It’s hard to imagine Lag B’Omer without public gatherings, local bonfires or celebrations or big parades. Nonetheless, the greatest celebration of Lag B’Omer is that of Jewish unity and Ahavas Yisroel! While it looks different this year than on others, we are perhaps even more connected to one another, albeit through alternative means. It might feel a little unusual to make a celebration at home with just immediate family, but it can still be fun and meaningful. Here are some craft and activity ideas to enhance your day using materials you have easy access to in these difficult times.
Every year, my children look forward to bonfires, and “camp ins” (playing about camping at home or in our backyard. Public bonfires aren’t happening this year and not everyone lives in a location that is conducive to having one. Some families may not even have access to outdoor spaces or yards right now and that can be really challenging. So let’s get creative together and make a Family Lag b’Omer Camp-In at home!
Pitch Your Tent: Whether you have an actual tent, build a fort with chairs and couch cushions and blankets or just set some cozy blankets out on the floor, setting up camp is a great activity for kids of all ages. If you do have a yard and the weather permits, you might do this outdoors.
It is just as fun and cozy indoors, too!
Setting Up Camp:
Let’s Go Fishing! To create a camp like atmosphere, you might want to include some fun camping activities. If you have the ingredients, perhaps you’ll make some s’mores in the oven or microwave. Maybe you have the ability to grill at home or prepare some favorite BBQ foods indoors. You might set up a little fishing game indoors with some paper or felt fish shapes and add a paperclip “mouth.” Use a refrigerator magnet, string and some tape to attach it to a stick, dowel, or long cardboard tube to make a fishing pole and you can go fishing right from your living room!
If you’re in the mood to add some waterplay to the mix, you can go fishing in a big bin or bowl of water. You can use what you have on hand. We had a fishing game party favor one year that we used but another year I just set out some bath toys, a colander and some sandbox toys to fish with! If you want to cool off with some ice play, you can make ice cube “fish” in an ice cube tray using colored water. Toss in a couple of googly eyes if you have them, but no need if you don’t. When your water is frozen, pop them out and add them to a bin of water. We did this with waterbeads one year, but those are not a requirement to make this enjoyable. If you have salad tongs, they make great “ice fishing poles,” but a ladle or slotted spoon would also work well!
Remember--children have inherently great imaginations! They can stretch them as wide as need be--just about anything can be a fish and just about anything can be used to catch it.
Build a Bonfire! While a real bonfire may not be feasible in your space, a pretend one can be great fun to think up and build. Perhaps you’ll go outdoors to gather real sticks or perhaps you’ll work from indoors and use blocks or recycled cardboard tubes. Your flames can be made from scarves/tichels, fire colored clothing and linens, crumpled tissue or construction paper. When it comes to project planning these days, it can be helpful to put your kids in the driver’s seat. Let them navigate what materials to use and how to set them up!
Gather Together and CELEBRATE: Next it’s time to cozy up together and celebrate by the “fire.” Sing or listen to some favorite songs. Dance in your living room! Parade around your house or if safely possible, around your neighborhood. Does anyone in your house play an instrument? If you don’t have “real” instruments” at home, maybe you’d like to make some of your own. If my kids have taught me anything, it’s that everything can be a drum! Share some favorite stories together or share some favorite things about each other. Ahavas Yisroel starts at home and this year, we can really celebrate that!
Feeling Crafty?
If you want to get crafty this year, here are some ideas. Use what you have handy! This year we plan to do a family mural using large paper and art supplies. This is a great way to work together with one another (an important theme of Lag B’Omer) and create something beautiful. We will hang it in our front window to bring joy to our neighbors passing by. You can do this with smaller paper as well. Family members can work together or create individual pieces of art to contribute to your window museum. You might add a message of kindness and encouragement.
For some theme related art, you might want to build a tiny bonfire craft. One year we did this with an overturned plastic cup, squares of colored paper, a paper plate and construction paper “sticks.” I used an LED light inside the cup, but this is not a requirement to make it fun! You can even make a marshmallow roasting stick prop using an actual stick, popsicle stick or wooden dowel and gluing a cotton ball marshmallow to one end.
