Learning about Passover with Your Children

Come this time of year things start to get really busy around my house. Why? We are preparing for Passover. Passover is a holiday that remembers the exodus from Egypt and celebrates the importance of freedom. For this holiday my whole house needs to be cleaned in order to make sure no Chamaytz, leavened food which is prohibited on Passover, is hiding anywhere.

I have to go shopping for foods for the Passover Seder and other non-prohibited items like matzah, macaroons and my personal favorite Israeli chocolate bars. As the holiday gets closer I lock up my regular dishes for my Passover only set and start preparing what I am supposed to bring to my family Seder (traditional dinner). The morning of Passover we burn the Chamaytz we found the night before, during a symbolic hunt, and the holiday officially begins. For the next eight days anything that leavens is off limits, including bread products, corn products, beans and rice.

Besides getting to spend quality time with my family and scarfing down those yummy chocolate bars (Passover calories do not count!) I get to share some great Passover books with my son. So if you are interested in introducing the Jewish holiday of Passover to your children here is a list of my favorite books for the occasion.

Board Books for the Littlest Readers

The Littlest Levine (Passover)- Sandy Lanton

My First Passover – Tomie dePaola

Where is the Afikomen – Judith Groner & Madeline Wikler

Dayenu! A Favorite Passover Song – Illustrated by Miriam Latimer

What I Like About Passover – Varda Livney

Passover for Preschoolers

The Passover Seder – Emily Sper

Sammy Spiders First Passover – Sylvia A. Rouss

Dinosaur on Passover – Diane Levin Rauchwerger

Hooray! It’s Passover! – Leslie Kimmelman

It’s Seder Time – Latifa Berry Kropf

Pass These Over to Your School-Aged Child

Passover Around the World – Tami Lehman-Wilzig

A Pickles Passover – Richie Chevat

Matzah Ball (A Passover Story) – Mindy Avra Portnoy

The Yankee at the Seder – Elka Weber

Festival of Freedom (The Story of Passover) – Retold by Maida Silverman

Mrs. Katz and Tush – Patricia Polacco

A Tale of Two Seders – Mindy Avra Portnoy

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Doron Doron is a full time domestic engineer and part-time religious school teacher. Doron runs her own blog “As You Teach You Learn” where she shares ideas for religious school teachers including her own batch of products which she sells at her TPT store Doron’s Backpack. When not running after her fifteen-month old son and husband Daniel, Doron enjoys reading young adult dystopic fiction, baking and binging on TV shows. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Doron has a Master of Educational Leadership and is currently working on a second master’s degree in Jewish Education from Gratz College. Find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.