PASSOVER: New Games For An Old Story

by Judith Broder Sellner
Special To The Jewish Week

The two-fold mitzvah of the Passover seder is the celebrating and the telling ... “Tell it to your children,” the Torah commands. But many young children will be most responsive only after some advance preparation. Not a problem. A wealth of new, child-friendly pre-Pesach toys and games can not only help get the youngsters ready, but also accompany them to the seder. Some can also serve as afikomen rewards.
Pigment and Hue, as the company name suggests, offers a number of coloring items to get youngsters ready. Even infants start to focus on colors; toddlers who can hold onto crayons usually love “shmearing” before they learn to color within the lines. For the little artists-in-training, a set of 10 placemats with holiday themes accompanied by

a box of non-toxic crayons makes a good starting point. Each of the five designs has a scene or song introducing first-timers to what will happen at the seder. Parents can encourage their kids’ artistic instincts by laminating the mats and using them at the table. Kids who use Pigment and Hue’s Passover coloring book get a sense of creating their own Haggadah. This writer sent these preparatory playthings to her under-5 guests two weeks before the seder. For older children, the bright, new book “Freedom, The Timeless Lesson of Passover,” written in rhyme and illustrated by Howard M. Kurtz, delivers an important message and stimulates discussion.
Puzzles also combine fun with learning. Before or during the seder, P&H’s 24-piece giant floor puzzle, 18-by-24 inches, pictures a seder plate, four wine cups, and four matzot. Two children at the seder table in Melissa&Doug’s 30-piece wooden jigsaw puzzle set out all the seder objects. Recommended for ages 4 and up, it includes the quotation from Exodus that explains why and how we observe this festival. For the under-4 set, Rite Lite’s easier to handle 13-piece peg puzzle shows all the seder table elements. Hebrew words give this puzzle a longer life as a learning tool.
Among Rite Lite’s many products with instructional features for Jewish holidays is the entertaining, new Passover card game, The Game of Four, which emphasizes the centrality of the number four during the seder. Similar to Go Fish, each of its 10 sets of four cards deals with a different category of items related to the seder. The object of the game is to get the most sets of four cards by asking other players if they have any cards of that match one of yours. The rules are fairly easy to follow. Young guests who have the cards before the seder will arrive with a good understanding of the game. The hand-drawn, pastel illustrations by Ann Koffsky are particularly charming.
When preparing the home for seder, there are many small items a family can use to captivate the youngsters. It is especially easy to capitalize on the matzah ball and frog themes. Replicas of both are now available as salt and pepper sets. Larger pieces can decorate the table or other parts of the home — hang one or more as a welcome symbol on the front door. And small versions of both can hold place cards: for example, the Walking Matzah Ball, a small rubbery sphere; a plastic Flip Frog at rest, or a standing Pop-Up Frog. Even better, give the children some folded index cards, crayons or markers, and Passover stickers (many versions are in the shops), and let them make the place cards.
Battery-operated, soft plastic, flashing ring frogs will serve as napkin rings cum place cards — later as souvenirs — at this writer’s table, which will be decorated with other frogs, large and small, plush and pottery, decorative and functional. And the guests will have a choice of matzah-fabric or frog-design kippot. Everyone will recline on matzah fabric pillows by Davida Aprons, and the kids will leave with bracelets of Passover charms designed by Katharine Kornblau.
May your seder be a source of beauty, joy, and learning for all. Chag Sameach!

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