Simanim Garland

One of my favorite more recent Rosh Hashanah traditions is having a seder the first night of Rosh Hashanah so I loved the idea of creating a Simanim Garland to not only decorate for this special seder, but to learn about these ritual foods even before we sit down to our dinner.

Simanim are special symbolic foods eaten during a Rosh Hashanah seder. What started mainly as a Sephardic and Mizrahi tradition has now been adopted by many Jewish families looking to include some added meaning to their Rosh Hashanah dinners. I love that we have incorporated this tradition into our family celebrations. What is already a sacred and reflective time now has even more meaningful aspects. 

This PJ Library article introduces the simanim. If you’re vegetarian like us, we love using a head of lettuce instead of a fish head 😉 And sometimes I throw in some fish crackers because the kids love them too!

What You’ll Need

Putting It Together

1. Use scissors or a cricut to cut out your simanim shapes from the cardstock. 
2. Fill a bin with water. 
3. Shave off different colored pieces of sidewalk chalk using the popsicle stick. Shave enough to have a layer of chalk on the surface of the water. 
4. Carefully place a simanim cut out on the water’s surface and press gently, then remove from the water. 
5. Let dry. Kvell over your cool marbled effect!
6. Once dry, glue onto red cardstock. 
7. Cut around the simanim to create a red border. 
8. Cut a length of twine for however long you want your garland. 
9. Attach each simanim with a mini clothespin. 

Finished & Loving It!

As you probably know by now, I love process art. I love the idea that the kids get to just try whatever they want and create really neat art. But there isn’t a worry about the finished product. It’s all about being present with the process. 

This chalk art is so about that. The kids enjoyed the shaving. And it’s such a great fine motor activity and hand strengthener! They got to choose their colors and put however much on the surface. And since this was a new method, they had no idea what to expect. They loved seeing the cool marbled design as soon as the paper was removed!

Aren’t these so pretty! They would work so well as a mobile, Rosh Hashanah greeting cards, or just to look at. But of course, we turned ours into a garland to first hang in our playroom for our Rosh Hashanah shelfie, then by our dining table to help us feel those Rosh Hashanah seder and simanim vibes! Love love love it!

Now that you have some simanim decoration ideas, are you looking for a Rosh Hashanah haggadah for your seder that incorporates all these simanim? We love using this one by Kol HaOt. But just like with Passover, find or create whatever Haggadah works for you!

This Simanim Garland is such a great way to review the different simanim and their symbolism with the kids. And I know it will be a beautiful backdrop to our Rosh Hashanah seder in just a couple days! L’Shanah Tovah! May the new year bring you much sweetness and so many blessings!

We have a whole page dedicated to the High Holidays, our High Holidays Hub. Check it out! It includes some of the High Holidays activities we do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.

And don’t forget our Rosh Hashanah Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, our Yom Kippur Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, or the High Holidays Montessori-Style 3 Part Card Bundle, all a wonderful way to introduce High Holidays! And, now we also have all 13 Jewish holidays bundled together in A Year of Jewish Holidays 3 Part Cards.

The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:

PJ Library: High Holidays

Reform Judaism: High Holidays

BimBam: High Holidays

Chag Sameach!!

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