Cuneiform was one of the earliest types of writing. It started in Mesopotamia, and was used by various cultures including the Assyrians and Babylonians and early Persians.
Writing your name or a message in cuneiform can be a fun way for kids to explore ancient Mesopotamian history. But to write cuneiform you need a certain type of stick with an edge to it. This will be your cuneiform stylus.
STYLUSES
We made our own cuneiform styluses by cutting a stick so it has a flat end, and then carving the end in the shape of a triangle. It's really quite easy...if you can use a knife to whittle off the bark of a stick you can do this.
But if you don't feel like carving, there's another option. Chop sticks (the wooden kind they give you at Chinese restaurants) already come with a flat edge. The end of the chopstick is in the shape of a square, not in the shape of a triangle, but it will still work for many of the cuneiform alphabets as it still gives you that wedge shape. The only shape you can't do is a straight down triangle stamp, which not all cuneiform alphabets use.
A third option for styluses is to buy dowels and then cut them to smaller sizes (crayon size is generally good.)
PREPPING THE CLAY
Next, you flatten out a piece of play dough or air dry clay (which can be bought at Hobby Lobby, Micheal's, and various other hobby stores). If using clay I suggest doing this on a surface like a Plastic baggie (which can also be used to store the clay beforehand), since clay tends to stick to stuff. You can put the clay in the baggie and something like a plate or rolling pin to press it flat. You can also plastic place mat or paper plate, and cover it with plastic wrap to keep it from sticking to whatever you use to press it flat.
WRITING IN CUNEIFORM
Then, using one of the alphabets linked below (under the video) use the method shown in the video to make your cuneiform. Notice how he uses the edge to make wedge shaped impressions. You don't need to "trace" out triangles, but use the natural shape of the stylus to make those for you.
Now, we did our cuneiform with real air dry clay (easy, and you get that feel of real clay, but it's fragile after it dries). I've heard of people using salt dough or play dough too, but my favorite method I've seen (but not yet tried) is cuneiform gingerbread cookies!
Here are some cuneiform alphabets you can try. Note though, that most (maybe all) of these were actually syllabaries (where one symbol often stood for a whole syllable, not just a single sound like in the English alphabet). Also, some of these languages didn't use the same sounds as we do in English. So when you see a cuneiform "alphabet," it is likely an approximation (but that's good enough to help kids explore what it was like to write in cuneiform).
The cuneiform is fairly simple to write, but the one I have is not in alphabetical order, and uses some international symbols for sounds. It doesn't contain all the English letters/sounds so you might have kids make up their own cuneiform letters for the letters they didn't have.
This was created by or under Darius I, who is mentioned in
the biblical books of Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah (for those supplementing with Bible stories, around Chap 21 of SOTW). It is also not too complex to write. It's also not in alphabetical order, and is presented as a syllabary (but a very simple one...if kids wanted to try out the idea of using a syllabary this would be a good one to do that). Again, it doesn't contain all the English letters.
This has all the English letters, even c (which is redundant with k and s), so it's definitely at best an approximation. These are COMPLEX characters to make, but it is nice to have all of it in alphabetical order without having to mess with syllables. It also has numbers 1-20.
First phonetic cuneiform, and kinda complex but older
students might enjoy looking at it (symbols were by syllables, so "ba,
be, bi, bu" would all be separate alphabetic symbols). Some modern
scripts, such as Japanese, are structured similarly. There is a
simplified sumerian "alphabet" here though.
Then just let your creation air dry, for for more sturdiness, bake it.
We made some other clay creations after playing with cuneiform - my son made the vase and I mad the crocodile. (I
was pretty proud of that crock...used the triangle end of stylus like a stamp to make the scales on
his back)
Several years ago for Vacation Bible School our church decided to trek into the "wilderness" and bring kids into the story of Moses and the Israelites in a very hands-on way. One craft we did for this, which wasn't part of the original program but just fit perfectly, was decorating walking sticks. It took a little scrounging around for materials, and a lot of sawing, but it was absolutely worth it--the kids loved them.
This is a fun craft that, while it takes some adult prep, is easy for kids to do. It can be simplified for a young child, yet is still an enjoyable creative project in the hands of an adult. Our teen volunteers enjoyed this craft as much as our kindergarteners, as both were able to work on it at their own level.
