ON THE MAT

While most young children actually enjoy the Seder, there are some moments that may not hold their attention as long as others. Little ones will appreciate the opportunity for diversion, which you can supply thanks to homemade place mats. Use large, white poster board or construction paper to create place mats decorated with Passover games and age-appropriate questions. Some ideas:

· A maze: Children can use their fingers to trace their way from slavery to freedom.
· Make silly doodles and challenge children to find Passover designs (a piece of matzah, any of the plagues).

· Draw two Pharaohs, but make about 10 slight changes from one to another. Ask children if they can find the differences between the two.

· Matzah Man, and other silly stuff: Draw a blank square and say it’s a piece of matzah. See if your child can imagine ten, twenty or thirty different ideas as to what the square could become. For example, she might tell you that with just a head, arms and legs, the square would be Matzah Man. Add a roof and a window and you would have a house for the matzah.

· Make a word search using Passover terms