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1 Rivka Slatkin s FREE Pesach Perfectly Organized BONUS: 20 Great Steps towards a Kid Friendly Seder

2 Rivka Slatkin, Jewish Life Organizer, helps new Jewish families get organized to make Shabbos and Yom Tov simple and beautiful, decreasing the stress and overwhelm that often is prevalent. She made it her mission to teach others what she worked so hard to learn on her own, years ago, not having anyone teaching her successful homemaking methods. Rivka does not want others to feel alone or inadequate the way she did, when going about her learning curve. She offers tutorials, reports, teleclasses, articles, workshops, and personal consulting that help people just like you learn step-by-step methods that GETS RESULTS for their homes. You can learn more about these terrific resources at For FREE tips and to be notified of upcoming teleclasses and workshops with The Jewish Life Organizer, sign up for Rivka s monthly e-zine Jewish Holiday Reminder Service at She's appeared as a guest speaker for various Jewish organizations, has been interviewed by The Baltimore Jewish Times and has been featured in dozens of online and print publications. Rivka s articles on Jewish life organizing, specific holiday planning tips, and managing your time are published regularly in Jewish magazines and newspapers and in hundreds of organizing sites on the Web.

3 Why focus on the kids? We are taught that the main purpose of the Haggadah is Vehigadeta Levincha, teaching your children about the Exodus. The Gemarah instructs us to purposefully plan activities for the kids so they do not fall asleep and to peak their interest. Easy to say, but how do you keep the kids inspired? It s hard to keep the kids awake though! With the Seder night as long as it is, and with this instruction in mind, it is important to have on hand lots of creative ideas to keep the kids awake. But I m so busy switching my dishes and cleaning the house, you may be thinking. No, no no, you don t need to plan anything complicated or in advance for a kid-friendly seder! Do have a few ideas in mind though because you know the saying, If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Enjoy these crazy ideas for charming all of your sons (and daughters)- even the ones who are unable to ask. Spice up Various Sections of the Haggadah Kadesh Let your kids lead the introductory song of the Seder s Order, you know the one that goes, Kadesh, Urchatz, Karpas, Yachatz. Then, after everyone sings the traditional song, have the kids make up a rap song with the order. Have a competition as to who has the best rap! Urchatz 2-3 year olds love to pour water! Have them walk around with a bowl and washing cup and a towel and appoint them as the water-boy or girl, pouring the full cup over each pair of hands. Karpas For young kids, designate the karpas domain as theirs. Let them be in charge of the karpas. They can give each guest a potato or celery stick and dip it for each guest. Then, let them keep the stash and dip for themselves as a snack throughout the seder until they ve reached their tummies share. Yachatz Once the middle matzah is broken, the kids can take the afikomen bag and hide it. Throughout the seder they can switch hiding places but let them get started hiding at this point to keep the excitement flowing.

4 Maggid I interviewed a Jewish storyteller coach as well as a dad of four about how to keep kids interested in the Seder, since after all, that is the critical part of the mitzvah of having a seder. Here s what Jewish storyteller and storytelling coach Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff had to share: 1. Focus on one specific part of the Exodus story. Because there is no way to delve into every aspect of the Exodus story, picking one piece to tell is a great way to more deeply learn one aspect of the story. When you TELL the story, rather than reading it, you are following the commandment to tell the story of the Exodus. (Hagaddah means "the telling".) 2. Share the story through the perspective of one character (Jocheved, Miriam, the Pharoah, the princess, a Hebrew slave, etc.). Tell his or her story using the Torah text and also include rabbinic Midrashim and your own creative midrashim. One year, I told Miriam's story in the first person, as if I were Miriam. I told pieces of her story throughout the Seder. Just after the candle lighting, I began her story as if I were Miriam as a young girl, worrying about the consequences of her mother giving birth to a boy. As the Seder progressed, I shared Miriam's sadness as she watched her little brother floating down the Nile River in his little ark of reeds. I added more pieces to Miriam's story and just before the meal, I joyfully told about leading the women in celebration with dancing and playing timbrels. I included rabbinic Midrashim as well as my own creative midrashim. Sharing aspects of Miriam's story throughout the evening made the Exodus more personal to the participants. 3. Create a comfortable storytelling setting. Another year, when it came to the Maggid section, I invited people to leave the table and come into our living room. We sat on couches and I told the whole Passover story (this time a short version) and then asked the participants to comment. I had questions for the participants to respond to as well, which led to a group discussion about the Exodus. Getting away from the table into a real storytelling setting (comfortably seated in a casual semi-circle) provided an entertaining and relaxing respite from the long ritual of the Seder. 4. Have teens take the younger children into another room early in the Seder. As the adults are participating in the first steps of the Seder, the teens can help the children prepare a skit or song about the Exodus story to be performed during the Maggid section. The children can wear costume (scarves, towels and robes are easy and work well for "desert" scenes). If there is not an interested teen, a fun aunt or uncle might love this job of helping the children (and prefer it over sitting through the Seder). Jennifer is wonderful, I ve seen her in action, she makes stories come alive. To contact her, visit

