Grandsons’ Passover Seder Favorites – Part I

There are two (well, really three) parts of our Passover Seder that our grandsons love most, aside from the gefilte fish.

We all know that kids hate to sit still when they don’t have a role in the Passover Seder. And let’s be honest – there are plenty of adults who aren’t keen on page-after-page readings from the Haggadah, either.

For our Seder, we’ve created several add-ons to a typical Haggadah that bring the Seder to life. (We will share the second major add-on in next week’s blog post.)

#1 – Passover Seder Steps Follow-Along – to use with your Haggadah

Created for kids 4 – 10, the Passover Seder Steps Follow-Along “game” is based on visuals reflecting movement through the Haggadah from Step 1 “Kaddesh” (Say Kiddush) to Step 15, “Nirtzah” (Complete the Seder).

During the Seder

The kids move their red pawns from stepping stone to stepping stone, reinforcing the journey out of Egypt, as you go through the Haggadah.

A nice touch is assigning someone to make a sound when it’s time to move to the next step. (When I was creating the game, I asked our grandson for ideas of what kinds of sounds we could suggest. Together we came up with these: a tambourine, triangle, maraca, or the bell of a kitchen timer. Or, you can just clink a glass with a spoon!)

To keep pre-readers occupied, we included visuals that emphasize each step (e.g., parsley for Karpas), along with small images to keep little eyes engaged  - like a pyramid, candles, frogs, and grapes.

Each set comes with 5 gloss-coated boards, 5 playing pawns, and instructions for how to use it before and during the Seder.

Cost is just $11.99 from Amazon for the five boards which will last for years and years - even if you spill juice and wine and haroset all over them!  (Free shipping with Amazon prime.)

Tip: do you have adults who could use help focusing? Give them a Seder board and a red pawn. You won’t be sorry! And they will appreciate it.

Before the Seder

The game is helpful before the Seder as well.

1. Use it to help your kids prepare for what to expect – whether you are hosting your own Seder or participating in another Seder.
2. Teach them the key Seder symbols with the larger images – and ask them to go hunting for the mini images, like Moses in a basket, the pillow, and Miriam.
3. Explore the suggested art activities to deepen their understanding of the holiday.

Testimonials 

  I like how you have left room for personal creativity, and at the same time, made the game complete  enough not to have to add to it. – Hannah

This is a solid winner . . . great look and feel to the game and it does the trick of teaching the steps of the Seder without becoming heavy handed . . . this is terrific! – Rabbi S.

As we played the game, I noticed that the kids seemed to be more attentive and asked more questions than they usually do. My youngest, in particular, struggles with reading and is much more of a visual learner, so the game was definitely a hit.  See more of the review of our game from TheJewishLady.com here. 

#2 Passover Exodus Reenactment – coming next week

#3 Chad Gadya – with apologies - coming next week

 Ready for food and craft ideas? Check out our Pinterest Board: Passover - Telling Stories.