Cutting paper – TOGETHER – at camp. Without getting injured.

Three weeks ago I posted about what I do every summer at URJ Camp Newman – teaching kids to cut paper. Two weeks ago I posted about the campers' first projects: mizrach plaques, and last week I posted about the camper's big projects: paper midrash. In this, my last post about my 2013 residency at Camp Newman, I'm sharing our final group project. Here's just one piece of it...

First, I want to mention that all of the campers' work is displayed at the end of their four-week session in the annual "Mark and Peachy Levy Hagigah Festival," alongside creations from the other campers: painting, tallitot, calligraphy, photography, dance and drama presentations, songleading and even some creative writing recitals; all of the arts activities they participated in as part of Hagigah.

At the end of the festival, campers take their work home – but I always like to have them make something as a gift for camp... and that's where the group project comes in. Here's another piece...

The overall theme for this summer was kehillah kedoshah – "a holy community," which is what we strive to be at camp. With that in mind, I planned for my papercutting campers to work together (as a community – see how it ties in?) to create a poster-size papercut that spelled out kehillah kedoshah. And not just one – TWO!

In the last few days of our workshops, each camper would take a break from their individual projects and spend some time on the group project. They got to pick whichever letter they wanted, and they had to design and cut and back it however they wished. Some created a design that pulled elements from their mizrach or midrash pieces, and others just came up with something totally different.

We even got some of the camp faculty to help out with a few letters, and the end results were wonderful.

I'm pleased to share with you photos of the final pieces (click them to see them bigger)...