This morning we enjoyed more process art and Rosh Hashanah learning with Simanim Stencil Process Art. This is a great “kitchen sink” (use whatever you have available) craft that lets kids enjoy many paint tools and creativity and learn about simanim.
What You’ll Need
- Simanim stencils. I made my own with my cricut but you could free hand draw and cut on stencil sheets, cardboard or cardstock
- Paper
- Tape
- Paint
- Whatever paint tools you have around the house. We used a toothbrush, pom pom attached to a clothespin, cloth sponge, cotton balls, q tips, foil ball and corrugated cardboard
- Rosh Hashanah Simanim Review sheet, free printable (optional)
Putting It Together
- Set out your paint and paint tools.
- Give each child a piece of paper.
- Let them choose their stencil and tape the stencil down so it doesn’t move.
- Step back and let them create and explore however they wish. That’s the joy of process art!
- When they’re done, let the paintings dry. You can display at your Rosh Hashanah seder.
- Unfortunately, I haven’t found a kids’ book that contains simanim. But you can print out this sheet to introduce the symbolism of the simanim to your children.
Finished & Loving It!
My kids were so excited as soon as they saw the tray of unusual paint tools! There was a ruffle over the toothbrush but each kid ended up having their own favorite.
E liked the q tip, O liked the cloth sponge and A liked the toothbrush. My favorite was actually the foil ball. It’s really fun to see the differences and what people preferred.
Not all the paintings ended up looking like the food they represent. And that’s ok! That happens with process art. My goal was to let them explore a variety of tools and techniques. Whatever the final image looked like, we could still talk about the simanim and what they symbolized.
Process art has so many benefits and I love that the kids were able to have fun while being creative. I also love that as they chose each stencil we discussed what the simanim that they chose symbolized. It was a simple, fun and meaningful learning and art experience!
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!
The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:
Chag Sameach!!
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