Personally–I’m certainly not! I always find there’s a bit of a scramble in the pre-Passover time. I’m planning seder meals, shopping for matzah and those ubiquitous chocolate lollipops, and always wondering what my children will eat when I take away their bread, pasta, and favorite breaded chicken fingers. And then there’s the question of how we’ll run our seder this year. How will I keep the kids engaged? Or, then again–how will I keep the adults engaged?

I’ve been doing a lot of research and I’ve found a few wonderful resources that I’d like to share with you. Hopefully these will help you to engage your own children (and adults!) and make your seder feel fresh and new while still keeping your favorite traditions.

What’s It All About?

One of my favorite resources on the internet is the Jewish parenting website Kveller.com. (Full disclosure–I used to work for them and still occasionally write an article or two!) It’s an honest, fresh take on parenting with a Jewish twist. They’ve got an article on Passover basics that will give you the details on what it’s all about, and is great for sharing with any friends or family who are less familiar with Passover and the traditions.

Make Your Own Hagaddah!

I know. The idea of creating your own hagaddah is overwhelming. Plus there’s the one you’ve used for so many years…why change a good thing? Enter haggadot.com, a super easy, drag-and-drop website where you can make a hagaddah with meaning, intention, and lots of activities and readings to engage kids and adults alike. OR, just print out one that someone else has created. You can easily put your own spin on Passover and create (or simply choose) a hagaddah that works for the people at your table (Interfaith? LGBT? BlackLivesMatter? Social Justice? Environmentalism? Women’s seder? Teenagers? Special needs inclusion?) There are so many options–have fun! And did I mention it’s free?

Get the Kids Ready

My favorite new website to help kids explore Passover is called ILeftWithMoses. It’s an interactive site that’s based on the line in the hagaddah where we are commanded to view ourselves as though we, personally, have been freed from slavery in Egypt. We understand that it is our responsibility to help others, as we ourselves were once slaves. The website is filled with videos, articles, ideas, seder-starters, and ways to get ready for the seder. My favorite is the Four Questions cups game (reminiscent of the Cup Song in the movie Pitch Perfect that Anna Kendrick’s character sings)–it’s awesome! Open the site, put your children in front of the computer, and see what they discover!

Four Questions Practice

We know that one of the most stressful–yet important–parts of the seder for the littles is the Four Questions. We’ve been practicing a lot at here at ARS but it’s always helpful to do a little bit at home. One of my favorite kids’ singers is Joanie Leeds, and she’s got a great video of the Four Questions that your children can watch and sing along to.

Our Favorite Videos

And because no Passover is complete without parody videos: here’s the Y-Studs’ version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and Six13’s Uptown Funk, and the Adele/Justin Bieber/10 Commandments parody that’s seemingly breaking the internet.

Chag Pesach Sameach–have a happy Passover!

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