What is Passover?
Passover is the eight-day observance that marks the hardships, exodus, and liberation of the Israelites from Egypt.

Many families celebrate Passover in different ways, depending on what traditions their families have chosen to adopt. In most homes, Passover is celebrated with family gatherings, a meal of specific foods and often a series of prayers and readings. This is the oldest Jewish celebration that is continuously celebrated and even some nonpracticing Jewish families come together to celebrate the roots of their religious heritage.

What about getting the younger generations involved?

There are easy and fun ways to get your kids involved in the family’s Passover celebration and it’s even a little crafty! We put together a quick guide for parents to get the little ones excited and involved to participate this year around the Passover table.

Passover Plagues

The plagues can seem like an intimidating story to teach to your little ones, but there’s definitely some kid-friendly tricks to make it easier to understand. Head to a party store and put together surprise goodie bags that represent each of the plague stories. When explaining the story, your kids get to open the goodie bag at each stage to get a better visual interpretation. Another popular way to explain the plagues is to use finger puppets that encourage your kids to participate and explain each plague to the family.

Elijah’s Cup

Elijah the prophet is an important part of the Passover ceremony and it’s a tradition to leave a glass of wine at the table for his metaphorical arrival. Get your kids excited and involved by letting them design this important feature for your Passover table. There are tons of ways to decorate Elijah’s cup and it also doubles as a great keepsake to put on display. Pick up a plastic wine glass from the store and let your kids design the outside with markers, paint pens, or glitter pens for some personal flair for your table. Another great trick is dipping colorful yarn in Elmer’s glue and winding it around the cup from the bottom to top.

Seder Plate

Explaining the seder can sometimes go over the heads of your little ones, so it’s much easier to give them something of their own to visualize. Have the kids design their own seder plate whether it be with markers or paint on a paper plate, paint or cut paper glued onto a glass plate or even a crafty felt plate with Velcro pieces. If you need some extra inspiration, The Huffington Post has a great list of DIY seder plates for your little artists to make.

Matzo Fun

No Passover is complete without matzo. While it doesn’t always appeal to the picky palette of your kids, there’s plenty of matzo to go around during Passover. If not creating a few creative recipes to jazz up matzo, you can always spark the intrigue by building a matzo house. Similar to a gingerbread house, this matzo creation can grace your table and your little guys will be ecstatic to see their masterpiece at the center of the family table.

No matter how you choose to involve the kids this Passover, making it unique to your family adds incredible meaning to your family traditions each year.

So get crafty, get creative and get together for an unforgettable Passover.