Learn how to make your own below! Below the craft instruction there's tips on how to use this as a group project (and if you're using it for Wilderness Escape VBS like I was, there's a ton of extra info at the bottom on how to tweak this especially for Wilderness VBS.)
How to Wrap a Walking Stick With Yarn
We decorated our sticks with either yarn or cloth (or both). Below is a video showing how to wrap the stick with yarn. At the beginning of this video I said that I have "a few inches of yarn." I misspoke...I actually had a few feet...but what I meant was that I had a few inches of yarn left over to form a "tail." You can add beads other charms to the left over yarn tails, as shown in the picture at the top of this page (more on that below).
I love how the yarn looked on this curvy stick.
How to Wrap a Stick With Cloth
You can also wrap a stick with cloth tied in yarn (or leather if you can afford it).
This is actually a useful feature as it creates a padded area for a hand-hold (the more padding you want, the more layers you will want to wrap around your stick). We used strips from old t-shirts, but you can use any type of cloth you want (or even scraps of leather).
Wrapping cloth on a stick is fairly simple. First roll a strip of cloth around the stick. Then take a long piece of yarn and tie it tightly near to top of the cloth. Make your tie in the middle of the yarn so you have two fairly equal lengths of yarn hanging down, and leave about an inch of cloth above where you tie it. For a criss-cross design, spiral one of these down the cloth, and the other in the opposite direction, so that the two lengths of yarn criss-cross, then at the bottom (about an inch from the edge of the fabric), tie these two yarn-tails together tightly.
Adding Decorations
You can add beads or charms to the strings that are left when you are done tying your yarn. You will need beads with a hole large enough that yarn can fit through. I look for beads with holes just slightly larger than the yarn, because then after I've put them on the yarn, all I need to do is tie a double or triple knot in the yarn and that holds on the beads. You can also get charms that tie on the yarn, and those will hold up all the beads above them.
Getting beads onto thick, fuzzy yarn can be tricky! But I have a trick that makes it easy! I use floss threaders (the kind found in the dental aisle of most supermarkets). Just put the yarn through the large hoop of the floss threader, insert the bead over the small pointy end, and then pull the bead down over the yarn. You can see floss threaders in use in the picture below.
Some Bead Suggestions
I personally prefer wood, glass, or clay beads to the plastic pony beads for this project, because they are closer to what they would have actually had, and I think it's special for kids when things feel real. If you limit kids to just 2 or three beads each it's not that costly--one $10 mixed bag got me through all of VBS with plenty to spare. My mixed bag also had shells, which worked well with the story. I told the kids I picked them up crossing the Red Sea. These had holes too small for yarn, so I put jump rings through the small holes, which could then be easily tied to the yarn.
Below is a set that looked workable on Amazon (click on picture to click through). You probably could find similar sets at your local hobby or craft store.
Other Decoration Ideas
And a few practical considerations
You can add lots of other decorations as well. You could use decorative tape, paint, ribbons...whatever you can think of. You could even carve patterns in your stick if you like to whittle. Skies the limit!
But whatever you do keep practicality in mind. Make sure to leave a smooth surface to hold (or a soft one). Don't put hanging beads and baubles where it will hit your hand as you walk. Be careful of putting paint where you will hold your stick as it might rub off over time (stains might work better). And make sure that whatever you decorate with, it's able to withstand a little weather and wear.
Guide for Using This Craft in Wilderness VBS
Gathering Sticks
The hardest thing about doing this craft as a large group is obtaining the sticks. Luckily, when we needed them, it was in springtime when everyone is pruning their trees. We happened on a large pile of branches from a lot that had been cleared and contacted the owner who let us remove branches to use. You can ask landscapers to see if they would mind you taking branches from trees they trimmed. You can contact your local parks and wildlife office to see if there is any public land that needs clearing (where we live, Bamboo is an invasive species, and we could have easily gotten a permit to go cut some). You can also go on Craigslist to find individuals wanting to get rid of wood from tree prunings, or post a request on a local facebook page.
Look for sticks that are relatively straight, and about 1-2 inches in diameter. Watch out for sticks that are rotten or molded, and make sure to ask if any of the wood had been treated for pesticides (which you will want to avoid). You will want sticks of varying lengths for people of various heights. A good height for a walking stick is about 6-8 inches taller than a person's elbow if their arms are hanging straight down (got that tip from Boy's Life).
