The Seder nights is one of the most memorable of the Jewish calendar. Many of us have fond memories of our family Seders. Others just remember the grown ups reading the Haggadah round the table, as our tummies rumbled and we wondered if dinner was ever coming.
But the Seder shouldn't be dull. Long before the days of multimedia, in the times of the Mishna, the Seder was a audio-visual re-enactment of the going out of Egypt for the children. In some communities the father would dress up in white robes, holding a stick with an attached cloth and walk around the table chanting the passage, “We were slave to Pharaoh in Egypt…”
The whole aim was – and continues to be – to stimulate the kids to ask questions and get involved in the Seder. The "props" – be it the Seder plate, or the cushions for leaning – are all there in order to arouse curiosity in our kids and get them asking questions.
Here are a number of ideas to make the Seder fun and meaningful for everyone. All the games are suitable for all ages and are a lot of fun.
Get your kids to prepare activities ahead of time to increase their anticipation and involvement. (See below for specific ideas.)
If you are inviting friends, let them know ahead of time that they have to prepare a fun activity or explanation on a specific section of the Haggadah. This way everyone is involved and is waiting for their turn to play the game, or act something out.
Very important: Remember to have a bag of small prizes or treats as incentives for good questions and involvement.
You will need a basket full of questions and answers about Passover on individual index cards or paper.Get your kids ahead of time to prepare as many questions and answers as they can from the Haggadah and write the questions and answers down. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
- Why do we eat Matzah on Passover? To remind us of the dough that didn’t have time to rise as our forefathers were rushed out of Egypt.
- Name the Four Sons? The wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one who doesn’t know how to ask.
- How many cups of wine do we drink at the Seder? Four.
- What things connected with Seder night are associated with the number four? Four sons, four cups of wine, four questions.
- Why four cups of wine? To celebrate our freedom.
- What is the second plague? Frogs.
- Why do we dip in the Charoset? The Charoset represents the cement that the Jews used to cement the bricks together in their slavery. Today we dip as a sign of freedom.
- What does the shank bone remind us of? The Passover lamb which our forefathers sacrificed to God when they came out of Egypt.
- Can you say all ten plagues in order? Blood, frogs, vermin, wild beasts, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, plague of the firstborn.
- Can you say the ten plagues backwards? Plague of the firsborn, darkness, locusts, hail, boils, pestilence, wild beasts, vermin, frogs, blood.
- Who am I? I am the last thing you eat before you bensch, say the blessing after the meal. There are often lots of fights over who hides me and who finds me. Who am I? The Afikoman.
- Who am I? I am one of the key figures in the story of the going out of Egypt. I lost my whole army and half my country in my stubbornness. Who am I? Pharoah.
- Who am I? I am one of the plagues. I made the Egyptians itch like crazy all over. Who am I? Lice.
- Who am I? My name appears only once in the Haggadah, but I went several times to Pharoah with my brother to try and persuade him to let the Jewish people go. Who am I? Moses.
- Who do we fill a cup for on the Seder table and hope he comes and joins our Seder? Elijah.
After the Mah Nishtana, you ask one of the kids to blindfold one of the guests or another family member. Then the blindfolded one has to pick a card out of a box or hat.
Someone is chosen to read the question. If the blindfolded one answers correctly he or she gets a point/sweet/nut/small prize.
The game can be played at different intervals during the evening.
This humorous game reveals how creative and clever participants are in connecting random items found around the house to the Passover story. The game can be played at different intervals throughout the Seder, in between reading the text. It requires very little preparation.
Get your kids to collect a bag full of small items from around a house – almost anything will do. For example: duplo man, plastic animals, a plastic crown, a toy car, an envelope, a cup, a jar of red colored water, pyjama trousers, a kiddush cup, lice shampoo, any stuffed animals, etc.
Pass the bag filled with the items around the table and get people to pick out an object without looking. Now each person has to connect the item in his hand to the story.
