Color-in Rosh Hashanah Cards
Color and craft these super fun color-in Rosh Hashanah cards for both kids and adults! Then try this apple card craft for kids! This post contains affiliate links.
When choosing which crafts to share and illustrate, my favorites are the easy-to-grab color and craft ones, that any teacher or parent can put out as a fun activity or extra.
Today, I’m sharing color and craft Shana Tovah cards for both kids and adults, with a free sample from the kids set that you can download! Just a heads up: my printer was going light on the black ink – your card will be a normal black-printing one!
For kids
My primary goal was to create a fun craft for kids, so I decided to start with those. I wanted to focus on the simanim – the symbolic foods – since that’s a very familiar part of Rosh Hashanah for small kids.
About the cards
In deciding how to turn some of the most common symbolic foods eaten on Rosh Hashanah – the “simanim” – into friendly greeting cards that kids can hand out to family and friends, I took a few approaches.
Some “simanim” are eaten due to their meanings in other languages. For those, I tried to come up with a new pun (sometimes the same theme as the original and on some not.) For those that have
meaning in the nature of the food, I tried to stick to it. And for some, like the apple with honey, I did both!
Apple – Apple and honey are eaten for a “sweet new year”. This classic card is a spinoff on the classic “have a happy sweet new year”. This is the one you get free.
Honey – While eaten with apple, it’s also drizzled onto Challah and incorporated into many other dishes – for a sweet new year. The bowl says “devash” or honey in Hebrew.
Head of Fish – This one is punny and true to the symbolism of the food – that we should be heads and not tails – or a“head” of the game.
Pomegranate – We pray that our merits be as many as the seeds of a pomegranate. To make it more kid-friendly I simply wrote wishes for a year“as plentiful as a pomegranate’s seeds”.
Carrots – There are different variations of the blessing for carrots, but I gave it a whole new pun. An elderly carrot is holding the hands of its grandchild carrots. I wanted to instill the value of caring for our elders.
Beets – I was debating whether or not to do this one and went ahead with it with the following thought process. One year, we had a non-Jewish guest for his first Rosh Hashanah and he noted how obsessed we were with the destruction of our enemies. We explained that that is our history. We can’t afford not to be.
However, this is a kids’ craft. A kids should not have enemies and destroying them seems inappropriate for kids. At the same time, these prayers are a core part of our existence and survival. My solution was to exercise great care with illustrating our “beet” enemy. For us, the ultimate success is an enemy that comes hand
outstretched, wishing for peace.
You can omit this card from your kids’ stash if you feel it’s inappropriate, however, I do think it’s a great message, especially as we do pray for victory over those who seek to destroy us. And frankly, kids’ relationships are often fraught with fighting, and a message of hands outstretched in peace is a valid one for them.
Assembly
1. Print the cards you want to use on cardstock.
2. Color, cut out, and fold in half on the dashed lines.
3. Write a message inside, mail to Grandma, give to parents, hand out to friends…
Download the free sample
Download your free coloring page! It’ll arrive right in your inbox. By downloading, you’re subscribing to our FREE newsletter with updates on cool printables like this, ideas to simplify Jewish life, and more. Unsubscribe at any time at the bottom my emails. I respect your privacy and the law, and won’t share or sell your email address.
Get all the cards
Get all six cards in my Etsy shop! Print as many as you need for personal or classroom use.
For adults
For adults, I wanted something much more art and aesthetic focused. I kept the package small so that I can really focus on creating quality art.
About the cards
If you’re an adult who loves to color, and add your own spin to your artwork, the adult set is for you! It’s also great for teens and tweens who are ready to craft something for family and friend, but want it to be a bit more mature.
I illustrated these in three unique designs. On one, I made a Hebrew and English version. The others integrate the text directly into the design – one is Hebrew, and one is English.
On the English one, you have “Have a Happy Sweet New Year” in the shape of a pomegranate. Florals surround it.
The Hebrew text one says “Shanah Tovah Umetukah” in the shape of a Shofar with paisley around it.
And finally, on the last, I created a fine lined border doodle featuring florals, pomegranates, honeycomb, and more fun shapes.
Instructions
1. Print your cards on cardstock, cut out, fold in half.
2. Color, write a message, and send to a friend!
Get the cards
Get all four cards in my Etsy shop! Print as many as you need for personal or classroom use.
More ways to assemble your color-in Rosh Hashanah cards
- These cards are formatted as 5×7 bifold cards. You can also print them smaller by simply scaling down your print size.
- You can make them as postcards (just cut in half and ditch the folded part).
- You can even cut them out and glue them on a larger colored cardstock base.
- Get creative, cut out the images and messages and glue them onto a bifold card base.
- Get creative with the inside as well and create your own punny messages
