Growing Up Creative

The story of Chanukah GELT, inspired by Christmas

I spoke to my friend Gili today who is in NY City for the week. She was telling me about all the magnificent window displays, especially of Bergdorf Goodman, and the ice ring at Rockefeller center. If you have ever been to New York City around this time, you can envision what Gili is talking about, and your heart should be tingling like mine. It’s as if the city has dressed up really pretty for the holidays in colors of ‘sparkle’ and ‘shiny’, and everyone is happy and smiley. “…It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” (Andy Williams). No wonder Zoe wants to celebrate Christmas (I am certain she is not the only Jewish kid who asked her mommy for a tree). Christmas is very magical, but so is Chanukah. I believe that Santa had a much better marketing strategy and a better PR person than the Maccabeem.

No, we are not having a Chanukah bush in our house… we are celebrating Chanukah with all its might and glory. We do visit friends who celebrate the holiday and enjoy their tree and decorations. We also watch the unavoidable cheesy Christmas movies with a huge bowl of popcorn and have a blast, sometime even shed tears. Luckily we don’t have to deal with cleaning the mess that the dried evergreens leave and the conscious of chopping a tree down.

I still remember how shocked I was to find out that in the US Jewish kids are accustomed to getting 8 gifts for Chanukah, one for each night. Sometimes more than one a night considering the grandparents and the aunts and uncles who send their share of gifts as well. Wow – that’s all I could think, and a feeling of envy infiltrated my heart, while calculating in my head the number of gifts that I have missed in my growing years. You see, growing up in Israel the custom is giving some GELT (which means money in Yiddish), and no gifts.
I never really knew the reason for giving money; I don’t think my grandparents did either. So I thought this is a great time to find out why. You can be certain I found a number of different reasons, but this is the one I really liked. 

The story of GELT: (the story of Chanukah)
Long ago in the land of Judea (Israel of today), ruled the Syrian king Antiochus. He was determined to force Hellenism upon the Jewish population, at the expense of their beliefs and rituals. Spiritual freedom was taken from the people of Israel. One could no longer follow his own belief out in the open. Many turned to worship the Greek gods, while some decided to stand up for their beliefs. The rebellions formed an army led by Judah Maccabee. After 3 years of fighting they finally were successful in driving the Syrians out of Israel and reclaiming the Temple in Jerusalem.
The story of GELT, like the story of Chanukah, is about freedom. Money represents freedom, the liberty to make choices, to acquire and to donate. I don’t know if you remember that far, but being a child you are often being told what to do, bound by rules and restrictions; usually hear more NO than YES. By giving GELT to your child, you have the opportunity to teach them about the freedom to make choices with their money, and the importance of channeling some material wealth toward spiritual ends.

As for the gifts, as you suspected it is influenced by the Christmas custom of giving. As for the 8 gifts…I think it came from needing to convince the kids Chanukah is just as great as Christmas, if not better.

My conclusion (after consulting with Oren over a cup of coffee):
One gift + Gelt + lots of Chanukah stories + donuts + spinning dreidels + lighting the menorah + having friends come over = another great Chanukah
I can’t wait... “…it’s the most wonderful time of the year…” (Andy Williams)

(Note: How much gelt? - one dollar a candle not including the Shamash total of 36 gelt. Some people spread it over the eight days; some give it all at once usually on the fifth night).

'SPARKS' and Flickr

'SPARKS' are posts of small projects and drawing exercises that will ignite ones creativity. I hope you will enjoy them.

Part of the learning process is to see other people’s work. So please, don’t be stingy, share your drawings and projects in the Growing Up Creative flickr pool.

(if you have any ‘how to’ questions, please drop me a line)

Thank you,

tali

‘SPARKS’ 001: Linear Scribbles (a great way to start)

This is an exercise Zoe did in her art class last week with Ms. Williams. I was very jealous, so this weekend we tried it together at home.

