MATERIALS YOU CAN USE FOR A CASE:

empty glue stick, empty matchbox, toothbrush holder, empty half of a walnut shell, paper cylinder, empty dental floss cylinder or box, toilet paper tube, cardboard tube from a dry cleaner hanger, fat straw (like the kind in bubble tea), dried-up broad-tipped marker (with insides pulled out), four large craft sticks (aka popsicle sticks) glued together to form a rectangular prism, flexible and rigid plastic tubing, pvc pipe, and so on.
Leave a comment with more ideas for case materials!

Make a Glue Stick Mezuzah

GLUE STICK MEZUZAH

Here’s a new use for an empty glue stick tube: a mezuzah case. If you collect a bunch, you have a cost-free craft for a whole class.

Glue sticks don’t last very long. Manufacturers seem to keep shrinking the volume of glue without shrinking the actual container, and the glue has a fairly short shelf life (about two years). Thus, empty glue stick containers multiply, especially at a school.

: Dried glue, plastic base, empty tube

You’ll need:

old glue stick
paper to cover tube and cap (origami, wrapping, colored, child’s artwork, etc.)
glue (a new glue stick)
tape or putty for mounting
scroll
Shin sticker or glitter glue

1. Twist until the end of the inner tube is as far out as it will go. Pull it straight out. It’s either got a teensy bit of glue left down in it, or it’s dried up from getting forgotten in the back of a drawer. Either way, it should pop right out. You are left with a hollow tube and a handy spindle. Keep the cap.

: Empty glue stick tube, ready for a scroll

2. Decorate case. Cut pretty paper (origami, construction, artwork) to fit, decorate, glue it on (with a new glue stick!). Add the letter Shin on the front with glitter glue, marker or sticker.

3. Prepare your scroll and make sure it will fit inside without folding. (See Make a Mezuzah Scroll for how to make scroll.) Roll it up left to right and insert.

Just keep in mind:

• The back of the tube needs to be flat and smooth to stick to a doorpost.

• Mounting options: foam tape, painter’s tape, duct tape, poster putty, etc. You may also tape or glue the tube to a large craft stick (a.k.a. popsicle stick). These are available in colors or you may paint your own to coordinated with the case.

: The simplest possible scroll, made by a 3 year-old

• Consider not gluing the lid shut. I guarantee your child will want to open it and close it just because he can. Plus, you can teach the rule about how everyone is supposed to check a kosher klaf twice every seven years, to be sure all the letters are still visible.

RESOURCES:

•Hebrew rubber stamps and stickers are at OyToys.com and Benny’s Educational Toys. The crowned shin stickers are here.