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You can also gather twigs outdoors and glue them onto a paper plate or piece of paper and add some crumpled tissue paper or construction paper flames. If you’d like a moveable miniature bonfire rather than a permanent craft, you can use the same materials but leave out the glue! This can be a great addition to a dollhouse or block building for little toys and figurines to celebrate together.
Marshmallows are fun for eating if you have them. They are also fun for painting with. You can use vanilla pudding or yogurt colored red, yellow and/or orange with food coloring to make edible paint. You can also do this with real paint (but make sure your littlest ones won’t eat it!) or substitute in a cotton ball for the “marshmallow.”
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This year is different but we can still make Lag B’Omer feel special! It just may be the perfect recipe for a meaningful and memorable experience.
I thank Hashem every day that we happen to have access to a small amount of yard space and the ability to safely be outdoors right now. For many, outdoor access is limited or unsafe. If you do have the ability to be outdoors with your children right now, the fresh air can be good for everyone on so many fronts! And even if you cannot, scroll on down to the bottom of this article to gather some ideas for bringing a bit of “outside” in.
If you are comfortable getting outdoors in the weeks to come, here are some activities you may wish to take along or try. I have discussed appropriate precautions in regard to outdoor play during this time with my stepmother who is a pediatrician. Per her recommendation, I would suggest avoiding outdoor spaces where you will be in close contact with others and having playdates or meetups in these spaces. Playground equipment is not recommended because young children are still very prone toward touching their faces, unless you can wipe it down prior to play. If you do make use of public parks and facilities, nature walks and trails and open fields and spaces are a safer bet. Please exercise caution and adhere to local recommendations at this time. These activities can also be done in your own backyard! May we all stay healthy, safe, and sane!
Prepare a Traveling Treasure Box: This doesn’t have to actually be a box, although I found a cute one in the dollar section of Target several weeks ago. You can use a basket, a tote bag, a backpack, a lunchbox or even a ziplock bag. This will be used for kids to carry any items along on a walk and to collect nature’s treasures as they go.
Some items you may stash with you to bring on the go:
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Tools for observation like magnifying glasses, binoculars (can even be handmade out of recycled cardboard tubes--it still promotes a different view and the act of focusing!)...
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Tools for writing/recording like a clipboard/paper, pencils, colored pencils or crayons, printed games/scavenger hunts
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a nature journal
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a broken, unwrapped crayon and paper for bark/leaf rubbings
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A sketchbook for nature sketches
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A camera or camera phone for taking pictures
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Field guides you may have or you can access/print many online like this one for native trees:
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Tools for measurement: rulers, tape measure, even string to measure how tall plants are, etc.
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Masking tape (wrapped loosely around the wrist with the sticky side out, it makes a perfect base to collect small leaves and flowers and make a nature bracelet)
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Double sided tape can be stuck inside a nature journal or onto paper to collect leaves or flowers
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Small toys/figurines, dolls and furniture, toy animals, dinosaurs, cars, etc. for small world play outdoors
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Toy dishes or real dishes that can be used for mud/dirt play outdoors
Just please remember to bring back/indoors anything you bring outdoors to a nature space away from home and anything from your backyard that cannot withstand the elements or may harm an animal, etc.
And now for some simple activities to try in your own backyard or on a nature walk:
Backyard Treasure Hunt:
Before you’re ready to go out, elect a grown up or child to go outside and hide some “treasures.” Here are some ideas you might consider: plastic dinosaurs, plastic frogs, magnetic letters or numbers, plastic coins, small toy cars/vehicles, plastic animals, etc. Keep in mind how many items have been hidden and where! You can also hide a variety of items and make a written scavenger hunt or treasure map! This is a great activity in and of itself for older children to prepare for younger ones. The Treasure Hunters will need a gathering basket, bag or bucket and some clues, maybe even a magnifying glass or cardboard tube “looking glass” or “binoculars.” Find and collect your treasures!
