Engaging Children with Disabilities at a Virtual Passover Seder

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Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday and celebrations take place in the home, around the table, typically with many members of extended families joining together. A Passover seder is meant to be a lively, interactive experience that engages participants of every age and ability level. This year, families are seeking to replace their large gatherings with virtual seders. While some Jews have been incorporating virtual aspects for many years, more observant Jews have been granted this opportunity in light of the current Coronavirus crisis.

However, the move to virtual seders makes it more important than ever to be intentional in engaging children, especially those with disabilities. Here are some ideas to fully engage everyone at your virtual Passover seder:

Preparing for the seder:

Create an afikomen bag together. (The afikomen is the piece of middle matzah hidden during the seder for children to find). Here are two simple versions of this craft:

What you need:

• Tea towel or large napkin
• Ribbon
• Button
• Needle & thread
• Fabric pens

Instructions:

• Fold the tea towel in half, right sides together, and sew along the side and bottom to make a pouch
• Turn the pouch so the right sides are on the outside
• Cut a length a length of ribbon, fold into a loop, and sew to the middle of the open edges at the top of the bag.
• Sew a button into the middle of the other side of the bag. The ribbon can be looped over the button to close the bag.
• Decorate with fabric pens.

Supplies:

• Zippered plastic bag
• Decorative duct tape or washi tape
• Stickers (optional)
• Markers

Directions:

• Use strips of decorative tape to cover the outside of the bag
• Write “afikomen” in marker
• Decorate with stickers

Make stick figure puppets of the Passover story characters. Click here for this simple craft with a free printable template.

Make finger puppets of the Ten Plagues. Click here for free printable templates.

During the seder itself:

Print seder placemats with a variety of activities for everyone at your seder.

Play “Seder Bingo”

However your family chooses to celebrate the holiday this year, I hope you will give yourself the chance to experiment, try something new, and lean in to the opportunity to possibly find a new seder tradition you love and will continue to incorporate for years to come!

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