My new favorite way to instantly invite my children to explore the upcoming holiday is with a holiday-themed shelfie and since Passover is now just three weeks away, today I set up our Passover Shelfie + Starter Activities! Most of the activities I used were ones we already had around the house, including MANY open ended options, as well as some Passover activities from previous years that have been stored in our Passover storage tubs. I updated a few and printed out some of the Montessori-style learning cards from our Passover Activity Bundle, including the Passover Story Sequencing that we did together this afternoon.
I love that we have a whole area dedicated to kid-friendly activities for Passover that are easy and accessible for the kids to explore on their own or as a family. Having all these Passover activities easily available for them for the weeks leading up to the holiday and during the holiday really allow them to learn about the holiday through play. Which is, of course, a huge YAY in my book!
What You’ll Need
- Your favorite Passover books–check out our recommendations here!
- Your favorite Passover arts, crafts, toy sets, and activities that you already own and/or look below to see if any of ours inspire you to create similar ones!
Putting It Together
Here is the list of activities that I set up. Get inspired or grab whatever of your own work! I also plan to add to the Passover Shelfie with new activities as we create them in the coming month!
- Passover Book Box
- Passover Reading Bingo Challenge
- Passover Garland
- Pharaoh “Let My People Go!” Posting Box
- Building Challenge
- Peg People + Blue Scarves
- Tambourines
- Pretend Matzah
- Plush Seder Plate
- Ten Plagues Figurines
- Passover Character Puppets
- Baby Moses in a Basket
- Passover I Spy Ten Plagues Bottle
- DIY Matzah Oven
- Passover Dress Up Clothes
- Jewish Together Passover Coloring Sheets
- Passover Activity Bundle Cards
Finished & Loving It!
Passover Book Box
Yep, each holiday we love gathering all our holiday books into a box for easy storage and access throughout the weeks before and during the holiday. We made this Passover Book Box last year. Of course, any box or basket would do!
Passover Reading Bingo Challenge
Our Passover Reading Bingo Challenge was another favorite activity we started last year. We love how it visually reminds us of different Passover symbols and encourages us to look for them in the Passover books we are reading.
Passover Garland
You guessed it, another carry-over from last year! I love making and storing arts and crafts that can be used year and year. This was a super easy and fun one for the kids to make and was a great way to review the ten plagues of Passover.
Pharaoh “Let My People Go!” Posting Box
We started these posting boxes years and years ago as a simple DIY fine motor activity that also reviews a symbol or theme of Passover. This year it’s a favorite of the almost-two year old but the preschooler still enjoys trying it out as well! I made a new one this year as our previous one had disappeared but it’s such a quick, easy, and meaningful activity to put together (in less than 10 minutes!).
Building Challenge
I love reusing our matzah boxes and there are some really creative ways to do that. This year we painted them brown and are using them as blocks for building pretend pyramids! If you don’t yet have any empty matzah boxes available, grab your favorite set of wooden blocks or these amazing cardboard boxes that we’ve had for years and love using! These kinds of blocks, whether store bought or DIY, are always so great for open ended play!
Check out the amazing idea my friend Lisa, from Make It Jewish, has how to turn an empty matzah box into art!!
Peg People + Blue Scarves
Peg people are another wonderful opportunity for open ended play. And of course there are a lot of people involved in the Passover story and in thinking about how we currently celebrate Passover, usually a gathering of family and friends during a Seder. Having peg people or other people figurines available is a great invitation to act out the story, pretend play a Seder, or just enjoy open ended imaginary play.
I placed our peg people on blue scarves in case the kids felt inspired to play out the parting of the sea or baby Moses on the Nile. But of course, scarves are another awesome open ended toy with so many possibilities for creativity and imagination!
Tambourines
We love Miriam, her devotion to her brother, and the joyful way she led the Jews in their celebration once they crossed the Red Sea and were free. In fact, we love Miriam so much that we gave our daughter Miriam as her Hebrew name! I love symbolizing Miriam with a tambourine because that’s my favorite way to picture her—dancing and singing and filled with joy and knowledge of their freedom!
Of course, musical instruments are another wonderful open ended toy! Are you noticing a pattern?
Pretend Matzah
Bring on the pretend play! If you don’t have a pretend matzah set you can easily make your own out of cardboard, felt or other material. We have a few plush matzah and I quickly made some additional ones out of leftover cardboard. I love having these available for my kids to play with.
Plush Seder Plate
We got this plush seder set when my oldest (now 11) was a baby! And it has survived! That’s a miracle in itself. We may have lost some of the pieces but that’s fine, I like that the kids can, again, use their imaginations and creativity for whatever kind of pretend or open ended play they want to experience. The set is also useful for introducing or reviewing parts of the seder plate and the ritual foods. If you don’t have one yet, you can easily make your own out of cardboard. Later this month we are making some out of wood and I can’t wait!
Ten Plagues Figurines
The ten plagues are a really intense and sad part of the Passover story but I’ve found it useful to have representation of the plagues in crafts and play so that my children can more easily learn to identify them and participate in that part of the seder. We will use these plague figurines throughout the next few weeks and during Passover in all kinds of play. For now, having them available on a tray is another opportunity for open ended play related to this holiday.
Passover Character Puppets
We love our DIY Passover Story Character Puppets! I’ve made these at home and in the classroom and the kids really enjoy coloring them and also using them in play. Ours also join us during our seder to help us tell the story of Passover.
Baby Moses in a Basket
If you have a baby doll and any kind of container it can become Baby Moses in his basket! This is another opportunity for creative, imaginary and pretend play.
Passover I Spy Ten Plagues Bottle
We made our first Passover I Spy Bottle a few years ago. I updated it today. It’s a really great sensory toy for reviewing the ten plagues. Babies (and older kids too!) also love being able to shake and listen and watch the filler move around.
DIY Matzah Oven
This is a new DIY activity I made special for this year and I love it! The kids were so excited to see it and started playing with it immediately. I think there will be lots of pretend matzah made this year!
And of course, it’s a super easy DIY project. Cut out a shape in the front (I liked using the semi-circle shape). Tape the cut out inside so it acts as the oven shelf. Tape the back of a box closed. Write matzah on the front, add brick details if you want and let your kids explore and have fun!!
Passover Dress Up Clothes
It’s our family tradition to dress up for our Seders. We feel like it’s a fun way for the kids to really transport themselves into the Passover story. Years ago I made super simple head scarves simply by cut a Dollar Tree pillow case in half! Use a cloth headband to hold it on your head. I also made simple tunics for each family member to wear. This year I am not waiting until our Seder to bring them out but instead collected them in a basket that will be available to the kids during the next month so they can dress up and enjoy imaginary play whenever they wish!
Jewish Together Passover Coloring Sheets
We absolutely LOVE all the coloring sheets Jewish Together creates! The kids colored some earlier in the day and I made DIY cardboard “frames” to display them on our shelf.
Passover Activity Bundle Cards
We have lots of amazing Passover cards available this year! I set out the cards on different trays and look forward to exploring them with the kids in the upcoming weeks. We started our Passover learning yesterday with our Passover Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, always a wonderful way to learn about or review a holiday before digging deeper into the story, symbols, and traditions. This afternoon I brought out our Passover Story Sequencing so that we can start our focus on each element of the story in the coming week.
We have a whole page dedicated to Passover now, our Passover Hub. Check it out! It will include some of the Passover activities we do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.
Check out our recommended Passover books from our Bookshop.org Shop!
The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this beautiful holiday:
Chag Sameach!!
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