5 I also interviewed a very creative father of four in Baltimore, Dov Pear, who had a bunch of fun activities to share. He has a great time with these tips and uses them to keep all of his kids awake. Mind you, his sedarim go till about 3:30 or 4 AM! Avadim Hayinu- We were slaves in Egypt Slave Walk You can have a lot of fun with this one. Pack a sack of heavy items for each child and have them walk around with them, hunched over. Can t get out of Egypt! Dov Pear, wears a kittel with a sash and ties up the kids in his sash pretending they are slaves. I m not sure if he ties up all four at once or just one at a time, but you get the picture! It sounds like a lot of fun! More Slave Walking This past year, Dov divided up everyone into 2 lines. Each person got up from the table and had to stack several couch pillow cushions on their heads and walk through the line, one at a time, without dropping them. The winner got a prize! The Main Story of the Exodus TV Show- Egyptian Idol Tell the story of the exodus as a TV host. Another creative idea, told to me by Dov Pear, was that when his 7 year old son was getting tired, he took a huge empty picture frame that he knew was lying around, propped it up on 2 chairs, and pretended to be a TV host telling the story of how the Jews left Egypt and all of the details. He went through the plagues and took turns with other guests at the seder, giving them a round at being a TV Star! Create your own TV spoof of the story of the Exodus. Red Sea Splitting You can have a lot of fun reenacting the splitting of the sea. When you get to the part about the Egyptians drowning, you can take a big blanket and have all of the adult guests at your seder hold the edges, creating a parachute like effect with the kids being tossed around the blanket. Be careful with this one or just use a trampoline for the purposes of Egyptian impersonation. 10 Plagues Plague Kits You can get the standard plague boxes or create your own. Hand out bandaids for the plague of blood or red food coloring, plastic frogs, stuffed animals for wild animals, nerf ball blasts for hail, red dot stickers for boils, bandannas for the plague of darkness, etc. Name that Plague Each person at your seder can act out a plague while everyone watching can NAME THAT PLAGUE! You don t need to stick to acting out plagues only during the reading of the 10 plagues. If the kids get antsy, have some makah madness and shake out their laughs and wiggles by acting like jumping frogs or wild animals.

6 Rachtza- you probably won t need much help with any of these next ones since they involve food!!! Motzi Matzah Maror Korech Shulchan Orech Tzafun Afikomen Scavenger Hunt The kids or parents (depending on who is hiding the afikomen) can prepare clues in advance or provide some clues as to where the afikomen is. Make a scavenger hunt and have the kids work in teams rather than on their own, where afikomen finding can end up in tears. Have lots of little prizes ready for all of the kids at your seder! Barech For the next 3 parts, singing can really be encouraged. Animal noises at Chad Gadya, Hallel. Use funny voices, Alvin and the Chipmunks, cantorial voices, etc. Eliyahu Hanavi If you don t have kids that are too little and too frightened, have someone dress all in white and be ready by the door so when it is opened, your costumed Elijah run in the house. This can be really fun if you have a pet who can run in at the exact moment you open the door! You have to coordinate the Elijahs somehow so no one notices their advanced exit. Hallel Nirtzah Throughout the Seder, I suggest you pass out candies, nuts, or little craisins to toss to the kids everytime they participate in the story. The little snacks keep them awake and give them a constant something to look forward to. You can also perform random tricks, spur of the moment funnies like putting the seder plate on your head or jumping up and down. Magic tricks and juggling are welcome as are story telling! Have fun

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