One of our annual Passover Seder traditions is to give the kids Plague Bags for them to engage with as we call out each plague and this year’s bag, our Passover Playmat Plague Bags, has a special twist! I created a playmat and miniature plagues for the kids to act out each plague as we call them out. I’m thinking of it as directed small world play.
I switched it up slightly for the seder we did with friends and made DIY Passover plague stickers. As we called out each plague during this seder, the kids added the corresponding stickers to the Passover playmat. So much identification, learning and fun happening! Why include fun and play while learning about the really horrifying plagues? By acting out the plagues in play, children can learn that the plagues were really harmful and awful, but not be so frightened of this knowledge that it harms them.
Yes we used these Passover Playmat Plague Bags during our actual seders, but of course this activity would work great at a seder or anytime during your Passover learning!
What You’ll Need
- Passover plague playmat free printable
- Miniature plague figurines. I made most of mine out of polymer clay and bought the wild beasts and livestock from Dollar Tree. OR you can buy or make your own Passover plague stickers.
- Plastic storage box (optional)
- Paper bags and tags
Putting It Together
- Print out the Passover plague playmat free printable. Laminate for durability, if desired.
- Gather your miniature plague figurines. Either make them out of polymer clay or purchase them from Dollar Tree, a craft store or Amazon. If using plague stickers, buy stickers or make your own. I made my own by inserting an image of each plague into an address label template then printing them out on the address labels. These make great DIY stickers!
- Put a few of each plague into a plastic storage box or directly into your plague bag.
- Place your Passover playmat and the box (or loose) plague figurines or stickers in a paper bag. Add the explanation tag if desired.
- During the plague section of your seder give a Passover Playmat Plague Bag to each child.
- Invite them to open the bag, set out their playmat on the table, then open the storage box of mini plagues or stickers.
- When each plague is called out, encourage them to find the correct miniature plague or plague sticker and then act out the plague with the figurine or sticker on the playmat. For example, when we call out dam, blood, they can find the little clay blood drops and place them or make them hop in the river on the playmat. This lets there be conversation about what actually happened with the plague (the water turned to blood) so that the kids learn while playing. Yay!
- After your seder is finished, keep the Passover Playmat Plague Bags accessible for further play and exploration. You could always set it up as a sensory tray as well!
Finished & Loving It!
Our kids always look forward to our Passover plague bags each seder. I try to do something different each year so it feels new, interesting and engaging. Check out the other Passover plague bags we’ve done in past years:
I was excited about this year’s Passover Playmat Plague Bags because I know how much my kids love small world play. I thought this would give them a hands-on opportunity to explore the plagues in a small world setting. And review how the plagues actually happened. And that’s exactly what happened, woo hoo!
We paused after calling out each plague to give the kids time to find and identify the plague, then act it out on the playmat. This let us chat about what actually happened. The kids loved making the locusts smash all the crops. This really helped reinforce their learning. And was definitely enjoyable too!
Since we already did a seder with the mini plague figurines, I wanted to change it up for the seder we did with friends but not have to reinvent the wheel. Yay for easy peasy DIY stickers! The stickers worked really well and both our friends, and my own kids, really engaged with identifying the correct plague and thinking about how it worked in the Passover story. By acting it out they got to learn through play which is always the best way!
Feel free to save this idea for next year’s seder or enjoy some small world play and learning the next few days of this year’s Passover!
Chag Pesach Sameach!
We have a whole page dedicated to Passover, our Passover Hub. Check it out! It includes some of the Passover activities we plan to do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.
And don’t forget our Passover Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, a wonderful way to introduce Passover! And, now we also have all 13 Jewish holidays bundled together in A Year of Jewish Holidays 3 Part Cards.
If you want to have a ton of Passover early learner activities ready at your fingertips, try our Passover Activities Packet for Early Learners! I am so excited about all the Passover-themed literacy, fine motor skills, math, and play fun!
The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:
Chag Sameach!
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This is so creative! Thank you for the fantastic ideas. My kids are going to love acting this out.
Thank you so much! I hope you all had a lot of fun!