If you are look­ing for a new approach to cre­at­ing Purim crafts with chil­dren, Duct Tape Purim is a great place to begin. You may not have pre­vi­ous­ly asso­ci­at­ed the ver­sa­tile mate­r­i­al of duct tape with the bib­li­cal hero­ine Queen Esther, but Jill Colel­la Bloomfield’s new book finds that they actu­al­ly have a lot in com­mon. Both are flex­i­ble and strong.

The book includes prac­ti­cal sec­tions on ​“Set­ting Up Your Work­space” and ​“Cleanup and Safe­keep­ing” — both incred­i­bly impor­tant, as any care­giv­er or teacher who has con­front­ed the after­math of a messy project will attest. While read­ers will not find the full sto­ry of Purim here, Bloom­field offers a brief back­ground pri­or to giv­ing instruc­tions for the project. Duct tape is not per­fect; as Bloom­field admits, “ … the amaz­ing stick­i­ness of this tape can also be a challenge.”

Col­or pho­tographs com­ple­ment the text, show­ing adults and chil­dren col­lab­o­rat­ing and fun pic­tures of com­plet­ed designs. Required mate­ri­als and num­bered steps are clear­ly defined, and some pages pro­vide addi­tion­al tips and fur­ther points about the fes­ti­val. Read­ers’ indi­vid­ual tastes will influ­ence their choic­es. Rings for Queen Esther made of braid­ed tape might be par­tic­u­lar­ly attrac­tive to jew­el­ry lovers. Oth­ers might enjoy larg­er scale items, like a palace guard’s shield or a horse for Mordechai.

Any­one prepar­ing to put on Purim spiels (plays) or deliv­er sha­lach man­ot will find inspi­ra­tion in this excit­ing new book. It proves that it is pos­si­ble to stick to tra­di­tions and renew them at the same time.