Setting Up
It can be helpful to cut lengths of yarn beforehand, as well as cloth if you're using that. Set beads in small bowls that aren't easily tipped, and put the floss-threaders with them. Since there were two of us teaching we piled sticks on two sides of the area so that we could pass them out more easily.
Once People Arrive
We had everyone stand up so that we could match them with a stick as they arrived. If you're doing this craft with kids this is also a good time to explain what this craft is and isn't used for (i.e....this is a walking stick, not a fighting stick). Once everyone had a stick we had them sit down and demonstrated ways they could decorate their sticks. Then we showed them the various materials we had available to work with, and let them pick out some things to get started.
NOTE: Walking sticks with thin pointy ends can't just be turned
upside-down, so watch to make sure people are decorating the top end of their stick (the skinny end, not the fat end). A few of our kids ended up decorating the wrong end of their stick (not that it's wrong to decorate the bottom...but they meant to decorate the top).
A Few More General Tips
for using this for Wilderness VBS
We
had problems with the sticks catching on the side draping on our tent.
I suggest either using a high canopy and securing any draping up high
where it's harder to catch on, or not using a tent at all. This is a
craft that could be done around a campfire (a nice fake one) where it
would have been natural to stack sticks. "Look at all these
sticks...some of these are just too good for the campfire" your
character could say.
If you aren't using the Sandal Making Shop, the sign for it can be used for walking sticks.
I
made up a story about how other Isrealites kept using my walking sticks
as firewood, so I started decorating my walking sticks so people wouldn't use them for kindling.
This is fun background story, and you could even work at a little skit
about it with another shopkeeper.
I find it's best to try to get
your script/questions in right at the beginning, before you start
explaining the craft. While this is a fairly simple craft, you'll still
be busy helping younger kids who have trouble tying knots,
re-explaining to kids who weren't paying attention in the beginning, and
cutting yarn and passing out other supplies.
You probably don't
want kids to take their sticks with them to game time and other
stations, so I suggest having kids leave their sticks with you and
collect them after celebration. If you're worried about them forgetting
you can take the sticks to the door and hand them out as people leave.
One
thing I wish I had done was take pictures of all the kids in their
tunics with their walking sticks before they left. If you do that,
write down the kids name and tribe before they leave so you can get the
picture to their parents later. (If you print them yourself from home
you can get all but the last day's to the tribe leader to pass out to
the kids).
Many churches do a celebration on their final day of
VBS where they invite families to enjoy extra activities for everyone. A
great activity for this would be a hike through the camp or around the
church grounds (or even around the neighborhood if this was
feasible)...and you could invite kids to bring their walking sticks with
them.
Of course, I can't neglect saying a few words about the most important walking stick in the Israelite camp--the "Rod of Moses"--more significantly called the "Rod of God." It was an ordinary walking stick, but God used it, and Moses, and ordinary man, to do extraordinary things.
"You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”
It is significant that when God sent Moses to Egypt he commanded him to take his staff, and that he asked Moses to use it when God performed most of His miracles both in Egypt and the wilderness. In Ancient Egypt the staff was a sign of authority, power and dominion. The Pharaoh, Egyptians priests, and many of the Egyptians gods were often pictured with a staff.
And so it makes sense that God would have sent Moses with such a symbol
of authority, one that the Egyptians could easily recognize. Imagine
what Pharaoh must have thought, a man who considered himself a god, when
Moses arrived with his ordinary shepherd's staff, and did
wonders Pharaoh could only dream of? It was a display of God's true authority.
A thorough article about the significance of the Rod and Staff in scripture from the Christian Life and Doctrine section of The Dawn Magazine, August 2009.
I got my information on the use of the staff as a symbol of authority in ancient Egypt here.
Historical Background: Yarn
While the Egyptians mainly used linen, the Israelites mainly used wool for clothing. They would have had plentiful wool to make yarn from their herds. Can you imagine crossing the desert wearing wool? But since the Bible says they took clothes from the Egyptians when they left, as well as gold and silver items, it's likely they would have had linen clothing items too.
