Little kids sometimes get antsy at a very long Seder (they aren't the only ones, either) …. but there’s many creative ways they can be amused and still involved in the holiday. Here are a few more suggestions from EtsyChai Team members on their holiday traditions … be sure to leave comments of your own solutions, too!
from Leslie of siragwatkins & leslietsy -
“We go around the table reading the Haggadah--no one has to, but generally anyone who can read does at least a paragraph when it's their turn. That & the anticipation of the meal seems to keep our teens in check. My cousin usually serves hors d'oeuvres in advance, too, which helps. We haven't had any littles at our Seders for awhile, but with a new batch coming up.....
In fact, newest granddaughter celebrates her 1st birthday this week & has just started walking, so it should be interesting--last year she was happy in a lap.
Maybe our 7-year old granddaughter will be here too--depends on her school vacation. She'd probably like a coloring book, but is also very interested & will probably try to read.
My 1st cousin, of blessed memory, used to be our patriarch, & liked to move things along quickly. Now Seth is technically the patriarch (he does do boray pri hagofen) but is not technically Jewish, and my cousin's now-grown granddaughter is becoming more religious so the Seder's been getting a bit longer.
It evolves as the family does--this year a runabout, 2 new in-laws, 2 babies on the way. Next year, who knows?”
Tammy of Tamdoll’s SILVER Mountain Originals said:
“When my kids were little, I always worked to keep them excited and engaged. For a couple of years, I cut back the length of the Seders by using a children’s version of the Haggadah and supplying all the kids with their own copies, complete with crayons to color in the coloring-book pages. (My Very Own Haggadah was the title of one that I’ve used, but couldn’t find a link to include here.) Passing on the traditions and telling the story were more important to me than making sure we filled in every detail and frustrating the little ones.
As time passed, we’ve upgraded to a family Haggadah and everyone, guests included, takes part in the Seder, asking questions and reading parts in Hebrew and English. My husband makes sure to throw out some “plagues” (toy frogs) at the appropriate time, and our table is usually covered in the drawings of Seder plates and decorative Elijah cups that the girls have made in religious school over the years (I store them with the Seder plates and dishes.)
In the preschool years, they decorated felt squares with glue, threads, little gems and beads and glued them to another square with some stuffing in the center – creating little pillows for all of our guests to lean on. They were proud to have done this contribution and each year, I take them out again to use.”
Here’s an interesting article over at Linda’s blog - “The Search for Hametz” -
Enjoy!!
How do you keep everyone engaged at your Seder?
1 comment:
Great posts and ideas from EtsyChai.
Thanks.
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