“Magic” Mailbox: Use a tin, a box, an old lunch box or container or anything that can stay outside and be sealed for a “magic” mailbox. Stash a letter from a “fairy” or “nature gnome” or other made-up character to introduce it to your children. They can write/draw letters to “mail” and a response can be “mailed back” for them to find the next day. You can also stash little “gifts” inside the mailbox like a small bag of beads and string or a little flower or a small toy animal to play with outside…
Themed Scavenger Hunt: You can write words in a notebook, on paper, or on index cards and make your own scavenger hunt card deck. There is also a product available on Amazon called the “Go Find It Deck” that can be used, but it’s just as easy to create your own! https://smile.amazon.com/gofindit-Outdoor-Nature-Scavenger-Families/dp/B00XKO5RPQ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=N596ZIX559UP&keywords=go+find+it+outdoor+nature+scavenger+hunt&qid=1584306960&sprefix=go+find+it+%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-2
Here are some ideas for making up your own themed nature scavenger hunt:
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Texture Scavenger Hunt: Find something…
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Bumpy
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Smooth
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Rough
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Sharp
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Soft
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Furry
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Fuzzy
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Squishy
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Crinkly
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Strong
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Fragile/delicate
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Color Scavenger Hunt: Prepare a color scavenger hunt indoors by coloring a square or splotch of each color you wish to find. Alternatively you can just call out color names and go through the rainbow!
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Parts of Plants Scavenger Hunt: Can you find different parts of plants like the following?
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Roots
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Stems
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Trunks
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Branches
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Seeds
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Fruits
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Berries
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Nuts
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Pods
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Cones
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Flowers
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Leaves
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Needles
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Different colored leaves
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Different sized leaves
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Evergreen
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Deciduous
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Bushes
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Trees
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Ferns
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Fungus/mushrooms
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Moss
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Sticks
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Other Items You Might Search For Outdoors:
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Shapes in nature
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Something Alive
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Rocks of different colors/sizes/textures
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Letters in Nature
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Something BIG
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Something tiny
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Something as tall as you are
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Something taller than you are
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Something shorter than you are
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Something as wide/wider or less wide than you are…
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Photo “Journal:” Use a camera or camera phone to capture the results of a scavenger hunt and create your own book. Can you make a color book? A parts of a plant book? Collect and print your photos and you’ll have a lasting keepsake of your outdoor adventures.
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Go On a Sound Walk
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For this, I like to use my “deer ears.” Cup your hands around your ears, thumbs to the back to hone in on nature’s noises! You’ll need to be very quiet to discover that nature is actually VERY LOUD! What do you hear? Can you identify certain sounds? Are there some sounds you don’t recognize? Can you tell how close or far something is?
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For a fun variation, make this an Outdoor Concert. Prepare “tickets” for concert goers that they can buy. I like to collect nature’s currency for these and send my kids off to find rocks or cones or acorns to pay with. Then grab a seat on a lawn chair or picnic blanket and enjoy the show! You can use your “deer ears” to hear better.
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Outdoor I Spy: One person is the “leader” and will choose something they see or wish to find and begin with “I spy with my little eye, something that is___” or “I spy with my little eye a ____” Here are some examples, what can you come up with?
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I spy with my little eye a big mossy rock!
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I spy with my little eye something that is yellow (this may yield many results).
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Walk Like the Animals, Talk Like the Animals: it’s fun to be a person walking in the woods, but what if you were an ant? How might you walk? What if you were a big brown bear? How might you walk? Can you waddle like a duck? Hop like a frog? Challenge your crew to move through a nature walk in all different ways. Animal sounds are welcome! Take turns with leaders and have fun walking and talking like the animals.
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Build Outdoor Forts and Shelters: whether you bring out a pop-up tunnel or tent or build your own teepee using large garden stakes, clothes pins and an old sheet or shower curtain, or even use large branches and sticks, building outdoor forts can be great fun for kids and adults of all ages. You can even make this is a backyard project over the course of many days. It’s a great place to curl up with a good book, hide in a game of hide and seek or just play.
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Build an Outdoor Theater and Put on a Show: using a large sheet or tablecloth and either a clothesline or space between two trees and bungee cords, put together a “stage” and get ready for an outdoor showing of your favorite story, song or puppet show!
