Design and make a tzedakah (charity) box / mezuzah case / challah cloth, or chanukiah.

Learn about the architecture and decoration of synagogues around the world.

Look at how the five senses are all used during Havdalah (the ceremony at the end of Shabbat).

Create a feely box with Jewish artefacts made from different materials (wood, metal, fabric, etc). Describe their properties. Look at one Jewish artefact (for example, candlesticks). Which materials would be suitable for making this item? and which materials would not be suitable?

Discuss whether the creation story in the Torah is compatible with Big Bang theory. (For background information see the work of Nathan Aviezer and Gerald Schroder, physicists who write about the links between Torah and science, and believe that it is.)

Find out about diversity within the Jewish community in terms of geographical groups, and practice and traditions around the world, and different strands of Judaism.

Research where Jewish communities are around the world. What names do those communities have (for example, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrachi, and Beta Israel)?

Where did the families of Jewish people in the UK come from previously? Why did they move away from these other countries?

Find out about the immigration experiences of Jewish people living in the UK. Why and how did they come to the UK?

Look at where Israel is on a map and compare its size to other countries (it is smaller than Wales!)

Look at maps of the areas where biblical stories took place – for example, the Pesachstory of the Jews being enslaved in Egypt, followed by the Exodus across the Red Sea, and journey into Israel, or where Abraham lived in Ur and what that country is called now, and his journey to Israel.

What countries do Jewish people live in? And which countries don’t many Jewish people live in? What are the reasons that some communities have virtually disappeared? (For example, Ethiopia due to famine, war, and hostility, and Egypt, Syria, and Afghanistan because Jewish people fled from persecution there.)

Recreate stained glass windows from a synagogue using a black card frame and coloured cellophane.

Make a greetings card for Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah, or a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

Make detailed drawings of artefacts or parts of artefacts.

Look at decorated Ketubot (marriage contracts).

Learn about kosher food and how a kosher kitchen is different from a standard one.

Plan a kosher three course meal. Will it be dairy or meat based?

Explore why different Jewish communities have different traditional foods.

Bake challah, hamantaschen (eaten on Purim), or matzah (the matzah should be baked as quickly as possible!)

Try apple dipped in honey (eaten on Rosh Hashanah).

Make charoset (eaten on Pesach).

Countless areas of possible research into any aspect of Judaism using websites, YouTube etc.

Research the dual identity that Jewish and many other people have with their faith and their nationality.

Find out about Maimonides’ different levels of charity. Debate whether or not learners agree with it, and why.

Find out about different alphabets, and the relationships betweendifferent ancient alphabets (A, B, C, aleph, bet (Hebrew), Alpha, Beta (Greek)) Even the word “alphabet” is derived from those first two letters.

Hebrew is written from right to left. Are any other languages written this way?

Practice writing some Hebrew letters, and work out how to write each pupil’s name.

Write a newspaper article reporting something from Jewish history or the Torah as if you had been there (for example, one of the ten plagues, or part of the Chanukah story).

Investigate Yiddish and Ladino. Which other languages are they related to, and how did they come about?

What other local Jewish languages can you find out about?

Interpretation/acting out of biblical and festival stories, and hot-seating characters from the stories.

Have a formal debate about whether it is a good idea to switch off from all gadgets and devices for 24 hours every week.

Listen to some Jewish children’s / festival songs.

Listen to some traditional tunes used in synagogue services, such as Kol Nidre by composer Max Bruch. What can you tell about what kind of prayer it is by the tone of the music?

Listen to a Klezmer band. Where / when / why did Klezmer music start?

Many, many musicals were written by Jewish composers – George and Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, Alen Menken, Lorenz Hart, Kurt Weill, Marvin Hamlish, Jerome Kern, Steven Sondheim, Steven Schwartz. Why do you think so many Jewish people were, and still are, involved with the musical theatre industry?

Find out when Jewish people first lived in the UK. What was life like for them?

Compare stories of Jewish immigration waves to the UK with other immigrant stories. Are they similar? Many Jews moved into Glasgow’s Gorbals between 1890 and 1920. What other immigrant groups have lived there before and after? are there similarities in their stories?

Find out about other parts of Scotland that Jewish people came to. Where did they come from?  Why?  Which of these communities no longer exist? Why not?

Find out about the concept of gematria – each letter having a numerical value that spiritually connects to other words and concepts.

Use all 4 digits of the (Jewish) Calendar year (2024 straddles the years 5784 and 5785), and the '4 rules' and signs found on a calculator, to make as many of the numbers 1–100 as you can. It's a great 'form time' activity at S1–S4, can be done individually or as a class.