The Makor Project K–5 Lesson
Station 2 · craft

Braid a Challah

Stories, Foods, and Words · Grades K–5

Station leader: how to run it

Each child gets three balls of play-dough the same size, plus a fourth for the grades 3–5 challenge (or three paper strips, about 1 inch by 11 inches, and a piece of tape). Store-bought play-dough usually contains wheat; a child with a wheat allergy uses the paper strips. Follow the five steps together. While hands are busy, tell what the bread is (the box below). This is a craft with a story: describe what families do, nothing is said over the bread, and nothing is eaten. It is play-dough.

1
Three ballsMake three balls the same size.
2
Three ropesRoll each ball into a rope, all the same length.
3
Pinch the topPress the three tops together so they stay.
4
Right over, left overRight rope over the middle. Left rope over the middle. Again, and again.
5
Pinch the bottomTuck the ends under. A challah!

What is this bread?

Challah (HAH-lah) is a soft, braided bread. Many Jewish families bake it, or buy it, for Friday evening. That is when the weekly day of rest, called Shabbat, begins, and the family sits down to a special meal.

Often there are two loaves on the table. The braids are said to look like arms linked together. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, the loaf is often baked round instead, like a circle, for the circle of the year.

Many cultures have a bread for special days. What bread does your family eat on a special day?

Draw the bread your family eats on a special day.
Grades 3–5 challenge: a challah can be braided with three strands, four, or six. Can your group work out a braid with four ropes? (Hint: the outside rope goes over one and under one, and you switch sides every time.)