Passover is less than two weeks away and I’m super excited. I love torturing my children by making them sit at a dinner table for hours before they can even put a piece of matzah to their lips. I love forcing the youngest child in attendance to sing the four questions in front of an audience even though I’ve never met a child who wanted to do it. (Except me. I should have been born the youngest!) I love teaching my kids all the interesting ways they could have died if they were alive during the ten plagues. It’s good old-fashioned Jewish fun!
No, seriously. I love Passover. Honest to Elijah, I do. I don’t even mind my Uncle Scott leading the sedar ten times more seriously than most of my family members can take. My mom speed reading her sections while my uncle threatens to leave are all part of our family tradition.
Mazzy loves Passover too. She remembers finding the afikomen underneath a couch cushion last year as a pinnacle moment of her childhood. As do I. Back in the late eighties, after three hours of searching alongside four of my cousins, I found the afikomen lodged into the tape slot of our VCR. I still remember the feeling of victory. It was beautiful.
Since I am all about keeping the joy of Judaism alive (and competing with that kid-friendly holiday with the bunny), Seri (aka Little Miss Party) and I put together a Passover Prep Play Date for the kids. Was everything we did kosher? I do not know. Is Nutella kosher? If not, let’s start a petition on Change.org or something, because that shit tastes EXCELLENT on matzah.
Matzo? I never know.
SNACK: MATZAH TOPPING BAR
Our original plan was to make Matzah houses inspired by Martha Stewart but then we realized we needed to download a template, score a cardboard box and cut Matzah with an exacto knife and we were like— F THAT. We’re gonna do something MUCH EASIER.
It’s not a chocolate filled easter basket, but it comes pretty damn close.
What you’ll need:
Matzah, Nutella, sprinkles, crushed nuts, chocolate chips, sliced strawberries and whatever other fun toppings you can find in your cabinets.
What to do:
1) Spread pieces of matzah with Nutella (which I just googled and found out IS KOSHER— WOOHOO!!!)
2) Lay out all the toppings
3) Let the kids decorate
4) Snap lots of pictures because THIS IS ADORABLE
5) Eat a snack so delicious, it could convince a non-Jew to convert
CRAFT: TIE DYE AFIKOMEN COOVERS
Afikomen covers are a great crafting opportunity and can be decorated any number of ways— with markers, glitter glue, puffy paints, etc. We opted for tie dye because we like putting our clothes and homes at risk. Also, why should Easter eggs have all the fun?
What you’ll need: Tie Dye Kit
What to do:
1) Cover your work station and the floor around the station with plastic wrap or table cover.
2) Make sure everyone involved in the activity WEARS GLOVES and old clothes you won’t mind getting ruined.
3) Cover the bandanas in elastics to create a design.
4) Put the bandanas in the bowl and let the kids squirt dyes all over.
5) Try to convince your daughter to use a color other than pink.
6) Freak out because the dye is getting everywhere and you really should have done this task in the garage.
7) Let sit for six hours and then throw in the wash
8) Either use as Matzah cover or fold in fours and sew sides to create Afikomen bag
DRINK: Kedem Kosher Kick
I’m not kidding when I say this is the simplest most delicious cocktail ever. I knew grape juice would be good for SOMETHING.
What to do:
1) Combine 1/2 cup of Kedem Kosher Grape juice with 1 can of Sofia Coppola champagne.
2) Add a pretty straw and drink up! Preferably while the kids clean up the tie dye mess.
There you have it. Some Passover activities for kids that have nothing to do with slaying the firstborn. That game never sounded like much fun.
Hey,
I’m also love passover! The best part is the afikoman. Usually, I’m the one who hode the afikoman, and I really like to see how my cousines look for the afikoman.
Hpe you’ll have a great passover vication!
*hide
I am hoping that nutella and candy will help let my kids enjoy Passover this year! I am totally going to tie dye a bandanna as well, why shouldn’t Passover have tie dye like Easter?
In my family, we grew up making special seating cards and I continue that tradition with my children today. My mom calls them “Passover eggs”. We write the names of people attending on each egg with crayon (cheap, waxy crayons work best). Then we dye the eggs like Easter-celebrating people do. The children get to decide who sits where (though the adults will check where they are sitting and have been known to move the name-eggs around!). This also means that each child can get their own egg to eat without having to fight over the one on the Seder plate. The leftover “nametags” become egg salad the following day. We also hide as many afikomen pieces as there are children. They’re young still and this leads to less fighting and tears. (And we call it “sleeping of the firstborn” since all kids are under 8 yrs old and we don’t want to scare them. My 4 yr old thinks it’s like Sleeping Beauty.)
Great ideas! I may use versions of these even though we celebrate Easter. We were never big on the idea of eggs and bunnies. Also, the picture behind the couch might give me nightmares tonight.
Looks so awesome. That was a FUN one! Well aren’t they all ?! xoxo
We love Nutella too! I guess who does not? We’ll have Nutella with apple or Nutella with banana for after meal treat! Yum yum yum.
Love the Nutella idea. Passover is my favorite holiday and my daughter turns 3 on Passover (she still gets cake even though its not kosher…I can’t make her wait a week for a birthday cake!). I actually made a tie-dye afikomen cover when I was 5 in Hebrew school and we STILL use it (35 years later). It is so super faded. Can’t wait for my girl to make a new one. Great fun ideas.
I think we will tie dye something with my son when he gets a little older because even at 22 I love tie dying
I’m mostly dying over #4. Snap a lot of pictures because THIS IS ADORABLE. Two teenie tiny adorable children with a gigantic skeleton head In the background. Kids, adorable. Skeleton head….well not what I would call adorable.
I think this is your funniest post ever. I also love passover but now cannot. freaking. wait. to get some and put nutella on it. and maybe fluff, because, why not?
Where did you get the skull picture?! I love it. I’m a forensic anthropologist and I’d love to get that for my office.
Also my SIL did a great kid friendly seder with a bag o’ plagues. She had plastic frogs and locusts , fake blood, bubble wrap for the “boils”, etc. We had so much fun!
Bag o’ plagues sounds awesome!
We had a chocolate Seder at our synagogue every year – Chocolate milk instead of wine, chocolate covered matzah, chocolate Easter eggs instead of the regular ones 😛