The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing.The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. - Exodus 12:35-36 NIV
Tents though, most certainly would have been made with wool, which is water resistant (making tents more waterproof). Modern Bedouins still make wool tents with small, transportable looms that are carried with them. I assume the Isrealites would have done the same.
The section in Group's material for the Weaving Tent Host should have some historical background related to the making of yarn...and you can also find more at my page on weaving and dying I did for Nazareth.
Historical Background: Beads
If you want to use beads that seem authentic to the time period and the story, you have a lot of choices. Egyptians used beads for jewelry and also for their hair. We know that the Isrealites took gold and silver items from the Egyptians when they left Egypt, so metallic beads would make sense. They also had beads of glass, stone, wood, and bone in Egypt. In my shop, I also included sea shells beads (I told kids I gathered them when we crossed the Red Sea). These had holes too small for yarn, so I put jump rings through the small holes, which could then be easily tied to the yarn.
Here is a daily script you can use which goes along with the daily Bible point for Wilderness Escape. This is from the perspective of an Israelite who trusts God and is trying to encourage others who are worried about the dangers they are facing on their journey. You can also find a printable version here.
DAY 1: Israelites Cross the Red Sea
What a year it's been. Here we were, stuck making bricks for Pharaoh in Egypt, and along comes Moses and starts doing all these amazing things trying to convince Pharaoh to give us a break so we could go worship God in the wilderness. He throws down his staff and it turns into a snake, and then back into a staff. He goes out to the Nile river and hits the water with his staff, and all the water turns to blood. All sorts of crazy stuff like that. Have you heard about all that? Well, let me tell you, I thought thought that was one amazing staff he had. I thought it was magic or something! But when I met Moses he told me "No, this staff isn't magic...it is just an ordinary walking stick"....an ordinary stick just like we have here, and he told me he's just an ordinary man. It was God who was really doing all that amazing stuff. Isn't that great to think about...that God can take an ordinary stick and an ordinary man and use them to do all that?
DAY 2: God Provides Quail and Manna
Session 1 (Before the Manna):
Not much to eat here in the wilderness. Some people are worried that we're going to run out of food. But I don't think God would rescue us from Pharaoh just for us to starve in the wilderness. What do you think?
Session 2 (After the Manna): So, did you hear about the manna? Did you try some? See, here everyone was worried about running out of food, but I knew God would come through.
DAY 3: The Amalekites Attack
It can be really scary out here in the Wilderness...first with the Egyptians chasing us, and now with the Amalekites! It's good to have a nice sturdy walking stick for defense (though I better not see any of you using your sticks on each other! We only use these for walking in the camp, understood?) But then, a stick isn't much good against swords and spears and arrows...and that's all a lot of us have! Well...not all we have. We have God, and I know he can keep us safe. Do you trust God to keep you safe?
DAY 4: Remembering the Passover
For a walking stick, you need a stick that's light enough to carry, but strong enough to hold your weight. If it's not strong enough, if you lean on it, it will break, but if you choose a good strong sturdy stick, it will help make your journey easier.
Hmm...you know, that makes me think about some of my fellow Israelites--a lot of them don't seem to trust God very much. It's like they don't think he's strong enough to lean on, like a puny twig. But after all he's done I would think they would trust him. Maybe they've forgotten how strong and powerful God is, and how much he loves them? How can we help them to remember?
DAY 5: The 10 Commandments
So, you're interested in making a walking stick? A good staff can be very useful. You can lean on it while you're walking, you can use it to help herd your sheep. But it's not very good if you don't use it, is is...it would just be a weight to carry around. That's kind of like God's word...if you trust in what God says, it's useful to you. But if you don't trust enough to obey, knowing what God commanded won't help you any more than a staff you don't use. Do you trust God enough to obey what he says?
Hieroglyphics
is the type of writing most people associate with Ancient Egypt. It
featured characters that looked like pictures, and could stand for
either sounds or the objects depicted (depending on context).
BUT, it was not the only type of writing being used in
Egypt at this time....and not even the most common type.
Most Egyptians used a form of writing known as hieratic. It derived from hieroglyphics but was used alongside it (sort of like we have printing and cursive). Over time the two forms of writing began to have different functions. While priests and monument carvers still used hieroglyphics to record things of religious and historical importance, merchants and traders and everyone else used hieratic to write their grocery lists, records, and love notes.