Here’s an example of what someone might say who selected duplo man from the bag: “You are probably very curious who I am? Well, many years ago, our people were enslaved in Egypt by a very powerful King called Pharaoh. One day God appeared to me at the burning bush and told me to remove my shoes. That’s why I don’t have any shoes on. God then told me that I was going to lead the Jews out of Egypt."
This game gets young and old involved and is a lot of fun.
You could use a simple plastic toy telephone that doesn’t make noise, or any object that you can pretend is a phone, and lots of blocks on the floor next to the Seder table.
At any time during the Seder, you make a pretend ringing noise. There is a hushed silence and you pick up the phone. It is Pharaoh on the other end.
According to your improvised one-sided conversation, it becomes clear that all children under 8 have to get down from the table and start building a pyramid.
You can get one or two of the older children to be the task masters and shout out orders to work faster, etc. Children love doing this.
If you have several children at the Seder, you can do a competition who can build the tallest tower/pyramid.
Ahead of time get the older kids to prepare a news report about the Ten Plagues and the Crossing of the Red Sea.
As part of the "broadcast" they can interview some of the guests as Pharaoh, Moses, Aaron, etc.
These characters can be totally improvised or described on an index card that you hand to the guests. For example: "You are Pharaoh. You have just been woken up in the middle of the night by your adviser who has told you that there is no water to drink in the whole of Egypt, only blood. The radio reporter wants to hear your statement about what you’re going to do."
In advance of Seder night write out on separate pieces of paper the names of characters or objects associated with Seder night. For example: Pharoah, Elijah the Prophet, The Wise Son, Maror, Charoset, Matzah, Chametz, Frog, Wild Beast, etc.
During the Seder choose a volunteer. Tie a scarf around his forehead and stick a name on the scarf so that everyone can see it but him. Now he has to ask questions about himself, to which everyone answers Yes/No until he figures out who he is.
If he guesses in five or less questions, he gets a prize.
This game is for a more advanced or slightly older age group. It works like charades.
Prepare different verses from the Haggadah ahead of time, and write them on paper.
Each participant randomly chose a card. He then has to mime the sentence and the rest of the guests and family have to guess the passage.
The participant is not allowed to talk, but he may indicate how many words are in the passage with his fingers. He can show that a word rhymes with another word by touching his ear.
This game can be adapted for younger kids to act out the Ten Plagues or simpler words connected to the Passover story.
To get children excited in advance of the Seder, have them prepare plastecine or clay models of the four sons.
These can be placed on the Seder table and held up when that section of the Haggadah is read. They can also be used to stimulate a discussion as to what the Haggadah means by wicked, simple etc. (To get the conversation going, you might ask: Is it a bad thing to be simple? Why doesn’t the fourth son know what to ask?)
(33) Anonymous, March 26, 2020 5:21 AM
Inappropriate link - possibly a virus on one of your pages
https://www.aish.com/h/pes/f/g/48967161.html?s=mpw
I clicked on a link and it led to some strange page with writing in Chinese, I think, with people who were inappropriately dressed (or not so dressed). I think it was on the page with the link I copied in this section, but I am not sure.
(32) Joey, August 7, 2018 2:04 PM
What do you think is the meaning of the narrator's dream the night after the Seder?
(31) Heather Datia Wong, April 4, 2016 2:57 AM
The Best Passover Seder Activity Book Ever
Thanks for the great ideas! I'm always looking for ways to keep the kids engaged, which led me to create The Best Passover Seder Activity Book Ever https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/KnaidelPublishing
It's aimed at ages 5-10, it's filled with puzzles that follow the order of the Seder, and it's easy to download and print as a booklet on your home printer. I hope some of you take a look and see if it will be the right thing to add more peace to your Seder.
