DIY Abacus Counting the Omer

This DIY Abacus Counting the Omer is easy to make from materials you have in your house, and is a great tactile way to count the Omer! Counting of the Omer is a special ritual that counts each of the 49 days between the second night of Passover and the holiday of Shavuot. Last night, on the second night of Passover, I finished making our DIY Abacus Counting the Omer and invited the children to say the blessing with me and move over the first paper loop, marking the first day of Counting the Omer!

What You’ll Need

Cardboard. We used an empty matzah box!
Paint and paintbrush (optional)
Drill
Yarn
7 different colors of construction paper
Paper cutter and/or scissors
Stapler
Sharpie
Tape

Putting It Together

Make sure the piece of cardboard you have is large enough for seven rows of paper loops. I opened up an empty matzah box (love reusing + the connection to Passover!) and cut the side to make two strips, which I then taped together to make one large cardboard piece.
Paint your cardboard, if you wish, and let dry.
Drill seven holes on the left and then the right. Make sure they are in a straight(ish) line.
Cut strips of paper, at least seven from seven different colors. I used a cutting board and cut them into 1-inch strips.
Staple the paper strips them into loops.
With a sharpie or other thick pen, write the numbers 1-49 on the paper loops, making sure you use a different color for each week/every seven numbers. For example, numbers 1-7 are one color, numbers 14-21 are another color and so on.
Thread yarn through the left hole and tape to secure on the back.
Thread the seven corresponding number loops onto the yarn.
Then thread the yarn through the right hole and tape it secure on the back.
Glue or write each week label.
Each evening after sundown invite your children to say the blessing and move over each corresponding paper loop!

Finished & Loving It!

This DIY Abacus Counting the Omer was easy to make but did take a little bit of time. The idea came to me only the day before Passover started. If I had had more time I would have invited the children to help create the project, in addition to being able to move it (count!) each night. Children can easily paint, cut the strips, staple and write the numbers. It would be a great math exercise to have them line up the numbers in groups of seven, and numerically from 1-49. Maybe next year 😉

Instead, this was a surprise for the children and they were very excited to see it. I also used the amazing free resource, Counting Up, from That Jewish Moment, to guide us in saying the blessing and then a reflection question for the day. Then the children moved the first loop over. These are simple, doable and oh-so-meaningful activities that you and your family can do to participate in Counting the Omer and also make it feel very special.