Expressing Identity
While the museum is closed the JMM team is coming together to bring some of our favorite activities from our recent family programs direct to your homes. Each collection of materials will be inspired by either one of our exhibits, Jewish History, or a Jewish holiday.
All of the activities we share are designed for families to complete together and use supplies you are likely to already have in your home. The activities we offer include crafts, games, scavenger hunts, online story times, and more. You can check out previous activity packs here!
~The JMM Programs Team
For all of us, our identity can include many elements, the things we choose to express and the things that society sees within us. Our identity can include our ethnic heritage, nationality, and religion which we often share with our family. Our identity can also include skills, interests, passions and political beliefs. It takes all of these elements to create each of our unique identities. With the activities in this packet, think about your own identity and what makes you who you are.
Pride month celebrates the members of our community who identify as LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual), an umbrella term used by some to describe their sexual orientation and gender identities. Individuals who identify as part of this group often face significant challenges across the world, including within our Baltimore community. It is for this reason that coming together every June to mark Pride month is so important, whether or not we personally identify as part of this group.
Don’t forget to share photos of you enjoying our crafts and activities on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr pages and use #MuseumFromHome.
Download the full Expressing Identity activity packet as a single pdf here.
Wear It With Pride
Supplies needed:
A printed copy blank t-shirt
A printed copy of our t-shirt icons
Markers
Download Instructions for Wear It With Pride
Eating Your Heritage
Supplies needed:
A printed copy of our sample place setting, paper or a paper plate.
Markers
Download Instructions for Eating Your Heritage
Pride Buttons
Buttons and pins are a great way to show your support of different causes. They can be almost any size, shape, or color. In this activity, you can design and create a button to support the LGBTQ community. Use these same instructions to create buttons that support other causes that are important to you.
Supplies needed:
Recycled cardboard
Scissors
Craft Supplies
Safety Pin
Tape
Download Instructions for Pride Buttons
Pride Flag
Supplies needed:
Paper
Markers
Chopstick, skewer, or paint stirrer
Tape
Download Instructions for Pride Flag
Keep Discovering
If you enjoyed designing a t-shirt to express your identity, why not experiment with tie dye. Express your individuality and creativity by tie-dying t-shirts.
Think about aspects of your identity you want to represent- your religion, heritage, personality, likes, dislikes, hobbies, groups and communities you belong to, and values. Then, draw your own silhouette or use a template. Fill it with magazine pictures, words, and drawings that express your personal identity.
Listen to readings of two books about expressing your identity. In Chik Chak Shabbat, hear about how food can express our personal and familial identities:
In Be Who You Are celebrate the many ways we can express ourselves and our uniqueness:
