Jewish history and culture is full of heroic women, our role models. Among them is Miriam. One of Miriam’s key moments is in the Parsha (Torah portion) of Beshalach. After the sea split and the Israelites crossed safely to the other side, Miriam took her tambourine and the other women and they broke out in a song and dance of gratitude.

You can read more about Miriam’s incredible faith and strength here.

Music is part and parcel of Judaism, as is the role of the women. And as women, we prepare for the day that it will be OUR turn to break out our tambourines. When the Messiah and the final redemption comes, and there will be no more suffering or persecution, we too will break out in song and gratitude.

For our generation, this is probably the most in-tune we’ve ever been to our yearning for the final redemption.

And so when a local shul’s women’s league created a “tambourine decorating” workshop I was happy to design some templates for them to trace and color.

Whether you are making this as a commemoration of Miriam and her followers praising G-d through music for the splitting of the sea, in anticipation of using it yourself, or both, it’s a fun workshop project for a variety of age groups.

Decorating your own Miriam Tambourine

I designed a few Israel/Jerusalem/Redemption themed templates for you to cut out, transfer, trace, and color on a blank canvas tambourine. There are three templates in total.

FYI if you want standalone coloring pages to color without a tambourine, you can get coloring pages based on these images in this Israel coloring page and this bundle.

The actual tambourine was colored by my friend – I borrowed it to take some pretty final photos. She used Sharpies to decorate hers. If you want a richer surface color, you can use Posca or Vivid Pop (ready to use) paint markers instead. You can also use it for just the outline if you want a mixed look – a pronounced outline with a more muted fill.

Other options include fabric markers, acrylic paints... the possibilities are really endless. Any medium that is compatible with canvas would work. Whatever you choose, it’s a fabulous workshop or group craft.

To transfer the drawing to the canvas, I recommended they use good old carbon paper! And it works great.

What you need to make Miriam’s Tambourine

• 8 inch canvas tambourines
• Permanent markers (make sure you have enough black ones to go around) or paint markers (Posca is a favorite, I love Vivid Pop too – those don’t need priming so they’re great for group events.)
• Carbon paper
• Pencil or pen
• The template, printed (download at the end of this post)
• Scissors

How to make this Miriam’s Tambourine Craft

Apologies for the lack of step by step – I did not make this myself and the kind women agreed to share photos!

1. Cut out the template of your choice around the outer circle.

2. Place the carbon paper carbon-side-down on the tambourine.

3. Place the image on top of the carbon paper, aligned with the tambourine beneath it.

4. Go over the details of the image using a pen or pencil. Try a bit first and make sure you’re putting enough pressure.

5. Remove the carbon paper and color in your image using markers!

6. If you’d like, when you’re done you can outline the original line art in black or another dark color.

Your Miriam’s tambourine craft is complete!

Download the tambourine templates

Download your free template! 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.

The post Miriam’s Tambourine Craft – Parshat Beshalach appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

The Hamalach prayer is one that Jewish parents sing to their babies from infancy. It has turned into the ultimate Jewish lullaby, a prayer of protection from all evil and for blessings. It’s about generational continuation and hasn’t resonated during my lifetime quite as much as it does now.

About The Hamalach Hago’el Prayer

In Hebrew:

Transliterated:

And in English:

The prayer’s source is in the Torah (bible) in the weekly portion of Vayechi – the 12th and final in the book of Bereishit/Genesis.

In it, an elderly Jacob blesses his children before his passing, and gives a special extra blessing to the children of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. This blessing is the Hamalach Prayer. Since it was said by Jacob, it only mentions the forefathers Abraham and Isaac and not Jacob as well.

The story goes as follows: Joseph brought his sons to be blessed by Jacob, placing the older son, Manasseh, on Jacob’s right, and the younger, Ephraim, on his left. To show that Ephraim will become a greater tribe, Jacob crossed his hands over each other to place the right on Ephraim and the left on Manasseh.

I have a craft for that right over here.

Crafting a Hamalach Hagoel Poster using the Collage Maker

When I planned my craft for Vayechi, I decided to do a bonus: a Hamalach craft. This prayer has brought so much comfort for children.

I designed this to work for any age group, with fun doodles, playful shapes, and medium-level designs. The doodles aren’t too childish for the tween crowd, but they’re not too fine for younger kids. And when it does get a little fine (such as within the teddy bears) kids can just color the whole shape.

I had planned this as a larger download in my Etsy shop but decided to also offer a whittled down version as a free download for (free) newsletter subscribers.

