The Passover Seder is one Jewish ritual that can be adapted for participants of any age. This is true even for families with small children. By hosting a lively — even theatrical — seder, parents can engage their children for a more meaningful holiday.

This Passover, consider building upon one of the ideas below. We hope your family will benefit from an interactive, age-appropriate seder experience. If you need more ideas, visit our Passover themed Pinterest board. You'll find activities, crafts, educational games, and of course, recipes.

ACT IT OUT

Bring the telling of the Passover story section of the seder to life. During the “maggid,” perform something more dramatic than the typical reading. Here are a few cute scripts worth a look:

An Interactive Script

Shira Kline (of ShirLaLa Jewish children’s music fame) offers this “Interactive Script to Re-Tell the Story of Passover.” The full script is available for download (PDF).



A Seder for Young Children

ReformJudaism.org offers this script specifically for families with children ages 4–5. “Passover is the perfect holiday to explore with 4-and 5-year-olds,” the blog post explains.



Seder Time (PDF)

This little skit, written by Jewish educator Stan Beiner, comes from educational publishing company Behrman House.



The Courage of Nachson (PDF)

Another good skit available from Behrman House is this Meredith Shaw Patera script.

SHORTEN IT UP

It can be tough for some children to sit through the seder. These ideas are meant reduce the timeframe for young, active families:

10-Minute Passover Play

This short play offers a contemporary take on the Exodus narrative. It is written by Rabbi Daniel Brenner “for all ages.”



Twenty-Minute Seder for 2s and 3s

This script (with preparation instructions) is meant to provide parents of toddlers with a succinct and interactive telling.

USE PUPPETS

Who doesn’t love a puppet? Get three-dimensional with some interactive props. Here are a couple starting points:

Printable Passover Scene

Put together these paper puppets to act out scenes during your seder.

Passover Finger Puppets

PJ Library author and illustrator Ann Koffsky offers free printable, colorable finger puppet character templates for your family’s use during a child-friendly seder.

Passover Puppet Haggadah

With a simple email signup, you too can receive a PDF with directions and templates for making brown-bag people. As Heeb Magazine reports in its piece, “Act Out Your Feelings with The Passover Puppet Haggadah,” the Passover Puppet Haggadah “is free and it actually looks like a good time.”



PLAY DRAMATIC GAMES

Children learn through play. So, why not incorporate a game or two into the Passover seder?

Bingo, Bags, and More

Rabbi Jason Miller introduces a number of child-friendly Passover games and activities in his Huffington Post blogpost, “Innovative and Fun Passover Seder Ideas.”



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