You can see in the examples of both hieratic and hieroglyphics in the ancient religious text shown above (hieratics make up the main body of the text written under the scene at the top, but in the top right corner above the seated women you can see hieroglyphs).
Documents like these would usually be written on papyrus, a type of woven paper, or sometimes on animal skins--both of which were time consuming to make and therefor expensive. But the common people, the laborers and farmers and traders, if they could write wrote their hieratic notes on flat limestone rocks, and broken bits of pottery, which were cheap and readily available.
Egyptian Writing
and Scribes Pallet Craft
Kids
learning to be scribes in Egypt would practice writing on flat rocks
and broken pottery ...it is just as
"historical" as writing on papyrus. So, for this activity I gathered up smooth
rocks at a local garden center, and also broke up an old terra cotta
pot. I explained a little bit about the history of both styles of Egyptian writing and game them some sample alphabets of both. I had them choose a terra cotta shard, or a rock, to paint hieroglyphs and hieratic on with red and black
paint (the most commonly used ink colors in ancient Egypt).
I also made reed "brushes" and
scribe pallets (a craft I found in Make It Work: Ancient Egypt)
for the kids to use. You could have older kids make these themselves,
but the craft does involve using an sharp knife. Alternatively you could pre-cut the pieces and have kids glue them together and make the indentations for the ink themselves.
HIEROGLYPHS AND SCRIBES PALLET CRAFT
SUPPLIES:
For Stone Painting
Red and Black Paint (goes in Pallet if you make that)
Flat-ish stones and/or a terra-cotta pot (and hammer + trash bag or safety glasses)
For Scribe's Pallet:
Balsa wood strips (find at hobby store)
Harder wood strips for base (optional...see note in instructions)
Wood Glue
Round object (see step 8)
Cardboard to cut on (a cereal box folded flat works well)
1. Collect stones or break a terra-cotta pot. It's a toss up which is
better to use. The terra cotta is smoother and easier to paint on, but
has jagged edges (though not as sharp as glass). Many garden centers
have stones you can buy, or will not mind you taking smaller broken
pieces from larger flat stones they sell. But if you choose to break a
terra cotta pot with a hammer in stead, wear safety glasses OR put the
pot in the plastic trash bag before breaking to keep broken bits from
flying up. Make sure to sweep area thoroughly afterwards. (Fun
alternative if you have a second story: clear all people from the area
and toss the pot from a 2nd story window. You can tell I enjoy
destruction...just a bit).
2. For the pallet, I liked using Balsa wood strips for the top part,
but a harder wood strip in the same size for the back, to add strength.
Because I was making several of these it was actually cheaper to do
this (the harder wood cost less than balsa), but if you were making just
one it would cost less to cut one strip of balsa in two and use it for
both top and bottom. I found my pre-cut wood strips at Hobby Lobby.
4. Cut the bottom and top strips to exactly the same length (8 - 10 inches).
5. The original craft called for cutting out the ink wells with a craft
knife, but I thought it would be easier to press them in the soft balsa
wood in stead (you can see how this turned out in the pictures). It
does make for a shallower bowl, so if you want to cut them out with a
knife for a deeper ink well, do so during this step. Otherwise, I
think it would probably avoid some of the warping I got later to press
them after gluing (though I have not tried this) For the area to hold
your reeds cut a rectangular strip from near the bottom of the top later
of balsa wood...leaving about two inches at the top for your inkwells,
as shown below.
7. Glue your top balsa piece to your bottom wood piece...put a book on top to press them pieces together while they dry.
8. To press out your inkwells (if you haven't choosen to cut them in
step five), find a hard object with a small rounded surface. I used the
handle of a small hammer. You could also use a screwdriver handle or
even a marble. Press the rounded object into the balsa wood hard until
it makes an indentation. (The example below shows only one layer
because I made the mistake of pressing before gluing the top and bottom
layers).
This is one step that even a young child can help with. Wha-la...your
scribe's pallet is done...now it need some reeds to fill it.
9. Go outside and look for some weedy grass...something long and
skinny, not wide and flat. Cut off any "seed heads" and cut into
segments just shorter than your reed holder.
10. Last, put a drop of red and black ink in your pallet inkwells, grab
your rocks or terra cotta pieces, and start painting hieroglyphics and
hieratics (this page can be used for a reference)!