Download the full bundle

The full download includes:

• The Hamalach Prayer in Hebrew
• A bonus file with the Hamalach prayer translated and transliterated like I have it above
• Four border options – two rectangle, two circle
• Five star styles
• Three moon styles
• Two bear styles
• PDF printable version of the instructions

Download the free version

The free download includes:

• The Hamalach prayer in Hebrew
• The elements that I used in my sample:
  • One border
  • One style star (tripled so you can color a few)
  • One style moon
  • One style bear

The free one was designed to be just enough that you can craft it, the full download was designed to address more specific needs and give kids more options. If you’re crafting this with one Hebrew-speaking/reading kid at home, you may want to stick to the free one, if you’re crafting it with a group that’ll appreciate having options or need the other language versions, I recommend getting the full one.

And once again, you can get the full bundle here!

How to craft your Hamalach Hagoel Poster Craft

I created mine using a black paper as the background. You can also get creative with Mod Podge and a wooden base, or even a canvas. Keep in mind that decoupage can cause colored elements to run. You can avoid this by only using Mod Podge to glue it and not to seal it, or to seal it using the spray version of Mod Podge.

The instructions below are for how I did it.

What you need

• The coloring pages, printed on paper
• A piece of cardstock or construction paper to use as a base
• Markers – I used Ohuhu Maui markers which are fabulous for larger groups and for kids who need something “better” that won’t break the bank. They are for big kids – NOT washable. For younger kids Crayola Supertips are fab.
• Scissors
• Glue – I used a regular Elmer’s glue stick

Assembling your poster

The collage has three elements: a background prayer, a border and embellishments. If crafting it with a group, I recommend printing a few copies of all the embellishments.

If completing this with a single child at home, you can print only the border you plan to use and the embellishment pages.

The main file has the prayer in Hebrew, however, if you prefer the transliterated or translated version, I included those in a separate file. Print out the page number of the one you plan to use.

Color the border, prayer (first word – background optional), and embellishments you’ll be using.

Cut out the center of the border, and glue it on the main prayer page, framing it nicely.

Cut out both pages around the edge of the border.

Cut out and glue on embellishments., place it on a background paper, and trim to size if you’d like.

Your Hamalach Hagoel poster craft is complete! Do you also love this prayer? How will you be crafting yours? Comment below!

And in case you missed it, you can get the full bundle here.

The post Hamalach Hagoel Poster Craft & Coloring Page appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

Welcome to a new round of Bereishit, the first book of the Torah! This is such an exciting time to explore the Parsha of each week with young children because of the storytelling style. We can explore the morals and values portrayed in the Torah’s stories, as well as learn about how our ancestors lived thousands of years ago.

This camel craft, which you can create using everyday materials you probably already have on hand, is a perfect accessory to your Parsha exploration. You can use it in pretend play to act out the stories or as a display piece – either way, it’s a great visual demonstration of travel in the ancient Middle East.

This project is great for all ages. While the template includes tassels cut out of paper, younger children may have an easier time without those tiny shapes – they can either cut random snips of paper, cut little pieces of yarn, or draw designs with markers. 

Random snips are actually an excellent way for preschoolers to build their scissor skills – it’s pure fun without the stress of following outlines. To help them get started, cut a strip of paper about 1 cm wide. Then show your little one how to snip little pieces off the ends. The irregular shapes that come out will be perfect for the tassels on the camel’s saddle or a fun pattern.

You can also do both – draw designs on the main part of the saddles using markers, and then cut out either the template or the snips to make tassels on the edges. 

For the body of this project, a toilet paper roll is suggested. If you don’t have one available or would prefer another option, you can roll your own tube out of cardstock and tape it shut, or you can use any kind of cardboard tube cut to about the same size as a toilet paper roll – for example, a paper towel roll cut in half can make two smaller camels.

One last suggestion before we get started – the template includes one of each saddle shape, forming a complete design when viewed from the side of the camel. If you want to use it in really immersive 3-d play and see it equally from both sides,  you can trace each saddle shape twice. Glue the bottom of each one to each side of the camel, and then join them together at the top. 

What you need

• Colored paper
• Empty toilet paper roll or cardboard tube
• Brown cardstock
• Brown cardboard (e.g. small piece of a box) 
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pencil
• Markers 
• Optional: wiggly eyes

Make this camel Craft

1. Trace the camel body parts of the template onto the cardstock. Trace the saddle patterns onto the colored craft papers of your choice. Cut out the traced shapes. 

