Kriyat Yam Suf Diorama

Split the sea…in a aluminum pan!

The scene: Husband has left on a business trip, the baby decides not to nap and the kids are tearing out their hair with boredom. The best suggestion I could scrape together was a really big project. We considered and rejected paper mache, thinking it might be chametz! We came up with this instead and it took a whole hour and came out so cute!

We started with the ubiquitous Pesach kitchen item – a 9×13 aluminum pan and covered in all the blue stuff we could find. Then we used Crayola Model Magic air-dry clay to make the figures. My older daughter was able to do this by herself, my younger one needed some initial guidance but caught on fairly quickly. I love that sheep (not the best picture)!

Moshe leading the way in the striped shirt

“Grandma and Grandpa” with grey hair, based on the colors of clay we had left!

A few days later when the figures dried, we hot glued them to the bottom of the pan. Some of them didn’t stand up so well, so I added a toothpick for support behind them.

A word about Model Magic – we have found that any pieces you have stuck together tend to fall apart pretty quickly once you start playing with the finished  dried piece. I stuck a toothpick through each figure while it was still sticky, hoping it would add balance and stability, but I’m not sure how much it helped. We glued the figures to the pan and they were fine but the kids pulled them out to play with them and they all started losing legs, eyeballs and arms. Hot glue and more toothpicks only got us so far, but the kids thought the “surgery” was funny.

So if you want to put this on your table as a centerpiece, try to keep the kids from pulling the figures out! Any tips to keep them together better are welcome!

Looking for more Pesach projects?
Paper Seder Table
Seder Placecards
Chametz Hunt with Peek-a-boo Doors
Pesach Puppets

Time:
Active: 1 hour+
Drying: 2-3 days

Age: 3-9

Materials:
Aluminum pan
Blue construction paper
Blue tissue paper
Air dry clay
Hot glue
Toothpicks

Process:
Cut up blue construction paper into small shapes and glue all over the inside of the aluminum pan, including up the sides. Crumple balls of tissue paper and add them to the walls for texture, and to focus on how the sea stood up as walls.

Form figures with air dry clay. Use toothpicks to secure them together as needed. We put a base under the sheep so he would stand up better when glued down. Use your best judgement as to how this will work best.

Allow clay to dry for 2-3 days. Use hot glue to attach to the bottom of the pan.

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