Back in 2010 our church did the Egypt VBS that Group is putting out again this year. I worked in the Marketplace making mud bricks, and I can tell you, it was a blast. It's cheap, fun and really does give kids a good idea about life in Egypt (or lots of places in the middle east, really...where most people made their houses out of mud bricks).
Here's my brick making suggestions:
THE DIRT ON BRICK DIRT
Group has instructions for making bricks, but for those not using this program, you can find instructions on the Biblical Archaeology website, or you can just experiment with your own mix of mud, straw, and water. Note that Group instructions skip steps 3 and 4, for obvious reasons--who has time for prepping mud for 5 days for a simple kids project? Turns out the straw was used because it releases humic acid which makes for really strong bricks--so the four days of mud stomping was to give time for fermentation and to mix the acid from the straw through the mud. For VBS craft purposes, less strong bricks will do...but if you were doing this for homeschool I could see how going through the whole 5 day process might be educational.
I'd say in most cases it's better to get regular straight out of the ground dirt if you can (especially if you live in a place like Texas where the ground is literally called Texas clay). Garden soil or sand does not make especially sturdy bricks, but the bricks I made out of "Texas clay" from my backyard ...that dried rock hard and solid. You can ask volunteers to each bring a bucket of dirt from home or you can talk with a construction company to see if they have any extra "out of the ground" dirt you can use. As for straw, we didn't chop our straw up in little pieces and the big pieces did make our bricks less stable. Chopping up straw is time consuming so I suggest involving the kids in this step. Kids love cutting up things into tiny pieces anyways and you can cut up straw with scissors.
BRICK MOLDS
Group instructions also include dimensions for the mold, but if you need dimensions, I have some on my homeschool site here (not sure if this was the same as group's). They are pretty simple to make, just four short pieces of wood nailed
or glued together like in the picture above (ours were a little
narrow--slightly wider ones are easier to work with). You will also want to reserve some thick short slabs of wood to use to help kids pack the mud and push the bricks out of the mold (see below).
A butter knife can be useful to run along the side of the brick mold if the brick has trouble coming out of the mold. Below a child uses a plastic knife to smooth his brick.
The bricks shown here were made with a mix of
garden sand/soil mixed in, and came out kind of
crumbly. "Texas clay" straight out of my back yard
worked much better - it dried solid like rock.
LOCATION AND MESS PREP
This "craft" is messy! If you can, put your brick making area outside...doing this craft on hard ground or cement is preferable. If the only outdoor location has grass, you may need boards, cookie sheets, or other flat hard surfaces to put your bricks on. If picnic tables are available they work well...but remember to cover them with a plastic tarp or disposable tablecloth.
If you have to do this indoors (as we did), protect your floor with a large tarp and line the outsides of the area with towels for kids to wipe their feet off on. Also, have some extra towels and a bucket of clean water for kids to wash their hands in...maybe some hand sanitizer or soap too (Historical Tidbit: Egyptians actually had a form of soap). Also, be forewarned that your clothes will get muddy...it will add to the authenticity of your costume (*wink*). We offered kids pillowcase tunics to wear during VBS, which worked to protect their clothes from home too. If you don't do this, I would suggest providing some sort of apron or overshirt for kids to wear during this craft.
My outfit during the week got
more and more "authentic"
DECOR
At our VBS, "shopkeepers" were in charge of decorating their area. Decor for the brick making shop is pretty simple. The bricks themselves can be part of your decorations...as the week progresses the kids will need to leave the bricks to dry, though having a few to show to start with is helpful. Hey bales can be used as seats. For covering your table and any decorative draping on the sides of the tent I suggest beige plastic shower curtains. Only use sheets if you own them, not ones you've borrowed as they could get mud splattered on them. I managed to find one real wooden bucket at a thrift store for ours, but we had plastic ones too...you could paint plastic buckets like wood but I don't think it would be worth the trouble, personally (cause you'll need a lot of buckets for this). If you are outside you can keep dirt in piles. Hay looks nice in burlap sacks or canvas laundry bags (but again, the messiness factor is something to consider...only do this with donated bags, not loaned).
7. Dry your bricks on trays of hay or sand to keep them from sticking. You will need to take them outside every day to dry in the sun, so kids will have to leave them (pray for no rain!).