2. The saddle has 3 parts: small, medium and large. Use markers to decorate each part individually before gluing them together.

3. Glue all 3 saddle parts together.

4. Take the empty cardboard roll and cover it with a piece of brown cardstock if the color of the roll doesn’t match with the brown cardstock used for the rest of the patterns.

5. Cut small (about 1 cm) slits on 2 opposite ends of the TP roll. One slit will be used to attach the tail cutout and the other one for the head.

6. Make 4 slits at the bottom for the 4 legs.

7. Cut out 4 strips of cardboard for the camel’s legs. 

8. Insert one end of each leg strip into the holes you made for the bottom of the roll. Make sure the ends sticking out are all the same length so your camel will be able to stand.

9. Use markers  to draw the face of the camel on the head cutout. If you’d like, you can use a wiggly eye or sticker for the eye at this point. 

10. Slide the tail and the head into the slits prepared for them. Use a drop of glue to secure them if they don’t feel stable. 

11. Glue the saddle to the side/top of the camel. 

Download the Camel Craft Template

Download your free template! 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.

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I’ve been wanting to make a ten plagues sensory bin for you for a while, but to be honest, it took some time to accumulate all the elements and so it had to be pushed off.

To make it easier for you, I’m going to share with you links that might make sense to purchase only if you’re doing this as a group or as a recurrent classroom toy. For home use, it can get pricey. However, I do share some alternate ideas when I can.

I’m also going to share with you another fun way you can create a ten plagues sensory bin on a budget using a fun printable I created. I did NOT stage it (I simply forgot and had to move on with this post) but it’s pretty straightforward.

The idea of this sensory bin is to allow for hands-on exploration of the different plagues, and to teach about it in a more tactile way.

The Base & Tools

To start, you need a container. This can be any size, but flatter works better. An underbed box is fabulous for a small group of 2-4 kids. A shoebox can work for one. A 15 quart box, like I used, is great for two siblings to share.

Fill it with any sensory bin filler. Kinetic sand is fun. I used shredded paper from the dollar store. Water beads/Orbeez can be cool too, as long as you’re not doing it with toddlers. You can use water if everything inside is sealed and waterproof. And if you’re not concerned about Chametz you can even use dry pasta. You can probably even use rice or beans, even if you’re not Sephardic, because you’re not eating it (ask your LOR).

To theme the filler, I used blue shredded paper, just to serve as a “sky and water” type of scene-setter.

Then, you’ll want some play tools. I actually included a few themed ideas with the actual list of plagues, but some more ideas can include:

• Old formula and similar scoops
• Baking scoops, measuring cups
• Tongs and “bug catchers“
• Jumbo tweezers
• Cups

The Ten Plagues Sensory Bin using Printables

I’m going to outline toy-type options, as well as DIY ideas below, but first, I wanted to share with you the economical version: the printable plagues.

Over the years, I’ve twice designed printable plagues. The first was as puppets. You can simply place the puppets in the sensory bin as your plague, and a way to upgrade the craft.

The second time, I created round “discs” so that they can be used in different ways and have a cohesive look. The advantage of using these is that you can glue them back to back to make them two-sided.

Whichever one you use, I do recommend hard laminating them so that they don’t get smooshed in your bin.

The Ten Plagues Sensory Bin Using toys

The benefit of using toys and props in your ten plagues sensory bin is that it really offers much more of a multi-textured experience. It’s more three dimensional, and kids are more likely to play with the elements and interact more.

Buying these individually can get pricey. I recommend it if you have most of it at home, are creating large bins for a group, or will reuse most or all of the elements after. You can also get a simple ten plagues toy kit (here’s another great option) and use that in a sensory bin, with some supplementation if you want.

Overview of the toys and props

Here’s a quick rundown of what you can place inside – including some ideas that I didn’t necessarily use. I do go further in depth on those that I did below.

• Blood: Cup with red blood drawn on OR red crystals OR mini sensory bottle with Dawn dish soap, red colored water, toy fish.
• Frogs: toy frogs – bath toys, jumping frogs, etc.
• Lice: toy insects
• Wild animals: toy safari and zoo animals
• Pestilence: toy livestock (you can mark x on the eyes – or not)
• Boils – tongs with hands with boils drawn on, OR a sticky hand and draw on boils OR red crystals
• Ice and fire – sea glass – you can add fire if want with Sharpies
• Grasshoppers – toy grasshoppers
• Darkness – sunglasses or googly eyes/stickers on black paper. I used the second option, but the first might give kids more play value.
• Firstborn: peg dolls wtih x eyes. If it’s too scary, you can focus on Pharaoh saying “go” by including toy pajamas (like from a Barbie or similar doll) or PJ’s cut from felt.

