This blog is filled with ideas to turn everyday moments into Jewish moments, especially for families with young children.
All in Jewish Values
There’s so much to love about Hanukkah! This eight-day festival is filled with candle light, miracles, spinning dreidels, donuts (sufganiyot) and dreams too! They’re so many ways to celebrate, and we share some of our favorite recipes, activities and DIYs, especially for families with young children!
We’re getting ready for Valentine’s Day by making mini bundt cakes topped with edible flowers. These little cakes are so so pretty, and perfect for celebrating a day of love, especially because they’re pink or “varod” in Hebrew! Come bake some with us!
The Jewish holiday Tu B’Shevat (named for the date of the holiday - the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat) is the birthday of the trees! We have so many ways to celebrate!
Hello Tevet! We recently began this new month on the Jewish calendar. Tevet is known for the start of winter, and also for the baby goat (kid) or gedi in Hebrew (so cute)! We’re celebrating this new season by making a very special snow globe. You can read more about the gedi and see the process to make your very own winter wonderland too!
This is a special tutorial to make circular loom weavings to finish our winter yarn tapestry. We used yarn in different textures, thickness and shades of white to make these beautiful weavings. We think they look a little like snowflakes, which is perfect for the arrival of a new season! Come make some with us!
As we say goodbye to Hanukkah, we welcome the arrival of a new season and the month of Tevet, which is known as the darkest month of the year. We created all kinds of warm and cozy DIYs and activities (all with a Jewish connection) to celebrate all month long. We hope these activities and the glow from all the candles lit during Hanukkah will keep you filled with light, warmth and love all winter long.
During this time of year, it’s so wonderful when children have the opportunity to be the light for someone else by participating in an act of kindness. Today we’re sharing a wonderful family mitzvah - children making stuffed animals for other children in the hospital. Your invited to join us at our family mitzvah day and create your own tradition of an acts of kindness day too!
We’re celebrating Hanukkah in the most delicious way - with a donut decorating party! We made a batch of chocolate and vanilla donuts in a newly gifted donut baking pan and decorated them with homemade icings and delicious toppings! This is a wonderful party to set up for adults and children alike. Let the decorating begin!
To spread smiles and happiness this Hanukkah, we’re making colorful dreidel necklaces to share with some of our favorite friends. We use paint chips from our local home improvement store to make these cuties, and string the necklaces with beads in different shapes and sizes. This is the happiest (and easiest) dreidel necklace for littles, so let’s go make one!
One of our favorite traditions is to decorate our home as a family for Hanukkah! My most-loved decorations are handmade, like these festive dreidel garlands and mobiles - all from a collection of paint chips. This is a wonderful collaborative project to do with littles, and we show you all the steps to make your own!
It’s almost time for “Challahween!” We’re getting ready by baking the cutest challah ghosts, broomsticks and pumpkins too! These shapes are just so easy to make with frozen bread dough! These are the perfect little challahs for the fall season, and we show you how to make all three!
I loved creating a very crafty “arty party” birthday for an adorable 8 year old girl. She was imagining witches and broomsticks, and after brainstorming with mom and daughter, I put together two adorable craft stations. This is a very fun theme for a fall party, and you’re invited to take a look!
A beautiful tradition in Judaism is to light a memorial candle, a yahrzeit candle, on the anniversary of a loved one’s passing. I received a candle for my dad, and spent the afternoon making a special candle holder from clay and imprinted with wildflowers. If you’d like to remember someone you love with a beautiful little memorial candle holder, read on to learn how.
We’re welcoming fall (and Sukkot) with a harvest of gourd cookies! The funny bumpy gourd reminds us that extending hospitality to friends and strangers is beautiful Jewish custom during this time of year. These cookies are shaped with a buttery dough and painted with a sugar glaze. Come bake a harvest with us!
There’s something about picnics that make us so happy. We’re having a sit down picnic dinner for Rosh Hashanah this year, and we’ve saved you a seat with our apple basket place cards. They’re so adorable and make sweet party favors too. We share a full tutorial on how to make them.
For this Rosh Hashanah, we are full speed ahead with a picnic theme, which I think is lovely for grown-ups and children alike. Our picnic has an abundance of apples, honey bees, white plates, and baskets filled with flowers and lots of handmade touches. Come take a look!
This is the sweetest “baking experience” for littles. We used store bought cream puffs and transformed them into a mini apple dessert for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. With just a few ingredients, they’re so simple to make, but oh so cute and fancy! Most importantly, we share 10 thoughtful ways for a little one to help make them! So let’s get “baking!”
On Rosh Hashanah evening, right as the sun sets, we begin our holiday by lighting candles. This year we made special festival candles by drawing doodles on tissue paper and then melting the paper into the candle wax. This is a fun project for all ages. So let’s go bring some warmth, love and light into our New Year by making Rosh Hashanah candles!
Teeny tiny pinecones are made into honey bees for our Rosh Hashanah honey pot! This is a very simple craft but oh so very cute! You only need a few supplies, so come make a sweet honey bee and honey pot with us!
Here’s the cutest way to have apples and honey for a sweet new year - with our apple buns stuffed with pie filling! As of of right now this is my most favorite recipe for Rosh Hashanah. They’re so sweet and adorable, come bake some with us!