8. An idea we toyed with but didn't use was making something with our bricks--like a firepit or an edging to a flower garden. Didn't do that, but I still think this would be cool (depending on the sturdiness of your bricks).
Child playing with the muddy water we used to mix our bricks.
MISC TIPS
Younger kids may come back to play in the dirt and mud. Our brick-making shop turned into an "extra activity" for wee ones who finished early in other shops.
This is part of my series on 1st Century Nazareth. This page contains some affiliate links through which I can earn commission.
The picture to the right shows a woman spinning thread like a woman in 1st Century Isreal might have done. They would start by making yarn using a drop spindle, then might dye the yarn, and then weave it on a loom. All of these activities make great crafts, though some of them are not as easy for young children.
MAKING THREAD ON A DROP SPINDLE
I have not tried this out but it looks as if this is a craft which could be done with older children and teens, but might be too hard for younger children. A drop spindle can be made from a dowel and a door pull, wooden car wheel, or even a an old CD. There is a good video showing how to use a drop spindle here, and you can find some detailed written instructions here (though it looks like two different types of spindles were used, one with a weight at the bottom and another with a weight at the top). Making enough string for even the coaster sized weaving project below would probably be too time consuming for a typical VBS marketplace session or Sunday School class, but it looks like making enough for three strands for a braided bracelet might be possible.
DYEING
While it’s possible to dye with the same natural materials used in the first century, most methods require boiling and some considerable time. So, if you want to dye wool or cloth with large groups of children children commercial dyes may be preferable (though you can use grape juice or kool-aid). Solar dying is an another option that doesn't involve boiling water but can take a week or more of the jars sitting in the sun (though kids can take their jar home to leave in the sun...you just need a lot of jars).
Click on the links below to find out how to make various dyes which might have been used in first century Galilee:
Chicory and Walnut Dye
(Also has a Goldenrod Dye, which is Native to the Americas and wasn’t in Isreal at that time. But chicory and walnut were both available in Isreal).
WEAVING
Making coaster sized rugs or woven bracelets with cardboard looms is a craft children can do, and which many adults would enjoy as well. You can find a tutorial here or check out the video below. You can make the looms yourself from scrap pieces of cardboard, though if you are doing these with a large group it might be worth it to buy them (you can find a variety of sizes for sale here and some wide-notched varieties that work well for kids here). To make it easy for children to weave, you can glue popsicle sticks to the end of pre-cut pieces of yarn for them to use as a “needle” to pull the thread over and under the strings, or you can purchase plastic needles. Unfinished projects can be taken home, but make sure to first demonstrate what to do when finished (and possibly send home printed instructions). Another option is a straw loom which is sometimes easier for little hands.
The picture above is the weaving craft we did for VBS (in process of course...it often took kids more than the 20-30 minutes we had to finish this one, though some older kids did). We purchased notched cardboard looms from Dick Blick. As you can see, the kids pulled these a little tight (in one case EXTREMELY tight), so that's something to talk to kids about before you do this, and watch for so their weaving is of uniform size. We stuck balls of yarn the children had chosen to use next in the loom to save it for later. It can be helpful to pre-cut several small balls of yarn so kids can just grab them and go.
HOW TO WEAVE ON A CARDBOARD LOOM
This video covers all the basics. I will note that I've never done the step they show where you weave the loose ends on the side back through...usually I just cut those off, and sometimes I even end those in the middle of the row, and I've never had a problem with it. If I were to do that technique, I think I would try to end some of my rows on the other side so that both sides had a little extra thickness, not just the one side. But with kids, I think just having them cut it off is simpler.
HANGING LOOM (Group Project)
At our VBS we had a large hanging loom which kids could try out. It consisted of two poles of equal length, attached by thick twine (needs to be thick to hold the weight of both sticks and the finished project.)...the whole thing was hung on the tent. I wasn't the one who constructed it, and I wish I had paid a little more attention. While obviously it is tied at both ends, I remember she looped the twin over both sides first before tying and I think this was to make sure the length of the twine was even when tied.
We used mostly strips of old t-shirts to weave with, and a few plastic bags too (though I think for authenticity I might have left those out if doing this again, though they do make an interesting texture.).
Here's how the loom looked in our "marketplace shop."