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Rain Play: even rainy days can be great for play. Put on some rain gear and head out for an umbrella walk or puddle jumping. Grab some watercolors and a brush and some thick white paper or watercolor paper. Just add rain! Use toy dishes or real dishes suitable for outdoor play and open your own mud restaurant. Make rain drums using balloons and plastic containers in various sizes. Just cut the end off a balloon and stretch over the top of a container and listen as the rain plays its own percussion solo. Build rain shelters using the ideas in the fort section--I especially like using cheap shower curtains for this! All you need to add are trees or stakes, clothespins and bungee cords. Sidewalk chalk can also be great fun in the rain as the water makes it rather like paint.
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Take It Outside: The backyard is also a great place to take messy play and art activities that you don’t prefer to do inside. Just be sure to clean up any materials you bring out and avoid leaving anything that would be harmful to animals and plants directly on the ground.
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Ball games can be great fun even in the backyard. Use what you have, blow up a big beach ball for a game of “Keep It In the Air” or if you don’t happen to have a ball at home, Kick the Can is always fun!
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Bubbles! Blowing bubbles can be a lot of fun for all ages. You can use store-bought solution, but you can also make your own. I like to fill a large bin or basin with homemade bubble solution for big bubbles. You can also use household objects to create your own bubble blowers. Some favorites are:
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Colanders
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Potato mashers
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Cookie cutters
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Plastic mesh baskets
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Plastic canvas
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Use straws and yarn to create a large bubble blower by stringing three or four straws onto the yarn and tying it closed into a triangle or square. Dip into bubble solution and slowly lift away to try and make the biggest bubble you can!
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Slotted spoons
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Make a bubble blower using a recycled bottle with the end cut off. Use a washcloth and rubber band over the cut end and dip into bubble solution. Blow through the mouth of the bottle to make bazillions of little bubbles. How long/tall can you make your bubbles grow?
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Waterplay: a bin or basin of water is always fun. Add a little dish soap and an old fashioned hand mixer to make lots of bubbles. Wash some baby dolls or toy animals. Add in some shaving cream and toy cars for a car wash. Use water and perhaps some food coloring and found flowers and leaves for a fairy potion tea party along with some toy dishes. Use tinfoil to construct a boat that can hold the most weight and test it. You can use beads, pennies, paperclips or other small objects as your weights. Try your hands at sink or float science. What toys will sink or float? What natural objects will sink or float?
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Ramps, tunnels and balls, oh my! Grab cardboard planks and tubes and some ping pong balls and get ready to build and test your own structures. This one is fun for all ages--even grown ups! What else can you use? Can you set up a ping pong ball obstacle course?
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Picnics are not just for summer days and not just for lunch. Pack a snack and a blanket and go outside. Eat breakfast in your backyard. In times like these, a change of scenery can change the mood--take it outside! This applies to more than just food as well--you can read outside, draw outside, craft outside, do yoga outside, dance outside, and, of course, garden!
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And meanwhile, inside… This is a great time to start seeds and you don’t even need a yard or outdoor space to grow your own garden. You can build your own sprout house inside using a ziploc bag, a moistened paper towel or cotton balls and a seed from a vegetable in your kitchen, dried bean or seed pack. You can grow herbs and even some vegetables in containers in your kitchen or in a window box or on a porch. You can plant just about any seed in just about anything! Worst case scenario is that it doesn’t grow or it dies. Seeds can be ordered online but you can also use dried beans and peas or seeds from your favorite fruits and vegetables. You can sprout sweet potatoes inside, avocado pits, the bottoms of celery or lettuce, onions that have begun to grow shoots and more...
Whether inside or outdoors, gardens are a safe place to fail and a fun place to try. You can also make your own indoor “weather station” by filling a sandwich or quart sized ziploc bag about ¼ to ½ full of water. Add blue food coloring if you wish. You will then seal the bag and tape it for reinforcement. Tape the bag to a window and watch as water evaporates to the top of the bag in little droplets. When enough droplets collect to form a “rain cloud,” it will rain back down into the bottom of the bag.