Heather Datia Wong (Knaidel Publishing)
(30) Israel, April 1, 2015 7:24 PM
upgrading the Afikoman Search
Hi Guys, Hag Sameah! hope you will have fun in the SEDER. i developed a cool treasure hunt app which can upgrade the afikoman search this year. see more details in www.hometreasurehunt.com . i will love to hear your feedback and will be very happy if you can help me spread the word. Thanks and Have Fun! Israel
(29) Carol, March 25, 2013 8:57 PM
Younger Kids
All of our children present this year are under 4 years old (except the grown ones who had them). We need some activities appropriate for the 2 - 5 age group other than the Afikomen. hank you.T
Channah Appel, April 8, 2014 10:09 PM
act out the story of moses and Pharoh and the plagues
use plastic frogs, oping pong \balls, mirrors wuith red spots for boils and have a couple of puppets . one is Moses with a team of adult and child and the other is pharoh. same set up. have the kids tell the story
menachem, March 19, 2015 8:46 PM
we have a whole bunch of ideas for young kids
we have a whole bunch of ideas for young kids at www.joidenver.com/passover
(28) Aliza, March 23, 2013 11:17 AM
No children at the Seder table
The generation has changed and everyone has grown up. We have incorporated articles on recent political activities and its' relevance today Any ideas on how to reinvigorate and change the focus from kids games and spice up the Seder when all the kids are in their 30's with their parents?
C.D.Urbach, March 24, 2013 10:04 AM
An idea for ages 3 to 300
My mother used to prepare one or two thought-provoking questions that could literally be answered by children and grandchildren...on different levels, as we went around the table.For example: What does being Jewish mean? Or, after reading a brief excerpt from a book, Who do YOU think is the true hero in this little story? For an all-adult group (we often had guests), the questions can be deeper,like: What would you do if faced with the following dilemma? Why did Hashem choose Moshe to speak to Paroh if he had a speech impediment? What might the lesson be for us?
(27) Mordechai Shuali, March 1, 2013 1:14 PM
Deleted comment
This comment has been deleted.
Anonymous, March 5, 2013 9:02 PM
Agree but . . .
I agree but I think these ideas are great to play with the kids during the days of the chag.
(26) Yair, February 5, 2013 10:22 AM
Associative thinking game for Passover
Thanks for ideas! It's very helpful! I'd like to add very original card game for Passover - it's based on associative thinking and called "Pesach Matza U'Maror" and there is even a free mobile app for it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agadeta.games.PesachMatzaMaror
Susan, February 23, 2013 6:16 PM
Pesac Matza U'Maror
Is there an English version of this game? If so, where can I find it?
(25) dina, April 6, 2012 8:15 AM
A big thanks to Rebecca Rubinstein and to Daniel Sunshine!
Bauch Hashem, our family is having very interesting guests for the saider who include a small group of Christians and family friends with young children. Thank you for these wonderful ideas who will lighten out seider and make it a "NIGHT TO REMEMBER" ! פסח כשר ושמח!
(24) Darren, April 5, 2012 4:05 AM
The Order Game
My suggestion is to print out (before pesach) a seperate picture of each of the sections of the Hagadah. Lay them out and (without looking at a Hagaddah) get them to put them in the correct order. e.g. Kadesh, Urchatez etc.
(23) Stephen Glazer, April 2, 2012 6:36 PM
Thank-you so much for your creative ideas.
(22) helen Schwab (Chaiah), March 27, 2012 5:40 AM
good ideas for the older kids
thanks! I was searching the Aish site for the bag of small toys for the 10 plagues that Aish made available in the past, but this article has good ideas for the older kids at the seder.
(21) Daniel Sunshine, March 11, 2012 11:02 AM
Slavery is like...Freedom is like
A couple of years ago I tried a game called, "Slavery/Freedom is like.." Provide a bag of props e.g. ruler, sponge, toy parachute soldier, fake money (anything can be used if you have a good enough imagination). Over dinner, guests have to think how the prop given to them can be compared to freedom or slavery. E.g. Slavery is like a sponge because you have to absorb everything given to you until you can take no more or....slavery is like a ruler because in our lives today, everything has to be measured and given a number rather than thinking of the quality of something. It can lead to a nice discussion over dinner and helps the party to reflect on how perhaps we are still slaves today even though we have left Mitzrayim.
rai, March 20, 2012 6:33 PM
so creative
great way to get people really thinking!