The exercise is great because:
1.    It is a lot of fun
2.    Children can practice their straight line skills
3.    Good way to relax, it has meditative qualities
4.    It always looks appealing, regardless of your drawing level
5.    Will ignite anyone’s imagination
6.    Can be used as a warm up exercise
7.    A great way to pass the time while waiting for food in a restaurant
       and on long flights.
8.    You can do it almost anywhere

You’ll need:
Paper, pencil, coloring pencils or markers

What to do:
Phase one - the line drawing: This drawing is made by a long line that never ends. It starts at the top of the page  and  travels down about half the page, then the line can turn left or right which ever way you choose. Keep on taking turns up and down left or right. Small stretches of line as well as long ones, which ever you like. You can fill the entire page, or scribble in a small portion of it. There is no wrong or right. If you get tired – rest your pencil, and start again from where you last stopped.
Phase two – coloring the shapes: After you are done, stop and stare at the drawing. Then you may start to fill in some of the shapes that were created by the crossing of the lines.

Thoughts and Variations: When I did this with Zoe on Saturday, we were lounging on my bed with a big sketch book open, she drew on one side and I was drawing on the opposite page. After we were done with the pencil part, (which you may leave the drawing at that) we turned the sketch book around and switched drawings, so she colored mine and I colored hers. It is amazing the things one may see in those scribbles. Because of the straight lines they tend to be very architectural and map like drawings. While drawing, Zoe described her scribbles as a map of Jerusalem, with walls made of stones. Slowly she started to build a story around the drawing by adding details.

Extra: This exercise may be accompanied by the reading of “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson 

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Enjoy
tali

How can it be Friday again….?

Before I had kids, Friday nights used to be movie nights accompanied with some nice wine and what ever takeout food we felt like (usually Persian or Thai), unwinding from a hectic week. Having 2 kids made things a LITTLE different. What stayed the same was that feeling of coziness, and the ‘letting go’ after along and active week, oh, and the wine of course.
We try to keep our Fridays as easy as possible. We mostly spend the afternoon at home. I am in the kitchen with a big plan for an elaborated dinner. The girls play, and they argue, and draw, and then they realize I am making something exciting in the kitchen so they join in. both of them sitting on my 4’ foot long counter. And they spill, and they giggle, and argue some more.
And then comes baking time, our new challenge is baking a Challa. The dough smells so delicious, for a second I can imagine my self standing in my grandmother’s kitchen. The flour is everywhere. Ori is eating the dough, while Zoe is trying to concentrate on her braiding, and I have to guard the chocolate chips and the raisins so they will be some left for the Challa. The girls usually braid few Challas, some are extra small and they call them “the babies”, Ori insists of having an Abba Challa, and if I get really lucky there is even an Ima Challa with raisins.
 
   

 

This is a recipe I haven’t tried yet, but I just got it from my mom who got it from my aunt Rivka, who is the most incredible cook, she got it from a very nice religious woman in Israel. So it must be really good.

Aunt Rivka’s Challa:
Ingredients:
1 kilo (4 ½ cups) Flour
1 flat tbsp. Salt
3 tbsp. Sugar
50 grm Yeast
½ cup Oil
2 cups Luke-warm water
Some Love
Lots of memories

Optional:
1 egg
Sesame seeds
Poppy seeds
Raisins
Chocolate chips

In a big bowl create a mountain from the flour, dig a hole in the middle, like a volcano, add the yeast, sugar , and oil in the middle, mix together, Slowly adding the water. Sprinkle flour onto the dough and knead with a closed fist for about 5 minutes.  Cover the bowl with a towel; leave the dough to rise until it doubles in size (for approximately two hours). Then take the dough and roll it into 6 long tubes. Separate and braid three tubes together to make 2 loaves. Beat an egg and baste the top of each loaf (makes the Challa shiny). Place in oven on a flat, nonstick pan for approx 25 minutes- until golden on top.

Extra:
You may sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top of the egg before baking.
We usually add the chocolate chips and the raisins while braiding the Challas.

let me know if you have any questions...

I dare you try a six strand Challa

Shabbat shalom

“How come no one else draws?“

“How come no one else draws?”  Zoe was asking me after noticing that we were the only ones sketching in a crowded day at the museum.
After doing lots of reading in that matter this is a brief answer with some suggested links for more.

