The purpose of creating this Passover for children page / Pesach for children page is to help fulfill the mitzvah ("commandment" in Hebrew, as in a commandment from G-d) of educating Jewish children in every generation about Passover / Pesach.

The following ideas for learning about the Passover festival / Pesach festival were graciously provided by: Rabbi Zoë Klein.

 

 

Fun Can be a Journey to Freedom : Ideas for Passover / Pesach

By Rabbi Zoë Klein

The following list is a compilation of ideas to help the Passover / Pesach Seder be fun and engaging for the entire family. The Seder is composed of 15 parts. For each of these parts, you'll find here a bushel of activities.

Passover For Kids / Children: Ideas to Encourage Learning - Steps 7 to 15.

This page continues from the previous page just below this line:

Passover For Kids / Children: Ideas to Encourage Learning - Steps 1 to 6

Part 7:

Motzi - First Blessing over Matzah

Moroccan Jews have a custom of passing the Matzah over everyone's head to symbolize the angel of death that passed over the Jewish houses.

See how high you can build a matzah house.

Part 8:

Matzah - Second blessing over Matzah

Once I attended a seder with a Yemenite family, and they had spray bottles of water on the table. They would spray the matzah with the water to make it softer, so they could wrap it around the charoset.

Part 9:

Maror - Second Dipping (Maror and Charoset)

Irish fiddler Seamus Connoly once said, "We are never so happy as when we are crying." We never enjoy the horseradish so much as when it brings tears to our eyes.

Part 10:

Korech - Hillel Sandwich

Everyone make a sandwich for the person sitting next to them.

Try to whistle while eating matzah.

Part 11:

Shulchan Orech - Communal Meal

Have everyone put money into the tzedakka box before eating.

Part 12:

Tzafun - Afikomen

Give the finder of the afikomen a five dollar bill. Explain that it is Abraham Lincoln on that bill, and what he did to end slavery in America.

Part 13:

Barech - Blessing after Eating

Make plans to feed the hungry through money donations, helping in a food kitchen, donating food, or any other way.

Open the door for Elijah, and explain that truly, Elijah doesn't enter through the door, but through the heart.

Leave Elijah's cup out overnight in case he is a little late.

Part 14:

Psalms of Praise - Hallel

Go around the table and express what each is thankful for.

Give each other hugs and kisses!

Part 15:

Nirtza - Conclusion

Make the song "Who Knows One?" into a trivia game. Try to name the 3 fathers of Israel (hint: A..., I..., J...), the 4 mothers (S..., R..., R..., L...) the five books of the Torah (G..., E..., L..., N..., D...), the twelve tribes?

With the song Chad Gadya, "Just One Kid," sing it like Old MacDonald, and make the appropriate sounds for each verse.

Next Year in Jerusalem! Sing the Israeli National Anthem, "Ha Tikvah" ("The Hope" in Hebrew). Kids can use kazoos.

Next Year in Jerusalem! Invite kids to share the songs they've learned from Hebrew school.

Rabbi Zoë Klein is Rabbi of Temple Isaiah, a Reform-Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Website: http://www.templeisaiah.com/ .

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Passover For Kids / Children: Ideas to Encourage Learning - Steps 1 to 6


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