For a tactile experience that connects students with Israel, choose one of these four art projects: Mixed-Media Collages, Mosaic Creation, Grape & Olive Pressing, or Colored Sand Art. Each project engages students through sensory activities while reinforcing what they’ve learned about Israel in this pack.

Mixed-Media Collages 

Students can create an Israel collage using collage materials (magazines, printed images, headlines, phrases, etc.) to showcase what they have learned and explored in this unit.

Choose one of the following formats:

  • Individual Collages: Each student creates a personal collage to display in the classroom or at a community exhibit. Gather materials such as magazines, newspapers, and printed images, or use the unit’s location cards for inspiration.
  • Digital Collage: Students can create digital collages to display on school screens.
  • Collaborative Collage: Work together on a large collage that showcases shared learning. Schools may expand this activity by involving other students and arranging final collages into the shape of Israel or the Israeli flag.
Mosaic Creation

The Mosaic art project is meant to allow students to create something with their hands that connects to two components of Israeli culture: history and archeology. The art of mosaic was commonplace in the Mediterranean around 2,000 years ago and since that time, mosaic has been a large part of culture in the land of Israel. (For more information: https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2021/01/israels-stunning-ancient-mosaics/)

Instructions: Supply the students with small canvases, mosaic tiles, and glue, and select an image that you would like the students to create utilizing the mosaic tiles related to Israel. Some ideas might be an Israeli flag, the map of Israel, a symbol that represents Israel like a menorah, etc. (Here are some suggested Amazon links for supplies: tiles, canvases, and glue)

Grapes & Olives Press

The land of Israel is known as the land of the seven species. Two of these species are grapes and olives, and throughout time, people living in the land of Israel have pressed the grapes and olives in order to produce wine, grape juice, and olive oil. In addition, traveling the land of Israel, you can find structures that are over 1,000 years old that were used for this pressing experience. (One example is: https://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-olive-oil-press-unearthed-in-modiin/) 

Students are invited to participate in a pressing experience that will utilize their sense of touch and connect them to the foods of the land and the history of its past.

Colored Sand Option – Desert 

In the deserts of the Negev (or the South of Israel), there are several sites where one can hike and see an array of colorful sand dunes—including red, gray, purple, pink, orange, and even green sands. Many people visit the Negev to collect the colorful sands and create a beautiful keepsake. 

Here are some pictures of the sites: 

     

After you have looked at the pictures with your students, let them create their own colored sand bottle or other colored sand art project (see some examples below). This tactile experience will allow them to explore one of the natural phenomena of Israel’s unique geology.

Ideas for art projects: 

1. Sand Bottles:

Supplies:
– 1 small bottle per student (with a stopper or cap)
– 4 or 5 different colors of sand (keep it more “authentic” and use natural shades like yellows, tans, pinks, and purple/reds, or go in the opposite direction and bring in other colors)
– Scoops or spoons 
– Funnels 

Instructions: 
– Provide each student with a bottle
– Place each color of sand in a different container 
– Students choose the pattern they want and use the scoops and funnels to layer the sand in their bottle
– Cap the bottles, take a picture of the finished products, and send it to send to The Lookstein Center at content@lookstein.org!

2. Sand Art

Supplies: 
– 1 canvas per student 
– Colored sands
– Glue 
– The location cards from this unit

Instructions: 
– Post the location cards around the room for inspiration (or print out other pictures of Israel)
– Provide each student with a canvas and lay out the other materials
– Have students plan out their canvas – they can draw a picture and then carefully place glue over the borders of their drawing, or they can simply spread the glue around the canvas in a more abstract way.
– Students should quickly (before the glue dries) sprinkle sand over the glue and then allow it to dry. 
– Take a picture of the finished product to send to The Lookstein Center at content@lookstein.org!