DIY Simple Haggadah

Participating in a Passover seder is a very special part of Passover and I am so thrilled that my kids will be able to use their new DIY Simple Haggadah during our seders this year! Not only is the DIY Simple Haggadah a fabulous learning and review experience in and of itself, it’s also a beautiful keepsake that is so practical and can be used as a guide, yes, as a real haggadah!, during the seder.

The supplies and instructions that I’ve provided follow what creations we used on each page to symbolize that part of the seder. You can of course pick and choose what works for you, and come up with your own ideas that work for your family. We love process art in this family and trying new art methods. I am sure there are many many options if you don’t have the supplies that we used. I’d love to see your ideas and creativity!

What You’ll Need

My DIY Simple Haggadah free printable
glue
foil
pitcher cut out (2/child)
blue paint
paintbrushes
green crinkle paper
large lego piece
brown crayon
3 paper squares
scissors
triangle cut outs
sad face stickers
blue tissue paper
happy face stickers
brown paint
bubble wrap
matzah cut out
tea
water
brown paper squares
crayons
fabric square
red tissue paper squares
buttons
shape cut outs
stapler or binding machine

Putting It Together

Print out the DIY Simple Haggadah free printable. We printed on cardstock.
Set out the page you want to decorate and the required materials (see below for what we used and how we used them for each page).
Invite your child to decorate the pages in the following ways, or in whichever ways work best for you!
Kadeish (Kiddush): glue foil scraps to kiddush cup outline
Urchatz (Hand-washing): glue the pitcher cut out and make handprints on the page
Karpas (green vegetable): glue green crinkle paper and decorate the bowl outline.
Matzah Yachatz (breaking of the middle matzah): put 3 paper squares on the large lego piece. Use the brown crayon to make a rubbing. Cut one of the rubbings in half. Glue the “matzah” prints onto the page. We used our fancy craft scissors to do the cutting, such fun!
Maggid (telling the story of Passover): glue the triangle cut outs (represents pyramids and Israelite slaves), stick on the sad face stickers (represents sadness of slavery, and the sad happenings of the 10 plagues), glue the blue tissue paper (represents crossing the Red Sea), and the happy face stickers (represents joy at being free!)
Rachtza (hand-washing): glue the pitcher cut out and make handprints on the page
Motzi Matzah (blessing the meal and matzah): Use the brown paint and bubble wrap to make a print on the matzah cut out; glue to the page when dry. Sadly, I couldn’t find my bubble wrap stash (is it possible I am all out? Eek!) so we just used the lego sheet process again. You could also try painting the lego sheet with brown paint then pressing it onto the paper like a stamp.
Maror (eating the bitter vegetable): Paint the bottom of the horseradish using tea water
Korech (matzah and bitter herb sandwich): Glue brown paper squares onto the matzah outline on the page
Schulan Orech (eating the meal): Invite children to draw what they want to eat on the plate outline on the page.
Tzafoon (Afikomen): glue the fabric square to the page. We labeled ours Afikomen so there was no confusion 😉
Barech (blessing after eating): glue red tissue paper squares to the heart outline on the page
Hallel (songs of praise): glue buttons to the circles of the music notes
Nirtzah (ending the seder): glue the shape cut outs to create the city of Jerusalem
When all pages are finished and dried, either bind them with a binding machine or staple them together to create a very special DIY Haggadah.

Finished & Loving It!

Am I getting a bit teary as I look through my children’s finished DIY Simple Haggadah? Why yes I am! I absolutely loved watching them create their DIY Simple Haggadah. Every page had a different art method. They got to experience paint, gluing, cutting, rubbing, and coloring. So many different art processes and sensory experiences!

Each page was also a review of each part of the seder. The DIY Simple Haggadah names each step of the seder and a (very) short description. Before we started creating, I read the name and description. They were familiar with many but some were really good reminders that they had forgotten.

When I showed them the bound finished copies they were all so proud and excited. These haggadot really look so amazing! They are very DIY and kid-made, which is exactly how I like it, but they are special and their own. These kids know they created something really neat and they feel so good about getting to use them during the seders.

This is not a quick activity, but if you have the time before (or even during!) Passover this year, just do a page or two a day, or whatever they can handle. Each page doesn’t take long on its own and the learning experience and final product are so worth it.