Tag Archives: Apples

Apple and Honey Practice and Taste Test

Posted on 09/02/2015 | 2 comments
Apple and Honey practice

Apple and Honey practice

I was fiddling with a bunch of materials I’d collected—mostly recyclables—trying to come up with a craft my Sunday School classes could do in 25 minutes. Something connected to Rosh Hashanah, something meaningful, useful, decent-looking and 100% fun to make. I spent hours fine-tuning a “cute” craft we’ve all seen on Pinterest, but I just couldn’t make it kid-friendly enough so that even the Kindergarteners could do all the work themselves. And, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong. Continue reading →

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Posted in Activity, Edible Craft, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

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Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur posts

Posted on 09/13/2012 | 6 comments

polymer clay accoutrements for the HH

Whew.  Been sick,  getting better.  Just so you know I’m still alive, and that I used to expend energy pondering and puttering about the holidays, here are some earlier posts.

Shanah tova!

Make an apple bowl for Rosh Hashanah honey

Make a Pantyhose Challah Continue reading →

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Posted in Crafts, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

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Miniatures for Rosh Hashanah (Lego and Playmobil): not a how-to, but a Why

Posted on 09/25/2011 | 6 comments
Playmobil Rosh Hashanah: clay Yemenite kudu shofar, ram shofar, round raisin challah, apple slices

Playmobil Rosh Hashanah: clay Yemenite kudu shofar, ram shofar, round raisin challah, apple slices

This site is about kids and parents spending Jewish time together making stuff that is fun, cute (kitschy counts as cute), cheap, and most of the time, functional.  I aim for kid-centric.  I like to help even toddlers participate in holiday prep.

But making Jewish holiday accoutrements for Lego and Playmobil figures out of polymer clay, I admit, comes close to crossing a line. My preschooler can do little more than make freeform shapes and blobby ovoids, and when presented with more than one color of clay will gleefully end up with gradations of grey.  Still, because scale and verisimilitude have not really occurred to him yet, he has a great time “making useful things” for his figurines.

Relativity: Playmobil, Duplo and Lego

Scale and verisimilitude is my dealie. Whilst the child next to me has fun rolling and smashing and pinching and blending, I get to make miniature accessories to outfit three communities of toys in our home: Duplo, Lego and Playmobil. And of course, they all celebrate the Jewish holidays.

One more note in my defense: this stuff is fun for older kids, too. Even surly preteens Continue reading →

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

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High Holiday Resources for kids with special needs

Posted on 09/23/2011 | 3 comments

image from JGateways.org: Mayer-Johnson symbol greeting card for Rosh Hashanah

Thanks to Shira Dicker,  I just learned about Gateways, “Boston’s central agency for Jewish special education,” and am pleased to pass along a page of their holiday resources.  Granted, I have no experience in this area, but I adore any attempt to include the widest possible range of abilities in holiday preparation and celebration.  Gateways has quick, downloadable instructions on how to make stuff like:

• The classic apple-print Rosh Hashanah card, but with scrupulous step-by-step visual and written  instructions. They include options like an improvised slant board for kids with accessibility issues and a quickly-assembled foam-covered fork for kids who need a firm handle on a slippery, paint-soaked apple. Plus, what to do if someone logically wants to eat that apple currently being used as a vehicle for paint.  (I mean, it’s an apple and it’s even got a fork in it…) Continue reading →

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Cutting Apples with Kids for Rosh Hashanah

Posted on 09/19/2011 | 4 comments

Adult’s hands cover child’s hands on the two handles

Wait, why do the kids need to cut the apples? Isn’t it easier and faster just to do it yourself? Yes, but letting kids share in the prep has oodles of benefits. It’s quality family-time, it creates anticipation, it’s fun, and it becomes a personal reference point to a holiday that kids will remember and can build upon. Still, I wouldn’t attempt this or any parent/child exploration/task/activity if I wasn’t in a decent mood at the moment. Common sense dictates when to chirpily invite a preschooler to assist in the kitchen and when to beg him to find something quiet to do in another room. Continue reading →

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Posted in Activity, Crafts, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

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Mini Shofar, Challah and Apples for Rosh Hashanah (polymer clay)

Posted on 09/16/2011 | 5 comments
polymer clay apples, challah, shofars

polymer clay apples, challah, shofars

Twee, yes, but groovy: the Duplo Rosh Hashanah.  This is what happens when I find a baggie of clay at a yard sale—random Fimo and Sculpey packs already opened, slightly hairy, and obviously from the Year Gimmel—right around the time when we determine that our Duplo people just don’t have what for Rosh Hashanah.  Now they have what. Continue reading →

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

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Blessings Placemat for Rosh Hashanah: cut and glue (no-paint version)

Posted on 09/15/2011 | 2 comments

(See the Apple-Print version at the previous post.)

Blessings Placemat for Rosh Hashanah: the cheat sheet as Honey Pot

The all out, get messy Apple-Print version of the Blessings Placemat is dandy, but sometimes kids (and neat-freak parents) hate paint and its attendant chaos.

This rather old-school version smacks of die-cuts and Parent-Teacher Store stickers, but it’s reasonably cute and it gets the job done.  What job is that?  We are turning a quickie-apples-and-honey-side-dish into a meaningful minhag (custom), and scoring some Jewish-y parent-kid time, too.

How-To:   Print the template (see below) onto thick yellow paper (like index stock or card stock) and then lightly pencil in a honeypot shape. Think Winnie the Pooh. Preschoolers can Continue reading →

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Apple-Print Blessings Placemat for Rosh Hashanah (with printable cheat sheet)

Posted on 09/13/2011 | 4 comments

A shorter version of this post is published at Kveller.com.

Apples and Honey blessings placemat

Apples and Honey blessings placemat

There are BLESSINGS for the apples and honey?

I hear this question every year. The answer is yes. And saying the blessings can turn a simple side dish into a meaningful minhag (custom) your kids will remember.  To remember the blessings, however, can be a challenge even for us grownups.  Thus, I have devised a DIY blessings cheat sheet.

The cheat sheet can help us:

  • Spend Jewish time with our kid
  • Teach the idea that blessings add meaning and gratitude
  • Create an object d’art we get to pull out every year
  • Exercise all those skills used in cutting, painting, printing, gluing and so forth

Continue reading →

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Edible Craft: Apple Bowl for Rosh Hashanah Honey

Posted on 08/26/2011 | 10 comments

Apples and honey as an edible craft

A version of this post was first published at Kveller.com: Edible Honey Bowl.

But here is my original version which is longer and more interesting…

Continue reading →

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Posted in Activity, Crafts, Edible Craft, Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

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