Shavuot Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards

Since we are heading down the last two weeks of Counting the Omer, which leads us to the holiday of Shavuot, I decided to review the holiday with my kiddos by playing with our Shavuot Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards.

This year Shavuot starts the evening of May 16th. It celebrates the receiving of the 10 commandments and the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Many spend the first night reading Torah late into the night or even all night! Other fun traditions are eating dairy (because Israel is a land flowing with milk and honey), decorating the synagogue and your house with greenery, and reading the Book of Ruth. 

We usually celebrate this holiday with an ice cream social at our synagogue, making mini cheesecakes at home, and doing crafts about the 10 commandments and Mt. Sinai. I decided to kick off our prep for the holiday with a little review with these 3 part cards (now available in my TpT store, boom!). The kids laid the cards out, reading each one and remembering what the holiday celebrates and common customs. Then they matched the pictures and summaries as we talked about some of our plans for this year. There won’t be an ice cream social at the synagogue but of course ice cream parties at home are lots of fun. We might even try making our own (have you ever made ice cream in a bag before?)! 

What You’ll Need

• Shavuot Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards printable (available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store)
• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Laminator (optional)

Putting It Together

1. Download and print the Shavuot Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards printable.
2. Cut out each card.
3. Laminate if you want.
4. Present each control card one at a time (left to right), reading the summary and allowing the kids to look at the picture.
5. You can stop at Step #4 and repeat as many times as you want until you feel your child remembers the picture and summary. Then you can invite them to match the picture card with the control card. Following that, have them match the summary card.
6. If you want, you can play a matching memory game. Turn the control card and picture cards over and choose two cards at a time, trying to match the picture with the corresponding control card. You could also print two copies of the printable to search for exact matches.

Finished & Loving It!

Using these Shavuot Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards was a great way to reintroduce (or teach for the first time!) the holiday. We celebrate Shavuot each year so this is a holiday my kids are familiar with. But they still enjoyed reviewing the customs and traditions and matching the pictures.

For children new to this holiday, the cards act as a great overview of the holiday. After going through all the cards like we did today, you might want to focus on one or two cards at time and enjoy some deeper activities connected to each custom or tradition. For instance, you might like to review the 10 commandments card then also do this sweet Mount Sinai, The Ten Commandments, and Us Craft that we did last year (and plan to do again this year because I love watching my kids create self portraits!).

I plan to use these cards throughout the next two weeks as we prepare for Shavuot with a variety of activities. They are concise but great cues to help the kids remember these important bits of the holiday. And, as always, the kids have fun using them and I always want them to have a meaningful, and also fun, Jewish experience!

What are your special Shavuot traditions and how do you plan to celebrate this year?

You might like our others Shavuot posts:

Mount Sinai, The Ten Commandments, and Us Craft

Want to learn more about Shavuot? Check out the resources below!

PJ Library Shavuot

ReformJudaism.org Shavuot

BimBam Shavuot

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