Crafts for the Hopeless

 First of all, you may be wondering why I’m not posting about the war in Israel. 

This is the internet and I don’t have energy for death threats right now. 


That said, I’m a deeply religious Jew. I think you can figure out where I stand. 


The “hopeless” in this title refers to my crafting ability. But come to think of it, I am feeling pretty down about the state of the world. Maybe Moschiach will come tomorrow. 

This week is parasha Chayei Sara. Since a well features heavily in the parasha, I decided to have my preschoolers make a well. I am truly awful at crafts and I don’t enjoy them. Which is weird for a preschool teacher, I know. So I found the least involved craft I possibly could. 


I found it on Pinterest, and adapted it based on what materials I had available - it calls for popsicle sticks and a water bottle. I had a cup and toothpicks. Another reason I am hopeless at crafts is that I don't like to spend money or time preparing for them.  For instance- I could've bought popsicle sticks.  But no.  Here, look at my well 






Want to copy my craft?  

You will need:

popsicle sticks (I recommend these.   If you use toothpicks it will take a really long time)

school glue

a cup

a smaller cup ( a plastic shotglass or one of those measuring cups from baby medicine bottles should do the trick)baby

string or a pipecleaner

a hole puncher

some sort of stick- I used a dowel


And now- the instructions:  

Step one: punch holes in either side of both your cups 

Step two: Cover your bigger cup with popsicle sticks.  I dipped my toothpicks in the glue but you could also paint the cup with glue.  Make sure you don't cover over the holes

Step three: tie your string around the stick at one end.  Then thread it through the holes on the smaller cup.

Step four: Slide your stick through the holes on either side of the larger cup.

Step five: tie the other end of the string around the other end of the stick.

And ta-dah! You have a well. 

Bonus: This is a good size well for mentchies ( I used just a regular drinking cup) so you can have your kids act out the parasha if you want. Or you could do it to entertain yourself on shabbos. Whatever. I don't judge.) 


I did this with a class of preschoolers. Half of them LOVED it and half of them complained that it was too hard and had no patience for it at all.  So as regard age appropriate-ness, I would say a 4-5 year old who likes crafts should be able to do this with a little help with the knot tying with no problem at all. 


Here are my kids' wells


Good luck!  Share your wells in the comments if you do it! 



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