^{Leaving the Getty museum after a long and thrilling day}
All children draw
As infants we begin to draw before we learn to talk, we start by making scribbles. Around the age of two, children put some of the scribbles into definite placement pattern. By the age of three children make diagrams with single lines forming crosses and other shapes such as circle and triangle. Soon after that the child starts to combine the symbols and shapes into familiar line objects. At approximately four years of age the child does pictorial work. He/she draws representation of human, animals, building, vegetation and other objects. The objects then turn into depiction of stories and recording of events. The child starts to organize objects in space by adding the baseline for his/her drawings a representation of ground and sky. By the age of 5-6 all children are SELF TAUGHT how to  draw. As long as one gives the child art supplies, space to work and no constrains from adults, the child’s imagination will bloom. This age is referred to as “the golden age of drawing” Art Mind and Brain by Howard Gardner .

When do children STOP drawing - The crisis of realism
By the age of 8-9 schematic drawings become more realistic, and many children exhibit greater visual awareness of the things around them. As a result, they become increasingly conscious of details and proportion in what they are drawing. The need to make the picture look “right” leads to a crisis for many older children. In trying to draw realistic, children often get disappointed of their own drawings. They are becoming more critical in their graphic depictions and gradually STOP engaging in DRAWING activity.

(This is my sales pitch) - Why is it important to draw
Drawing is the BASICS to creative thinking. It is through drawing that one trains the eye to notice details and understand how things are put together and work. A beneficial self perpetuating circle of learning is initiated, observation makes better drawing and drawing motivates better observation. “I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle.” Fredrick Franck the Zen of Seeing, 1973.
Most schools today don’t value the skill of drawing as much as they should, drawing is considered to be play and as soon as kids learn how to read and write drawing become an enrichment activity for about 45 minutes a week. This leaves us, the parents, responsible for helping our children gain drawing skills so they become CREATIVE ADULTS. For parents who can draw that’s an easier task. For the parents who claim they can’t draw, this is a great opportunity to learn it again, together with their kids. My brother always says that for him having a son is a second chance to try things he didn’t do when he was a child. Remember: EVERYONE CAN DRAW. drawing, like writing and reading, is a skill and not a gift.

Drawing development in children

'Young in Art' - a great article

What's in your bag?

I always carry - Keys, wallet, phone, an extra diaper and wipes, extra set of cloths for Ori, a sketch book, some writing tools, and a bottle of water. I used to always carry a sketch book with me when I was in school. When I began working I started neglecting my sketchbook and mostly left it at home waiting patiently for long trips and exotic weekends. I reintroduced my sketchbook to my bag when Zoe was about three years old. Going through some big changes in our lives, a child consultant recommended us to have Zoe draw her own feelings and everyday experiences. So she did. And I started carrying my sketchbook, which now became OUR sketchbook, everywhere we went (nothing is just mine anymore…). Drawing together led to some great conversations. As an adult I had the opportunity to see the world from a child’s perspective again, which led to a better understanding of her world. 2 years later the sketch book is still an integral part of everything we do. We all have at list one (except Oren who is focusing on his base guitar.)

What goes in the sketchbook?
My sketch book has - Writings, drawings of the girls, sketches of ideas I have, notes of things I want to make, phone numbers, email addresses, Zoe’s drawings, Ori’s scribbles. Tearing off pages is not allowed, what goes in must stay in.
Zoe has a sketchbook dedicated to flowers. We covered it with a floral fabric.  She fills it with flowers she draws from observation, some from her own imagination, she dries flowers and glues them in. sometimes its pictures she took, anything flower goes….
Ori's sketchbook has some great train scribbles and car scribbles.

^{Zoe's floral sketchbook}

Things to consider when buying a sketchbook:
I know this is not a house we are talking here, but please take the time in selecting your sketch book…..a trip to your local art supply store is defiantly worth it. (Pearl’s arts and crafts, Blick, Utrecht)
1.    Size - it should comfortably fit in your bag other wise you will never carry it.
2.    Binding - some like it spiral, I like it bound like a book.
3.    Price - I usually get the mid range kind. If the sketch book is too expensive I find myself conserving pages, which is not a good idea.
4.    Paper – depending on your drawing tool. Water color will be different paper than pencil and pen.

my preferred sketch book - 7"x7" or 6"x9" 

more about keeping sketchbooks

Starting with drawing.

