Every year as Sukkot approaches, people begin building sukkot on their balconies and in their yards. In many cases, those constructing the sukkah also choose to decorate it with an array of colorful ornaments, adding light and beauty to the festive space.
Today, of course, it is easy to walk into a store and buy ready-made decorations. But there is hardly anything more enjoyable than making the decorations by hand.
Indeed, the children of Israel have been making decorations for their sukkot for generations. Children’s newspapers and magazines from the past illustrate the kinds of decorations that were popular in sukkot of earlier times. Many publications regularly included instructions for making all kinds of unusual and creative decorations – craft projects that kept children busy during the Hebrew month of Tishrei, a month filled with holidays.
Cover of Mishmar L’Yeladim for Sukkot, 5736 (1975)
We begin with one of the more unusual decorations – and perhaps one that is less familiar to the wider public. An October 1959 issue of Davar L’Yeladim (Tishrei 5720) features a short story about a sukkah decoration once common among Ashkenazi Jewish communities: birds made from eggshells.
How do you make them? Pierce two tiny holes at opposite ends of an egg and empty out its contents. Carefully paint the shells in bright, colorful watercolors, then attach colorful feathers to serve as wings and tails.
The same issue also made sure not to overlook the more “traditional” decorations. In its “Handicrafts” section, the newspaper’s editors provided instructions for making a variety of decorations: paper chains, hanging “snakes and bells,” colorful streamers, and different ornaments designed to sway in the breeze.
All you need are a few empty tin cans, string for hanging, and plenty of colorful paper and other materials that can be cut, glued, painted, and hung up.
Sukkah Decoration Instructions from Davar L’Yeladim, 1959
A decade earlier, even before the sound of artillery from the War of Independence had fully died down, children’s newspapers were already keeping their young readers busy making sukkah decorations – even if these were somewhat more modest affairs.
In an October 1948 issue of Mishmar L’Yeladim (at the same time as Operation Yoav was getting underway in the Negev), a contributor named Margalit explained how to make paper chains in the shapes of children, flowers, and more.
A year later, in October 1949 (Tishrei 5710), Davar L’Yeladim suggested making even simpler paper chains.
Sukkah paper chains, from Mishmar L’Yeladim for Sukkot 5709 (October 1948)
Sukkah decorations, from Davar L’Yeladim for Sukkot 5710 (October 1949)
In the decades that followed, detailed instructions for making sukkah decorations became harder to find. But the special Sukkot-themed content did not disappear. In a September 1977 issue of Haaretz Shelanu published for Sukkot, a group of children who had built a wonderful sukkah themselves were interviewed. The article is accompanied by photographs documenting the construction process.
From Haaretz Shelanu for Sukkot 5738 (October 1977)
Issues of Maariv L’Yeladim from the 1990s and 2000s, no longer had instructions for making sukkah decorations at all – in their defense, however, we sampled only a limited and unrepresentative selection of issues. And, happily, the creative potential remains open and endless.
