printSeptember 12, 2008
Four High Holiday Art Projects
Easy and fun ways projects to make with your preschoolers.
Maayan Jaffe
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Get out the scissors, get out the tape, Mommy and kids are going to create; and that isn’t all they’re going to do. The family is going to make something that connects to the holidays too!
“Using art, you can experience the holidays with all of your senses,” says Rochelle Golomb, preschool teacher at the Goldsmith Early Childhood Education Center.
For more than 20 years, Ms. Golomb has worked with families with young children, helping them to create an equally stimulating world outside the classroom. She says the High Holidays are a great time for parents to bring art into their homes and help build their children’s Jewish identities.
Art projects build fine motor skills and increase a child’s sense for exploration and wonder, opening up avenues for discussion. Making art with Jewish symbols or art that can be used at a holiday table, like place settings or a napkin holder, for example, says Ms. Golomb, can help youth, especially those ages 3 to 5, to connect to the rituals.
“Yom Kippur is a hard holiday to understand, especially for young children. One thing parents can do is make handprint pictures, maybe one with two hands connecting, and talk about what it means to be a good friend, to be a good person, to say you’re sorry,” she explains.
Because school often starts so close to Rosh Hashanah, classroom teachers don’t get enough time to deal with the holiday. In preschools, teachers are more focused on orientation.
“We have to deal with adjustment,” says Ms. Golomb, “so it’s fun if parents can do some of the art at home.”
For youngsters, creating art with their parents leads to special memories. “I love to color with my mom and dad ‘cause I do beautiful pictures,” says five-year-old Lihee Shalem.
“I like to make birthday cards!” cries four-year-old Ryan Barron. (Birthday cards are great for Rosh Hashanah, since it represents the birthday of the world.)
Ms. Golomb recommends keeping scissors, markers, dot paints, molding clay, watercolors, a box of scrap paper, and other odds and ends on tap for a rainy day.
“Think outside the box and let the children’s creativity guide it,” says Ms. Golomb. “It’s amazing to see where their imaginations take them.”
Projects Even Parents Can Do
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Jewish Star Window Decoration (ages 1-4) Supplies:
Instructions:
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Paper Shofar (ages 2-4) Supplies:
Instructions:
(For older kids, connect a party favor mouthpiece to the tip of the shofar and it really will be functional!) |
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Apple Painting (ages 2-4) Supplies:
Instructions: Dip the sliced apples into the paint and push down hard onto the paper. You’ll get a circle with a star in the middle. |