Rosh Hashanah Theme: Arts & Crafts

I often cover our work space with an old tablecloth or shower curtain. For some added process art and exploration today, I covered the area with a strip of white craft paper. This will be reserved and re-used for some additional Rosh Hashanah art work and collages.

There are so many great art and craft projects for children and their families to make for Rosh Hashanah. Between decorations, honey jars, greeting cards, shofars, placemats, activities to keep little ones busy in shul and more, the opportunities to get creative are endless! I try to include a bit of process art in along with the more "cookie-cutter" style projects. I also try to stretch each project to the fullest of its potential to limit excess and waste. Here's a peek at the cute, decorative greeting we made today using a recycled paper shopping bag and apple stamping:

We started the activity with one of my favorite science explorations--looking at the inside of an apple from two viewpoints--horizontally cut (across width of the apple--which reveals a star shape) and vertically cut (from stem down, which reveals traditional view of the core and seeds). We talked about the parts of the apple and how both views compared and contrasted. You could, of course, enjoy a snack from here, but we reserved these apples for some artwork instead...

Prior to our apple printing, I prepped our signs with "baskets" constructed from a recycled brown paper shopping bag. The basket is cut from the center of the bag and the handles made from the actual paper bag handles. Both were glued on with school glue and left to dry.

We had fun experimenting with apple stamping done in red, yellow and green paint. It was exciting to see how the prints differed from both cuts of apple. When you look very carefully, you can even see the star shape in the print of the apple cut in half width-wise!

Additional uses for recycled process art: last year we did some apple "marble" painting and cut out several apple shapes from the results. We used some to create a collage Rosh Hashanah greeting and laminated some others for activities like this one--a Ten Apples Up On Top story extension!