(20) alice, April 21, 2011 4:55 PM
I enjoyed this story.
Thank You.
(19) Bila Sher, April 19, 2011 6:40 PM
Getting the kids involved
One of my sons was at his wife's parent's house with their kids this year. He told me about tow nice ideas to get the kids interested; the kids "acted out" what each of the plaugues was like for the Egyptians, showing how the plague affected them The kids each explained in their ow words what they learned in their kindergarten or school what happened to the Israelites in Egypt and how they were freed, etc.
(18) Anonymous, April 18, 2011 12:32 AM
amazing! love the ideas:)
(17) Lisa, April 17, 2011 9:48 PM
I am 15 years old and these ideas were so useful. At our seder we are not allowed to enter unless we have something prepared! I read this the night before the seder (having had nothing prepared!) and it was a huge help! So easy and quick to prepare a lot of fun at the seder! Thanks a lot!!
(16) Tamar, April 17, 2011 9:12 PM
Bags O' Plagues
My kids loved it when I hid brown paper lunch bags numbered from one to ten under each person's chair. They had the Hebrew names of the plagues written on each one. When the time came for the plagues to begin, each person reached under their chair pulling out a bag. They, in turn, would open them to find funny plastic sunglasses for darkness; pingpong balls for hail; bandaids and neosporin for boils; dollar store plastic lice, beasts, and cows, red nail polish or fake blood;and frogs Frogs FROGS!!!! You get the idea..... for the slaying of the firstborn I got an empty pack of Camels cigarettes...
(15) anonymous, April 16, 2011 6:37 PM
good job it relly helped my great great great grankids enjoy the sedar
(14) Anonymous, April 10, 2011 4:34 PM
what wonderful ideas
We are going to use them for our grandchildren!!
(13) Sue, March 21, 2010 9:34 PM
Thank you! This has been a great help.
(12) Anonymous, March 17, 2010 9:34 PM
Love these ideas. It is always more memorable for children if they have fun. Thanks so much!
(11) Anonymous, April 6, 2009 2:17 PM
instead of picking out a question and giving an answer(the why game), try picking out the answer and making up the question (gets the kids to ask).
(10) Anonymous, March 19, 2009 10:53 PM
Great ideas but remember that Playdo is Chametz Gamur
and dogs can eat it!
(9) Michal, April 16, 2008 11:25 AM
This is the first time we have hosted a seder and are looking forward to including these fab games. Thanks
(8) Mitchell, April 14, 2008 1:08 PM
Really excellent ideas
I especially like the newscast and bag games. They're good for all ages
(7) "Morah" Terry, March 30, 2008 4:27 PM
Fabulous ideas...I'm always looking for new ways to make our seder more meaningful, and fun!
(6) Rachelli, March 27, 2008 10:05 PM
I loved the ideas! Thanks for the suggestions - I can't wait to implement them at our seder.
(5) RitaWood, November 22, 2006 4:21 PM
This information sounds interesting. Thanks. Rita.
(4) Anonymous, April 2, 2006 12:00 AM
Y
your ideas are going to be very useful at our seder, the games in particular
(3) Mitchell Feinman, March 26, 2006 12:00 AM
You covered all the bases. - enough to make an enjoyable Seder
You helped me to add to our Seders. I m
sure the kids will get a kick out of some new twists. Thank you.
(2) Anonymous, April 4, 2004 12:00 AM
Thank you so much for all the game suggestions! For the past few years games and "shtick" have livened up our family's holiday, and I have been racking my brain for something new to do at the seder this year. These tips will really come in handy!
(1) Anonymous, March 28, 2004 12:00 AM
Games and tips may add spice to the seder
The games and tips are original and may add a little life to our returning guests and family. Thanks for the suggestions.