Giant Cardboard Seahorse Craft For Rosh HaShanah

Yes, you read it correctly, this is truly a giant cardboard seahorse craft, and a wonderful one at that! You might be wondering what sea horses have to do with Rosh HaShana, and yes I can certainly understand that! But lets face it, every Jewish holiday is packed with so much meaning and symbolism that using the same symbols and visual cues does seem a bit repetitive to someone like me!

So while the actual seahorse may be stretching it, certainly the sea and fish make great Rosh HaShana symbols, so if some sea horses happen to be hanging out to enjoy the show, why not? Sea horses are such wonderful creatures, and at the least remind us to appreciate the amazing natural world in which we live, and appreciation and gratefulness are wonderful mindsets for the holiday, so there you have it!

How about getting one of the kids to dance in as a seahorse during the meal or creating a little skit about tashlich? Either way, adding some seahorses to your holiday will certainly be memorable, I can guarantee that! And of course you should make some giant cardboard waves as well, right? Or maybe a giant cardboard shark or some other fish? Suddenly I’m visualizing seahorses with apples and pomegranates on their heads, namely one pomegranate like a crown, could be great! Or how about a seahorse with a tutu? If only there were time to realize all my ideas, I think I need a whole team!

You’ll Need:

• a large piece of cardboard that you’ve rescued from a large bog

• really good scissors or a craft knife and craft knife skils

• a silhouette of a seahorse

• a pencil or this black marker

• supplies for kids to add color, like colored pencils, crayons or even paint

• a white paint pen for adult use, I prefer Posca

How To:

1. Draw the outline of the sea horse on the box, and double check to make sure you’ve done a good job with the proportions, so important!

2. Cut out the seahorse as carefully as you can without damaging the cardboard

3. Make a hole for the child’s arm or face, or don’t, you decide!

4. Add color by scribbling with crayons and colored pencils, if the kids do it,

5. If you want to add the color/detail, I’d suggest a white paint pen to make dots and lines to define the seahorse, which can look great! I would make a border all around the seahorse, with a second inner line to define the spine, and a circle around the eyeball area. Then go and add lines of dots for the spine and the fin, and anywhere else you see fit.

6. Consider making a crown for your seahorse and of course making a whole family of them!

At the end of the day, I think any child (or adult, like me) would surely enjoy a giant seahorse, so your efforts will surely be appreciated.

If you’re up for making another cardboard sea creature in the same way, check out my giant cardboard shark craft, (link in the intro paragraph) though then you may have to create a whole school of them. Then again maybe you have a shark themed birthday party coming up? Hmmm, sharks are a little scary I would think, but maybe an adult birthday party with a Jaws theme?

The topic always seems to navigate towards birthday party decorations, as this is truly my specialty, and so this seahorse could be amazing for a sea themed birthday party, together with shell imagery, or better yet a shell patterned table cloth?

Photos courtesy of Ron Lach.