Today in my Sunday School class we learned about the Jewish value of mitzvah and made a Mitzvah Wheel Craft to help visualize and perform miztvot (plural of mitzvah).
What You’ll Need
- Mitzvah Wheel Template
- Scissors
- Brass Fastener
Putting It Together
- Print out the Mitzvah Wheel template on cardstock. You could also glue it to cardboard to make a stronger board.
- Cut out the arrow.
- Make a hole at the bottom of the arrow and in the center of the wheel. I used a thumbtack to make the holes.
- Attach the arrow by putting the brass fastener through the arrow and wheel.
- Have your child either write or draw different mitzvot in each section. The idea is for them to choose mitzvot that are meaningful to them (and also ones they know they can do, we want this to be a positive, encouraging experience!).
- Spin the arrow (really more like a flick, it doesn’t work fantastically but we found it does flick better when the brass fastener is not super tight) and see what mitzvah your child lands on and then perform that mitzvah!
Finished & Loving It
We read the sweet PJ Library book One Good Deed, where one child performs a mitzvah and then it spreads neighbor to neighbor with the entire neighborhood not only performing mitzvot for each other, but all being happier, and kinder, as a result.
While I mentioned mitzvot are commandments that we are obligated to do and that there are a bunch of them, for our class’ purpose, we focused on the idea of a mitzvah as a good deed, like the book illustrates. I emphasized that good deeds could be so many things and that they are definitely things that kids can do themselves!
This Mitzvah Wheel Craft helps illustrate many different mitzvah opportunities that each child can do. The kids were eager to share different mitzvot they found meaningful. It felt so good to feel that they were engaged and interested in this topic, especially over Zoom!
Need more information about mitzvah? Check out these fabulous resources:
PJ Library: What is a Mitzvah?
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