This is the first post in this blog – growing up creative. I had a hard time finding a starting point for this blog, till I took my girls drawing at the Getty Center in Los Angeles (which I call ‘the Olympus’). We were sitting in the ‘artist studio’ for an entire hour, my 2 year old Ori, my five year old Zoe and me (I am not disclosing my age), drawing from observation. It was fantastic. Here I thought life could not get much better than that, till Zoe started to get a little bit frustrated with her drawing skills: “it doesn’t come out as good as theirs… mine looks ugly and stupid”. And there I found my self repeating, not my mom, but my intro to drawing teacher – Donna Keegan: “it is not the end result that matters, but the process of drawing is what counts, as long as you draw - nothing else matters.” I don’t think Zoe was convinced, I think I may need to repeat that quote at least 500 more times till she starts to believe me. I know it took me at least 3 drawing classes with Donna Keegan till I started to understand what she meant….
On our way out we stopped at the book store, Ori found a Jackson Pollack book. BRILLIANT, I thought. I showed it to Zoe hoping she will be overjoyed with the energetic abstract expressionist paintings. But Zoe was looking at me with a big question mark that meant - and why do you think this looks pretty? And I was wondering to my self What is it with realist drawing that is so appealing?!
 

_{Ori (2) scribbling at the Getty Center}

Noach

I have to admit, I have been listening to this song for 2 days now, over and over again. It has been keeping my heart nice and warm, but i think i am ready to pass it on.

I am happy to present to you an Israeli classic of all times Matti Caspi and Shokolad Mentha Mastic (Chocolate, Mint, and Chewing gum): NOACH (Noah) (please notice the shoes)

If you ever wondered what kind of animal is a Shivuta mentioned in the chorus (4th line), I have the answer: it is a sea creature, a lizard fish, now why would Noach bring a sea creature to the ark instead of letting him be in the ocean? i don't know.
if you like to sing along please follow this link. You may also find a link for Matti Caspi's CD that features the song in the sidebar of matzo ball soup. Matti Caspi is an Israeli composer, musician, singer and lyricist. Born in 1949, he is regarded as one of Israel’s topmost musicians. he comes highly recommended...

Family favorite “Noah’s Ark” activities

1. Watch “Evan all mighty” (again)

2. Visit Noah’s Ark  at the Skirball cultural center, in Los Angeles (and never want to leave) 

3. Read “The Ark” by Arthur Geisert 

4. Draw rainbows (when feeling happy)

THE MOVIE
Modern day Noah is depicted in the entertaining comedy Evan Almighty with Steve Carell as junior congressman Evan Bexter, whose wish to “change the world” is heard by non other than God, played by Morgan Freeman. When god appears with the perplexing request to build an ark, Evan is sure he is loosing it. Evan will have to do the work that God has given him in what promises to be an unusual adventure for a man who just wanted to serve his country, might actually be serving humanity.
The movie will please the whole family, perfect for family movie night.

Cool facts
The making of the movie evolved to have a bigger calling than pure entertainment. A partnership between the production company and the Conservation Fund founded the “Almighty Forest” which concluded with the planting of 33,400 trees. In addition the film's production went Carbon Neutral, and 'zeroed out' the carbon emissions by planting 2050 trees in Virginia and California; they also recycled production materials and donated trees and building materials to Habitat for Humanity. All crew members were given bicycles by director Tom Shadyac to reduce car usage.

Learn more about the Almighty Forest

Plant a tree

THE ACTIVITY
Noah’s Ark  at the Skirball cultural center, Los Angeles
Imagine yourself immersed in a favorite childhood tale, inside a floor-to-ceiling wooden ark, filled to the rafters with whimsical animals. A variety of cuddly animals side by side with 350 creatures crafted from recycled materials and everyday objects, including bottle caps, bicycle parts, baseball mitts, croquet balls, mop heads, and rear-view mirrors.
You and your family will play, build, climb, explore, collaborate, and more. Conduct a storm, help construct the ark, and bask in the glow of a beautiful rainbow. This is  a one of a kind destination that invites visitors of all generations to have fun—and to connect with one another, learn the value of community, and help build a better world.

WARNING: Your kids may not want to leave the ark.

For more details

THE BOOK
The Ark, by Arthur Geisert
An introductory paragraph from Genesis sets the stage, but after that, words are minimal. Double-page spreads of beautiful cream and black etchings. You have to see it for yourself. Thanks Natasha for finding this book. Good for all ages

Look for more favorite readings at the side bar