PaSSovEr

A Placue
On Your Table

Actually, 10 of
them. Here are
some great
family projects
to keep your
seder lively.

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

ix years ago when your first
child was little, you and she
sat together and had a won-
derful time preparing for Pesach by
making an afikomen cover [for the

hidden piece of matzoh at the
seder].
Four years ago when your first
child was still little and your second
child was on the way, you and
your daughter sat together and had
a nice time preparing for Pesach by
making an afikomen cover.
Two years ago when your first
child was older, but your second
child was still little, and a third was
on the way, you and your two chil-
dren sat together and prepared for
Pesach by making afikomen cov-

ers.
Now you have three children,
and if have to make one more
afikomen cover you're going to run
screaming from the house. Good
grief, can't someone come up with
fun holiday ideas that don't involve
the afikomen. Well, here are a
few.

Seder Surprise
This family project will be great at
the seder table. The plan: prepare
bags filled with the 10 Plagues
(actually, only 'reasonable facsimiles
thereof; don't worry — you won't
need any live locusts), to open as
you read about each one in the
Haggadah.
The fun is discovering what each
family member will place inside the
bag. Begin by securing 10 paper
bags; then write the name of each
plague on the outside. As you pre-
pare for the holiday, ask family
members to put inside every bag
something that recalls the plague.
Here are a few ideas to get you
started:
Blood: A red rag, or a small bot-
tle filled with any kosher-for-Pesach
red liquid.
Frogs: Those plastic ones at dis-
count stores are great. Or look for
tiny stuffed animals or pictures of
the Budweiser frogs or Jeremy Fisher
from the Beatrix Potter tales.
Vermin: Again, plastic bugs are
really quite divine. Or build your
own with toothpicks and construc-
tion paper.
Wild Beasts: Cut out felt shapes
and place on a felt background.
You'll find a great selection of inex-
pensive felt pieces in a variety of
colors at your favorite craft shop.
Cut out in different shapes and
sizes and let children produce their
idea of a wild beast.
Pestilence: Since the Haggadah is
a little sketchy on exactly what this
was, use your imagination; but
make lots of whatever you ultimately
decide to use (perhaps tiny black,
plastic bugs).

Boils: Look for those gooey plastic
eyeballs or any slimy substance that
makes your skin crawl.
Hail: Ping-pong balls or small,
white marbles work well. (Be cau-
tious with marbles, however, if you
have tiny children.)
Locusts: Consider making these
out of shrinking plastic, available at
craft shops (the plastic shrinks when
placed in the oven), or out of green
pipe cleaners.
Darkness: A blindfold for each

family member.
Slaying of the first-born: A tiny
plastic baby, or otherwise tasteful
drawing.
No one should divulge his contri-
bution, so that when the bags are
opened, each will be filled with
many surprises!

Keeping You In Your Place
Jews are encouraged to ask as
many questions as they like during
the seder. Of course, younger chil-
dren may yearn to linger at the
table, but not have the patience for
every discussion. You can help them
out by making Pesach place mats
filled with holiday games.
All you need are:
• strong, white paper
• various colors of felt-tip markers

• access to a business that does
laminating (this includes most photo-
copy shops, where each laminated
piece costs about S 1)
The games you select will, of
course, depend on the age of the
child, but here are a few ideas:
1. Draw (or write the names of)
various foods, from apples to
almonds to rice, and ask the child
to say which can be eaten on
Pesach and which cannot.
2. Write the word "Matzah,"then
have the child create 10 silly
uses for matzoh (glue four
together and make a handbag,
place in front and behind paper
to make a book, top with feath-
ers for a hat).
3. Make a drawing with a
bunch of hidden afikomenim the
child must find (is there anyone
who doesn't like finding the
afikomen?).
4. Have a maze with baby
Moses in a basket. Ask the
child to trace his finger from the
start of the river to safety with
Pharaoh's daughter.
5. Write various Pesach terms
and ask the child to find
rhyming words. It's best to sepa-
rate these by syllable, as even
the most articulate child may have
difficulty finding something to rhyme
with, say, charoset. Here's how
your words might look: PE - SACH
(so the child could rhyme a word
with either "Pe" or "sach"); AF - I -
KO - MEN
6. Write the names of the rabbis
mentioned in the Haggadah, and
have the child tell you something
about each one at the end of the

seder.
7. Make your own illustration for
"Chad Gadya," then have the child
point to each figure as you sing the

song.
8. Write the letter of the first word
in each section, for example chat
or "K," for Karpas, mem for Magid
(or "R" for "Retelling the story of the
Exodus"); then see if the child can

3/26
1999

Detroit Jewish News

75

