
Jacob Meets Rachel
On Wednesday, I was back at Kol Ami’s Early Childhood Program. This week, I worked with two of their 4-year-old classes to create a piece of fiber art about Jacob meeting Rachel at the well. They had learned the story the day before with Rabbi Jennifer Goldsmith in Torah Alive so they knew just what was needed to create the scene: Jacob, Rachel, Laban, a well, a camel, and some sheep. Each student in the class chose one part of the picture to create and got to work.
They then brought their pieces to the background and worked together to complete the scene.
What a fun way to communicate with the children, and to introduce them to a medium that’s not all crayons and paper!
Yes, we’ve been having a great time turning the biblical stories into fiber art. I have two more weeks of creating stories with them and then, after sewing the panels together, I bring it back so the children can help embellish the piece before it’s installed permanently in their school building. It has been a wonderful way to reinforce the stories they’re learning, teach them a new way of expressing themselves, and create an art installation for the synagogue all at the same time!