A blending of traditions for sweet dreams during Kislev - the month of dreams

Ahh…to sleep and get a good night’s rest! I think sleep is something that so many children struggle with! I remember when I was young and had bad dreams or worries at night, my dad would gently touch my nose when he tucked me in bed and sweetly remind me to “change the channel.” In those days, we changed the channel on our tv with a circular dial. Pretending to change the channel always seemed to help me. With my own daughters, when they had bad dreams or bad thoughts at night, we would leave encouraging notes from a fairy godmother (we had one for each girl, Matilda and Wendolyn) and tuck a Worry Doll from Guatemala under their pillows. Having the little doll always seemed to provide comfort and make going to sleep a little easier.

Right now, it’s the Hebrew month of Kislev. Two wonderful things about Kislev are, we celebrate Hanukkah, and it is also known as the month of dreams - where we read about dreams nine times in the Torah. The dreams are connected to Joseph, who became famous in Egypt for interpreting Pharaoh’s troubling dreams.

Joseph wore a wonderfully colored coat, just like my daughters’ Worry Dolls. To celebrate Kislev and dreams, we decided to make our own interpretation of dream dolls with colorful dream coats like Joseph. Here’s what you’ll need to make your own.

Kislev Dream Dolls

For each doll you will need:

Peg doll
Yarn (in a few colors)
Sequins
Glue
Scissors
Black and pink thin tipped marker
A damp paper towel.

Here are the steps:

1. Take the glue and have your child spread a pea sized drop of glue under the peg doll’s neck. Take a piece of colored yarn, and circle it under the neck. You can help your child gently press the yarn into the glue and twirl the yarn around the doll’s body. Try to keep the strands of yarn close together as they wind around the doll. If your child’s fingers become sticky from the glue, they can wipe them off on the damp paper towel.

2. When your child is happy with the amount of yarn going around the body, select another color. Repeat step 1 with each color of yarn, until the torso is entirely filled with yarn.

3. Now it’s time to make a sleepy night cap. Take a pea sized amount of glue, and have your child spread it around the top of the head with their pointer finger, and wipe their finger on the paper towel (or not, some kids don’t mind sticky fingers)! Take a new piece of yarn. We started on the outside of the head, and moved in a circular direction, going toward the middle. An adult might want to help get the little night cap started. Keep moving in a circular direction until the cap is finished.

4. Use the black and pink markers to draw a sleepy face.

5. Use the sequins and sparkly bits to embellish the dream coat and night cap. Let your dream doll completely dry.

6. Dream dolls come in different shapes. It would be fun to make your doll a tiny friend. Just repeat the steps above!

8. At night, place the dream doll on a flower petal bed, or tuck it under a pillow. Your child can tell their dreams and worries to their doll for a sweet night’s sleep.

That’s it! You’ve made a little dream doll, in honor of Kislev, Joseph and the month of dreams. We made up a little story about our dream doll, and if you’d like, you can tell this story to your child too!

A long time ago, children from all across the land of Israel visited a man named Joseph, the master of dreams. Joseph, they asked, please tell us the meaning of our dreams. One night, Joseph dreamt of the children telling their dreams to tiny dolls. Joseph then asked the villagers to sew these dolls and dress them in little colorful dream coats, much like his own. From then on, children turned to their little dream dolls when they had worries or wishes, or just wanted someone to talk to. To this day, tiny dream dolls still sleep under the pillows of children, and serve as a source of comfort and solace, from generation to generation.

To get a good night sleep and caring for the body is the Jewish value Shmirat HaGuf (caring for the body). We loved blending traditions from Judaism and the Mayan people of Guatemala to make our own little dream doll for the month of Kislev.

This is a wonderful activity to do during one of the eight nights of Hanukkah. We have more family activities for Hanukkah too, homemade (gluten free ) sufganiyot (mini-donuts), DIY cookie menorah, DIY felt menorah and Hanukkah chef hats, and be sure to visit our Hanukkah Round-up! Let us know how you are celebrating Hanukkah in the comments below, and always, we wish you,

Sweet dreams!

We have a limited number of Kislev Dream Doll kits available for purchase while these little kits last. You can order yours by sending us an email. You would need to have your own scissors, glue and markers for drawing a sleepy face. Sweet dreams.