Feed the birds: easy little-kid plan for home or school

Posted on 06/12/2012 | 4 comments

feeding the birds

How and why I feed birds with little kids. Expect lasting effects built upon fleeting moments of fun. ————

It’s mid-May and Spring has already started to look like Summer.  There is no lack of natural foodstuff for birds on the ground, in the air, on leaves and trees.  But twice a week, I take a bag of black oil sunflower to my son’s preschool.  It might seem odd that I keep shelling out the big bucks for top-quality black-oil sunflower seed despite the seasonal plenty at hand (at beak).  But then again, Spring migration only just peaked, and Nashville has visitors who have come a long, long way, Continue reading →

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LEGO Moses on the Mountain

Posted on 05/25/2012 | Comments Off on LEGO Moses on the Mountain

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 →

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Posted in Shavuot, Simchat Torah

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Shavuot Snack-tivity: Ice-Cream in a bag

Posted on 05/22/2012 | 4 comments

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 →

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Lag B’Omer LEGO

Posted on 05/10/2012 | 6 comments

Katniss for Lag B’Omer

Happy Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, those 49 days between Passover and Shavuot.  In honor of the day, my family will be as thematic as is convenient: one of us will get a haircut (the one who is  satisfied with a quickie trip to the walk-in salon), we’ll burn some brush in the crumbling barbecue pit, roast stale Passover marshmallows and shoot a few arrows.  The arrows will be made of foam, after an incident that once put a hole through a solidly-built garden chair and very nearly put a hole through me. Continue reading →

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Raffi’s Secret Shoah Song

Posted on 04/20/2012 | 13 comments
bananaphone.jpg

Bananaphone CD by Raffi

Dear Holocaust Education curriculum creators, teachers and parents,

Do you know about Raffi’s Holocaust song?  No one else seems to, either.  If Raffi knows, he’s not telling.

“The Changing Garden of Mr. Bell.”  You’ve probably heard it.  It’s gorgeous.   I found a YouTube clip of the whole thing (which might be illegal?), and I’ve typed the lyrics below.

Raffi didn’t write “The Changing Garden of Mr. Bell.”  Janice Hubbard and Michael Silversher co-wrote it for an album by Parachute Express: Happy to Be Here (1991), and Raffi recorded a different arrangement on the humongously successful Bananaphone (1994).  Millions of kids and parents have heard the song.  But how many of us have really heard it? Continue reading →

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Posted in Jewish Identity

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Blood Buddy: the drop o’ blood sleep lovey

Posted on 04/04/2012 | 4 comments

“I love you, Blood Buddy,” came a sweet croon from the back of the car, “I looooove blood!”

Way to perpetuate a stereotype, kid.

And at Passover, too.  As my friend Joanna P. would say, “and that is how you make a blood libel joke, Sarah Palin.”  Although, maybe she wouldn’t.  Joanna P. is right this moment trying to remove an entire jar of Mod Podge from her carpet, so I can’t know for sure.

All I do know for sure is that blood and Jews and Passover are a tricky trinity, and that my Jewish child is in a booster seat singing love songs to a plush blood drop clutched to his cheek. Continue reading →

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Posted in Jewish kids in nonJewish school, Passover

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LEGO Seder Table: minifig Passover

Posted on 04/03/2012 | 15 comments

legosedertableJust for fun: two LEGO seder plates and a table, sized for a minifig Passover.

Now, I’ve got to get busy making the real thing….

Have a happy Passover!

See below for the bits we used.  If you make your own, please post pics to my Facebook page. Continue reading →

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Toys for the 10th Plague: from cuddly to creepy

Posted on 04/02/2012 | 1 comment

if you think a LEGO coffin is creepy, stop reading now.

DIY death toys….

I already wrote about how to assemble a collection of plague toys for the seder, and how to refashion a matzah box to house them. Each guest can use a box during the Maggid section of the haggadah.

I’m rather fond of plague toys and their power to make the Exodus story more hands-on, real and memorable. Continue reading →

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Nature’s classroom: blow bubbles with flowers

Posted on 03/29/2012 | 4 comments

cross vine, spring bloomer

At breakfast, we looked out the window and discovered that the wild crossvine had bloomed (Bignonia capreolata). Every spring it crawls up through the evil winter creeper (a euonymous that would encase the house if I let it) and over the redneck wire fence that divides our property from the neighbors’.  We abandoned our gluten-free, Marmite-covered toast and ran outside to see it. Continue reading →

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Posted in Jewish Identity, Jewish parenting, Nature

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Action figures: the winners

Posted on 03/28/2012 | 1 comment

Random.org tells me that Marjorie and Ellen are the big winners of the Moses and Pharaoh giveaway.  I’ll alert Chai Kids right this minute and they will ship forthwith.

