Museum -Inspired "Art-Start Bags"

Museums, which fulfill their missions to collect, display, and educate in such a variety of creative ways, are a great source of learning activity models.

During many extended visits to Israel, I returned to the country's outstanding museums again and again. The Ruth Youth Wing for Art Education at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem www.imj.org.il features classes and exhibits designed to engage young people.
On one of my visits, I spent time in a section of the Youth Wing known as the Recycling Workshop. In this space, containers of curious materials were available for individual artwork. The materials included a colorful array of remnants from manufacturing processes.
Bottle caps, cardboard shapes, plastic bits, game pieces, fabric scraps and more spilled out of bins tempting the visitor to "make and take." The walls of the room were filled with ingenious examples of "art" objects (some inspired by the Museum's collections) which had been crafted from the materials provided.
I took photos, made notes, filled a bag with recyclables and took away a treasure trove of ideas for future hands-on projects.

Whether you say "recycle," "re-use," "re-mix," "re-purpose," or (in Hebrew) "michzor," using materials that might otherwise be tossed out makes good sense - especially for Jewish educators whose budgets are often less than lavish.

One idea inspired by the Israel Museum's Youth Wing Recycling Workshop - "ART START BAGS."

To create ART START BAGS, first, gather an assortment of recyclables such as colored paper scraps, beads and buttons, plastic baby food containers, fabric scraps, yarn, wallpaper pieces, ribbon, small jewelry boxes, words and phrases and pictures cut from used books and magazines,stickers, etc.
Religious School art teachers and friends who sew, make scrapbooks, and design other crafts may have project scraps to share.
Home decorating stores may have outdated fabric and wallpaper sample books to give away. (I recently found a bunch of colorful, textured fabric squares which a store had piled on the sidewalk with a sign saying, "Free!").

Next, fill sandwich or quart-sized plastic zip-top bags with an assortment of the items you've collected. This step could be a class, school, or youth group activity. Enclose a list of suggested projects which make use of the recyclable items. Include projects which students suggest. On the filled bags, stick labels that say, "ART START BAG" or (in Hebrew) "SAKIT L'OMANUT."

Then, give out the bags as the basis for a class art project (Torah Portion collage, Holiday greeting cards, bookmarks) or as a Family Education activity such as a design-your- own- Hanukkiyah contest. Provide scissors, glue, and blank sheets of paper (recycled office paper, perhaps?) to enhance the possibilities.
As a mini-fundraiser, sell ART START BAGS for twenty-five or fifty cents as part of a children's "Creation Station" at a synagogue event such as a Purim Carnival.
Suggest ART START BAGS as a combination birthday party favor and party project - a better buy than plastic trinkets from the party store!

ART START BAGS - a museum-inspired way to encourage creativity, add to your school's tzedakah funds, perform the Mitzvah of "Bal Tash'chit" (preserving the earth), and have fun!