Diving Deeper into each plague

Keep in mind that opinions vary on exactly what each plague was. I stuck to the classic Orthodox tradition, however, you can adapt it to your needs.

Dam – blood

I had originally found red (plastic) crystal beads to use for blood. However, I stole them for boils.

So I played with two ideas. On one, I took a small paper cup (about 5 oz.) I had handy and literally just drew on some red “blood” as if I’d had a cup of water that turned to blood.

Then, I played with a mini sensory bottle idea. The cool thing about having this type of element in a sensory bin is that it really makes for so many more exploration opportunities. This one doubles as a science experiement.

I put some blue Dawn dish soap at the bottom of a small juice bottle (you can upcycle a bottle or small jar, of course). I added a plastic toy fish. And then I poured in some red-colored water. This gives the “water turned blood” effect. Of COURSE you’ll want to glue it shut.

I put both options in my ten plagues sensory bin.

Tzefardei’a – frogs

Frogs is an easy one. I did find a three pack of bath toy frogs at the dollar store, but I also had some accumulated toy frogs in our toy box.

Kinim – lice

We were a little sparse with the lice, due to availability and my reluctance to spend too much on this for my kids to use… so we stuck with a single louse. What a plague!

You’ll definitely want to get more – any plastic insect can really pass as lice.

Arov – wild animals

Another easy one, we simply collected a good assortment of plastic animals from the toy box to use as wild animals. The kids helped… although I’m having a hard time calling those adorable baby elephants a plague.

Dever – pestilence

For pestilence all you need is some livestock – and lie them on their sides. You can try the whole x-eye dead effect, but for me sick animals is enough.

Ironically, some of the wild animals may catch the pestilence too…

Sh’chin – boils

My first way tot do boils was to add felt “hands” to our tongs and draw on “boils”.

But then I decided to steal the beads I had taken for “blood” and use them as boils instead. The tongs were used without hands attached.

Barad – hail – ice and fire

For hailstones, I found the perfect blue and white mix of sea glass that just looks so icey! You CAN draw fire in the centers with permanent markers, however, I didn’t. I’ll be repurposing these in non-hailstone crafts.

Arbeh – locust

These jumbo grasshoppers from the dollar store were a must for this ten plagues sensory bin. When we’re done with it, it’ll go with the other toy animals for my kids to play with.

Choshech – darkness

I got a little creative with darkness. I punched holes from black cardstock using a one-inch hole punch. I stuck on eye stickers. I maybe should have laminated them, but for now I made it as a one-time activity so minimal effort was kind of key.

Makkat Bechorot – plague of the firstborn

And finally, for the death of the firstborn, I took some unfinished peg dolls and made X’s for eyes. For younger kids, I’d probably just make them closed and say they’re sick.

I hope you enjoyed these ten plague sensory bin ideas! Got any to add to the list? Comment below!

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The Jewish calendar follows the moon – that is, it’s a lunar calendar. The new month follows the cycles of the moon. When teaching about the concept of a lunar calendar, a visual display of the phases of the moon can be really helpful!

You can estimate when the new month will be coming based on a visual and understanding of the phases of the moon. This moon phase craft is a visual tool that’ll look gorgeous in any classroom or home!

The new month is celebrated in a mini holiday called “Rosh Chodesh” – literally the head/beginning of the month. Everyone celebrates differently. This ranges from forgetting about it entirely to dressing up a little, having treats, and refraining from household chores.

Our family celebrates by having a special treat in the morning. Some people do special dinners. My boys’ school encourages them to wear white shirts and the PTA provides treats.

I always forget to ditch the laundry…

Whether you’re making a decoration for your own home, creating a visual display for the classroom, or working on a take-home project for tweens and teens to make, this moon phase craft is loads of fun!

What you need:

• Wooden Circles – the size you get will determine the size of your craft. I recommend at least 3 inches in diameter. You can use unfinished coasters. This tutorial uses five, however you can use more to show more phases! Ideally, use pre-drilled ones.
• Optional – if using undrilled wooden circles: Hot Glue Gun
• Optional – if drilling your own circles: rotary tool – use the drill bit
• Black, white and grey acrylic paint
• Paintbrushes
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Wood beads in different sizes
• String – I like cotton twine
• Needle (optional)
• A branch or dowel

How to make this moon phase craft

1. Select 5 round wooden rounds for your moon phase craft.

2. Use a pencil to draw a crescent on two of your wood circles. Your crescents should be mirrored – each one should face the opposite direction. On two, use a ruler to draw a line down the center.

