Shemot (Shemos): Resources and project ideas

Shemot / Shemos

English: Moses and the Burning Bush, illustrat...

Moshe and the burning bush

The Israelites multiply in Egypt, and Pharaoh starts to fear them. He commands the midwives to kill the male newborns, but they don’t. Moshe (Moses) is born and put into a basket in the river, where Pharaoh’s daughter finds and raises him in the palace. Moshe sees the hardship of the Jews and kills an Egyptian, so he flees. He marries and works as a shepherd until God calls to him in the burning bush. Moshe and his brother Aaron go to Egypt to demand that Pharaoh lets the Israelites go, but Pharaoh does not and works them even harder. God promises that the redemption is close. (Passover story is coming – my kids are already excited!)

Links: Here are the Aish, Torah.org, and Chabad pages on Shemot. Here are some coloring sheets, a parsha song, and a fun video from Itche Kadoozy (my older boys love this silly series). and a parsha cake. Check out this really thought-provoking parsha parenting article on Creative Jewish Mom.

Some ideas for this week:

Make the cities the Jews were forced to build: clay bricks, chocolate mini bars and frosting or peanut butter mortar, graham cracker buildings, etc.

Build some lego or block cities and talk about how hard the real thing would be, the logistics, etc. – click on the photo to read about this pyramid.

Experiment with different “”bricks.” Try using clay, dirt, with straw or grass, playdough, sandy soil, etc. Put them in a small pan, like a cupcake mold, and see what each does (the Israelites had to collect their own straw, which made everything much harder)

Make a parsha cake, like this:

Or this!

Cake creations Baby Moshe cake

Babies! Some mini cupcakes decorated like babies or baby carriages would be appropriate here. Or how about rattle mini cupcakes?

Rattle cake pops from onceuponacuttingboard

 

Try some different floating items (like Moshe’s basket). What floats and what doesn’t? Brainpop has some good activities for this. Or just turn your kids loose with a tub of water and some objects!

What are you doing this week?

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2012/01/11/shemot-resources-and-project-ideas/

1 comment

    • Marissa on January 1, 2024 at 3:25 pm

    I grew up in Mexico City. On January 6 there is a “three kings day” celebration and a round, candied braided bread containing a tiny baby doll. Whoever gets the slice with the doll has to host the next celebration.
    Although it was about Jesus it sounds so much like finding Moses in a basket!

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