Make a sock doll to celebrate love, spring and the story of Passover

Everyone loves babies. It’s hard to not fall in love with them. With all the stress in the world right now, I think we could all use a little extra love - extra baby love. In Hebrew, the word love is pronounced Ahavah. To celebrate the upcoming season of spring and the story of Passover, we wanted to celebrate our love of babies - and Baby Moses - by making a Baby Moses sock doll.

It’s easy to make a sock baby - ours is made from two socks, pillow stuffing and decorated with fabric scraps. Our sock doll is just so cute and makes us smile!

And bonus…this baby feels so good when holding him in our arms. In fact, it feels like Ahavah and a warm hug. This is an activity for parents to do with littles, and older children should be able to make this doll with an adult’s supervision (you could even use glue instead of sewing). So let’s go make a little sock baby!

Baby Moses Sock Doll

To make one baby doll, you will need:

Crew sock (we used a women’s size)
Anklet sock in a pattern or color (we used a women’s size)
Pillow stuffing
Needle and embroidery floss
Square of black and pink felt
Glue
Scissors
Fabric scraps

Here’s how to make this sweet baby:

1. Grab a handful of stuffing and your crew sock.

2. Stuff the toe of the sock, extending all the way down to the heel. Keep stuffing the sock until it is firm and resembles a bean - as pictured below.

3. Take a long piece of embroidery floss and tie it tight at the narrowest part of the sock. Secure it with a knot (a child might need help pulling tight and making a knot). This will become the baby’s head.

4. Take your scissors, and cut off the unstuffed tail end of the sock.

5. Using your needle and embroidery floss, fold over the open seam at the bottom of the sock and sew it closed with the floss (you could also use hot glue to close the seam).

6. Now you have a doll! “Hi baby!”

7. Cut the second sock, which will become the baby’s hat and blanket.

8. Now it’s time to dress the baby (younger children are wonderful at dressing babies)! First the hat - stretch the toe section of the cut sock onto the baby’s head. Now the blanket - pull the second piece of the sock over the round tummy up to chin. Be gentle when pulling. The finished seam of the sock (the seam that went around the ankle) should be at the bottom of the doll.

9. Make any alterations to the hat and blanket (if needed). The opening of my sock under the doll’s head was a little loose. On the backside of the doll, I folded the excess sock over and sewed a couple of stitches to make it a little more secure. (You could also use hot glue).

10. Now your baby needs a sweet face. I cut a mouth, eyes and cheeks out of felt and secured with glue. You could also use googly eyes or markers.

11. After your baby has a face, your child can decorate him with scraps of fabric and fabric flowers to remind you of spring!

And that’s it - a little baby doll made with two socks, and a lot of love - a lot of Ahavah!

As we approach our second Passover in lockdown, I wish you lots of love - and lots of baby love - which is a unique kind of love that comes from feeling protected by our family and the special people in our lives, especially during difficult times and challenges. It’s the kind of love that Baby Moses must have felt from his mom and sister as he gently swayed in his basket down the Nile River into the loving arms of his new adopted mother.

Would you celebrate Passover with a Baby Moses sock doll? After making the doll, your child can extend the activity by placing the doll in a basket and covering it in a blanket of leaves and flowers. You could hide the basket too, and go on a search for Baby Moses. You could even keep him close by as you re-tell the Passover story at your Seder.

Passover comes during spring - a season celebrated as a time of optimism, hope and love. What reminds you of love? Share with us in the comments below. Be sure to visit our Passover Round-up for more wonderful ways to celebrate spring and Passover too, including a DIY Baby Moses mini diorama, bake your own matzah and make an afikomen bag for your Passover Seder!

Happy spring and Happy Passover!

~Jennifer