3. Use white paint to fill in the moon part on each (the half moons should be on opposite sides), and then paint your center circle completely white. You can blend in some gray paint if you’d like for texture.

4. Once your white paint has dried, paint the rest of the circle black.

5. Your wood circles will be arranged as follows: Crescent on the left, white half on the left, all white, white half on the right, and crescent on the right.

6. If using wood circles with holes, thread a piece of string through each and tie. If you’re not using drilled ones, you can hot glue it to the back instead.

7. String some beads onto the thread.

8. Prepare all your moon phases like this.

9. Arrange your strings along the stick to measure where you want to tie them. Tie them on one at a time, starting with the center.

10. Then one by one tie the rest of the moon phases on.

Your moon phase craft is complete! Share the love by pinning any image in this post, sharing it to your favorite Facebook or WhatsApp group, or emailing it to a friend! Then check out this fun Shabbat time craft.

Moon Phase Wall Hanging Craft

Print

Materials

• Wooden Circles
• Black, white and grey acrylic paint
• Wood beads in different sizes
• String - I like cotton twine
• A branch or dowel

Tools

• Optional - if using undrilled wooden circles: Hot Glue Gun
• Optional - if drilling your own circles: rotary tool
• Paintbrushes
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Needle (optional)

Instructions

1. Select 5 round wooden rounds for your moon phase craft.

2. Use a pencil to draw a crescent on two of your wood circles. Your crescents should be mirrored - each one should face the opposite direction. On two, use a ruler to draw a line down the center.

3. Use white paint to fill in the moon part on each (the half moons should be on opposite sides), and then paint your center circle completely white. You can blend in some gray paint if you'd like for texture.

4. Once your white paint has dried, paint the rest of the circle black.

5. Your wood circles will be arranged as follows: Crescent on the left, white half on the left, all white, white half on the right, and crescent on the right.

6. If using wood circles with holes, thread a piece of string through each and tie. If you're not using drilled ones, you can hot glue it to the back instead.

7. String some beads onto the thread.

8. Prepare all your moon phases like this.

9. Arrange your strings along the stick to measure where you want to tie them. Tie them on one at a time, starting with the center.

10. Then one by one tie the rest of the moon phases on.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

The post Moon Phase Craft appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

With the Parsha (weekly Torah portion) of the plagues coming up (I won’t mention the P word) it’s time to start thinking frog crafts!

And it’ll help us start looking forward to Spring too! Today, I’m sharing a template and tutorial for a sweet little toilet paper roll frog , complete with a free template to help the less craft along. It’s perfect for preschool.

Not keen on crafting with toilet paper rolls? Neither am I! I typically cut paper towel tubes down to size instead.

You can also purchase crafting tubes.

Or, use toilet paper rolls, but take a clean roll – and precut paper for many Shabbats to come!

Craft these to learn the Pharaoh and the Frogs song, or as part of a series of plague crafts. For some reason, the plague of frogs is one that kids get really into and leads to many crafting opportunities. So enjoy this toilet paper roll frog craft and have fun!

Download the template

Download your free template! 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.

What you need

• Toilet Paper Roll – or craft tubes (purchased) or paper towel rolls cut to size
• Colored paper
• Optional: green washable paint or paint sticks
• Pencil
• Scissors
• White or tacky glue (Tacky will hold better until it sets)
• Markers
• Googly eyes.

How to make a toilet paper roll frog

1. Trace and cut out the parts of your frog.

2. Use a marker to outline the pieces if you want them to stand out more. You can also encourage kids to color and add details.

3. Glue the mouth onto the frog’s face. Alternatively, if having young kids make this, you can stick to cutting only the main parts from paper and have kids draw in the rest.

4. Then glue on the cheeks, and use a pen or marker to add a nose and any other details you want.

5. Glue the googly eyes on the eyelids of your frog.

6. Glue the frog’s stomach onto the rectangular piece. Alternatively, you can paint the toilet paper roll (which gives young kids more to do) and glue the stomach in the center.

7. Cut a toilet paper roll in half and wrap it with your rectangle.

8. Fold the edges of the frog’s legs.

9. Apply glue to the folded part.

10. Glue the head on top of the toilet paper roll, and then glue the two legs on either side.

Your toilet paper roll frog is complete! What will you be crafting it for? Comment below!

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