Activities, Lesson Plans, and More
- Y—Young (PreK-3rd)
- M—Middle (4th-6th)
- O—Older (7th-12th)
- T—Teacher Resources
Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is a Jewish holiday celebrating the escape of the enslaved Israelites from bondage in Egypt. The Book of Exodus depicts the story of ten plagues inflicted upon Egypt to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites. Passover specifically refers to the plague of the killing of the firstborn, in which the Angel of Death passed over the homes of the Israelites whose door jambs were marked with the blood of a lamb. Passover is celebrated with a ritual meal called the Passover Seder. During Passover, leavened and fermented grain products are prohibited, representing the fact that the fleeing Israelites did not have time to let their bread rise.
Passover Lesson Plans & Resources
The Jewish Museum Passover Collection
The Jewish Museum in New York is home to a large collection of Passover objects, artwork, and artifacts - some old, some new. You can view the collection online, and use the filter options to find objects that are accompanied by educator resources or audio and video.
Passover Explained
This Time article provides a brief background on the history, stories, and symbols of Passover.
Passover Lessons (Video)
PBS offers a series of video lessons for older students to learn about more in-depth topics surrounding Passover.
Passover Teacher Resources
Teacher Vision's Passover Teacher Resources include workbooks, printables, slideshows, and activities.
Passover Holiday Information
Holidays.net contains tons of fun facts and stories about Passover, as well as crafts, recipes, and other activity ideas.
Pesach Resources and Lesson Plans
The Lookstein Center provides a collection of Passover educational resources. The site provides a brief overview of the holiday, a breakdown of vocabulary and symbolism, articles, podcasts, and lesson plans for all ages.
Prayers and Torah Readings for Pesach
The NSW Board of Jewish Education has a prayer and reading list for each day of Passover.
Pesach Prayers Explained for Kids
The Hallel, other prayers, Torah readings, and a video of the B'tzeit Yisra'el from the NSW Board of Jewish Education.
Judaism 101: Pesach
Large site with extensive information on Passover. This encyclopedic article covers Pesach laws and customs, vocabulary, songs, recipes, and more.
Passover - The Festival of Deliverance
This large collection of articles and resources from HebrewforChristians.com contains everything you need to learn about Passover - from introductory information to theological articles for in-depth study.
Passover for Kids
A teacher's resource collection from Kosher4Passover that contains games, activities, and songs for kids.
Passover Activities
Passover Activities
Family Education offers Passover activity ideas for the whole family. The collection includes craft ideas, recipes, and quizzes.
Passover Games and Activities for Kids
Chabad.org has a large collection of resources for children to celebrate and learn about Passover. The site contains kid-friendly guides to the holiday, stories, videos, recipes, games, coloring pages, crafts, and more.
Passover Coloring Pages (Y)
Chabad.org offers twelve Passover coloring pages from Kinderblast Judaica. You can download and color the pages or order them as a watercolor book complete with paint strip and brush.
Ten Plagues Finger Puppets (Y)
With these ten printable finger puppets, kids can act out the stories of the ten plagues God sent to Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.
Passover Story Character Puppets (Y)
These printable puppets of characters from the Passover story engage kids in telling the story of Passover in their own words.
Passover Hub at PJ Library (Y,M)
PJ Library offers games, songs, videos, how-to guides, and book recommendations for Passover.
Passover Seder & Food Customs
Passover Seder for Young Children (4-5 years)
13 creative ways to engage younger children in the Passover Seder ritual. From Reform Judaism.
The Four Children of Passover: How to Engage Children and Teens in the Passover Seder
An article by the Jewish Family and Children's Services on how you can make your Seder appropriate for children at each stage of their growth.
Making a Seder for the Post-Millennial Generation
An article from Jewish Action by Steve Lipman offering Seder advice from teens, college students and educators familiar with the ways of Generation Z.
Passover: Customs and Rituals
Passover is the most popular Jewish holiday. The dinner celebration is called a seder. The Passover Seder is a meal with special foods, practices, and Scripture readings that commemorate the liberation from Egyptian slavery, in accordance with God's instructions (Lev. 23:1,4, Exod. 12:14,24-27).
Passover Meal Recipes
This site from Epicurious contains recipes for the Seder meal, including soup, fish, and dessert.
What Foods are Kosher for Passover? (T)
During the 7 day period in which Passover is celebrated, certain food restrictions are practiced. Tori Avey explains these restrictions in this guide to food during passover.
