Posted on April 10, 2012
by wittyone 
0 Recent Posts
- & we're off...
...to Gulu, Uganda! We appreciate your prayers for John and I as we fly to Uganda... - Here we go again!
On our way back across the miles. Next stop Auntie and Uncle's house! - We made it!
Hi all: We've made the move to Colorado! We are excited and look forward to this...
- & we're off...
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Playing with food!!!
In this case it’s matza/matzo which is all over the city (Jerusalem) as we celebrate Pesach/Passover! Since we’re not Jewish but love to celebrate the holidays here in Israel, we wanted to do something fun with matza! We came up with a Late Bronze Age (3000-2300BC) style house called ‘The Arad House’ from Tel Arad (here in Israel). We modeled it after the same simple style and are enjoying it as “decoration” for this Holy Week – both for Jews & Christians.
What you’ll need (not including the scene materials):
7+ sheets of matza (6 for house, 1 for roof/entry planks/matza on oven)
1 tube white glue
1 paring knife
1 cutting board
*a flat area to put the scene that can be moved if needed
Take one sheet & place it as the “floor” and glue the walls together just like if you were making a gingerbread house! Let it set for a few hours before moving it too much. Matza is not flat so find the flattest pieces in your package and really just go for it with the glue – it dries clear anyways!
The Arad style house had slatted roof with a natural covering over it – we didn’t put the natural (ie. leaves) covering because we liked the look of the “matza planks”! Our “rugs” were made from cut up old wash cloths…& togas made from paper towels. It’s easy because there’s only a door.
*for the door & roof planks I just took a paring knife gently to the matza and sawed it until I had a deep enough groove to crack down the line. The door was a little tougher but it only took two tries. It’s not perfect but it welcomes people 
Fun project for kids aged 4 and older. Violet (2) & Jack (3) were too “energetic” to allow anything to dry. We placed the woman cooking & the man resting because this was period appropriate. We also enjoy the verse: “Each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree.” Micah 4:4
John, Jack & VIolet in front of the Arad House at Tel Arad – Arad, Israel (L) and “The Arad House” at the Israel Museum (R)…I would say our matza house looks pretty similar!
I hope if you try this it will be a fun time & the end result will be a great looking matza house! Chag Sameach (Happy Holidays)!