Thank you to everyone who left a Passover suggestion/idea in a comment.  If you have a moment Continue reading →

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Posted in Passover

Recognizing Moses

Posted on 03/28/2012 | 2 comments

"Who is this Moses?" (name that quote)

Right about the time I posted the Moses and Pharaoh giveaway, I updated my iPhoto software. It has a face-recognition feature that freaks me out a little.  I played around with it last night, what with being awake at 2:30am and feeling generous with my time. It automatically scrolled through my pictures asking me to name and then confirm whom was whom. Until I did so, all faces were tagged “unnamed.”

And then, up popped Moses. Pictures of Continue reading →

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LEGO Chametz: #Exodusgram 2

Posted on 03/25/2012 | Comments Off on LEGO Chametz: #Exodusgram 2



This did not happen to me, but it sure could have….

Continue reading →

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LEGO Mitzrayim: #Exodusgram 1

Posted on 03/24/2012 | 1 comment

LEGO Israelite minifig caught in a narrow place.  (The oppressive sandal is supposed to look all ancient Egyptian.) Continue reading →

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“Why We Celebrate Passover:” book review

Posted on 03/22/2012 | 1 comment

Looking for one Passover picture book that tells the story of Passover without scaring the Underoos off a kid?  One book that describes basic Passover customs and assumes no prior knowledge?  And a book with attractive artwork, rhythmic text and not too many words on a page?

Here it is: Why We Celebrate Passover, written and illustrated by Howard M. Kurtz (Pigment & Hue, Ages 3-8, paperback, 24 pages).  Not sold at Continue reading →

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Posted in Jewish kids in nonJewish school, Passover

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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 →

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Posted in Jewish Toys, Passover

Passover Parent: classroom Show and Tell resource

Posted on 03/16/2012 | Comments Off on Passover Parent: classroom Show and Tell resource

Me and Moses down by the school-yard…

New here: permanent pages (see top menu) for parents who want to lead a Jewish holiday Show and Tell in the classroom. I’ve made quite a few of these visits myself (I have a teenager and a preschooler), and my observations, mistakes and successes might help you plan your own.  I’d love to hear about your experiences, so please comment on the Passover (or Hanukkah) page to share what’s worked or not worked for you.

Passover’s coming, and if you feel the urge to share your family’s traditions with your kid’s school, see the obsessive detailed guidelines at the Passover Parent page.  You can select elements that appeal to you and make your classroom visit as short and simple Continue reading →

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Posted in Jewish kids in nonJewish school, Passover

Target seder plate for 2012: with friendly tweak

Posted on 03/13/2012 | 9 comments

Target seder plate 2012

Target + Passover + Hebrew = an unlikely triangulation.  Of course I bought Target’s five dollar seder plate last year, and of course I bought this year’s version the instant it appeared.

As if I need more seder plates. I have so many each guest could have their own. Which reminds me of something I get asked every year: “it’s a plate, but we don’t eat or serve from it?”  Very confusing.  Seder plates just hold the symbolic foods so we can direct attention to each one when the haggadah tells us to.  Continue reading →

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Recycled CD bowl: Mishloach Manot 2.0

Posted on 03/09/2012 | 3 comments
cd2

melted CD hamantasch mishloach manot bowl

I like to think I’m picky about projects. They have to involve irresistible materials or a smidge of kitsch or flat-out, hands-on educative potential.

In contrast, I present the CD Mishloach Manot. Continue reading →

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Posted in Crafts, Kitsch, Purim

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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 →

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Posted in Jewish Toys, Purim

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Nearly instant Hamantaschen: for dorm, class or slacker home

Posted on 03/06/2012 | 8 comments

There is no substitute for slow food, and for making slow food slowly with kids.  Yada, yada, yada all the practical life experience and developmental skills: fine motor, following directions, reading, math, geometry, sequencing,
vocabulary, etc. etc.  Make it Jewish holiday slow food and you’ve got a content-rich, unforgettable Jewish education lesson plan.

Like Hamantaschen. There is a world of slow Hamantaschen recipes out there:  the soft, the crunchy, Continue reading →

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Posted in Edible Craft, Purim

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