| Samson is a formidable character and this craft shows off his lovely braids, all seven of them (Judges 16:13). Seven is the number of greatest power in the Jewish tradition and repeated throughout the story. Grab your colouring instruments and some bootlaces and prepare to play hairdresser! |  |
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Print out the pdf and gather your other materials. You will also need colouring pens or pencils, scissors, glue, thick cardboard, some bootlaces, some mini elastic bands, and if you wish a hole punch. For printing in Colour PDF – one page For printing with no Colour PDF – one page |
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Colour you Samson so the hair matches the colour of your bootlaces, if you are using multicolour bootlaces this will give some interesting results. If you wish you can colour his robe too! Glue him to thick card and then cut him out. |
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Cut the bootlace into 7 parts – ideally each roughly the same length as the character. Depending on how long your bootlaces are you may need to use more than one. I used one 1.5 meter bootlace. |
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If you want to have nice neat ends then you will need to melt them using an open flame. Either do this in advance, skip this step or have an adult do this for the children. You only need to seal one end. |  |
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Gather your braids and tie them with a small elastic. There are 2 ways to attach your hair to Samson’s head… The first is easier – Wrap the elastic round the hair tie on Samson, you may find it easier to use a second elastic. If the elastic slips make 2 small slits where the hair tie meets the rest of Samson’s hair. A big piece of tape will hold the final placement secure if needed. The second way is to make holes and thread the hair through. This way works better if you are using thinner laces or string. Again, a big piece of tape will hold the final placement secure if needed. |
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Now we have Samson in all his hairy glory challenge your kids to braid his braids. Below are pictured 3 examples. Braiding, or plating, is a very simple type of weaving. Split the seven pieces into 2 groups and start with whichever group has more parts. Take the outside piece and weave it under and over until it reaches the middle. The left picture goes over 3 strands, the middle one goes over 2 strands and under 1, and the right picture goes over 1 strand and under 2. |
| Plaited or Braided Examples |  |
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