Uh-oh… Do I use the word “easy” to describe all my crafts???
This one is based loosely on a “sheep” project in the Literature Pockets: Nursery Rhymes book, but I’m hoping my kids won’t notice its highly derivative nature.
I guess it doesn’t meet the Charlotte Mason criterion of being a “useful object” (so kids aren’t just doing “twaddle crafts” to kill time, but end up with something useful for the home and acquiring real-world skills). However, it DOES fulfill most of my criteria for a “green” craft, anyway: when it’s finished adorning your home, you can toss the whole thing in the backyard composter!
I haven’t got time for a step-by-step, but really, all you need are, for each ram:
- Black construction paper: FACE, EAR, two LEGS, a TAIL. Make them any shape you like!
- A cardboard body – mine is about the size of a piece of construction paper, hamburger-folded.
- A white or tan SHOFAR that kids can cut out and stick on the side of the head.
- Yarn to cover the body with “hair” – I wanted something that was NOT wool so it would be a goat, but sadly, it just looks like a hairy sheep. If you want to do something easier, you can just stick cotton balls on the body instead. You can use authentic goat-coloured yarn, or something crazy; whatever you have on hand.
- I used oil pastels to decorate the face, which is messy but shows up well on black.
Optional: decoration for the reverse side. (mine is based on clip art Ted created for my Rosh Hashanah lapbook)
I made the hair by wrapping lengths of yarn LOOSELY around a piece of cardboard about the width I wanted the hairs to be. Then, I drizzled glue onto the body and spread the wrapped hair onto the body. Then, I gave it a “haircut” to remove the loops! 
This is absolutely the NICEST yarn; I think it’s alpaca, but I’m not sure. It’s soft and fuzzy and nice to run your fingers through. I just happened to have it here… well, in Elisheva’s room. Her grandmother gave it to her to knit with. This project won’t use it all up – I hope! (I did ask her permission…)
I invited a few other homeschooled kids to come over for a Rosh Hashanah program tomorrow. We’ll daven, bake honey cakes, eat honey cake, apples and honey, sing and read a couple of stories, and do this craft.
Here’s my box of supplies for this craft, all tidy & ready to go!
2 comments:
A ram is a male sheep, isn't it? Not a goat... so I thought.
Very true! But a shofar can actually be made with the horn of many kosher animals (now cow), including goat and kudu.
Mostly, I wanted a goat because my kids made the sheep (made with cotton balls instead of yarn) in the Literature Pockets just a couple of months ago. And I thought the yarn looked nice and goaty, although it does look like shaggy-sheepswool, too.
In fact, all the kids were happy to do it with cotton balls today. The cotton balls are easier, but the yarn may give it more of a unique, organic look.
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