Ideas for making RHS/YK meaningful for kids

amother

OP ↓

Mon, Sep 30 2024, 11:04 pm

I have been home for RHS/YK with my kids for many years, B"H. Some years, making it meaningful to the kids is the furthest thing from my mind. (Singing "Dip the Apple" is the most that some little kids can get, and when I'm pregnant/postpartum, I need most of my strength just to focus on getting through the day.)

But now I have several not-so-little kids home with me (say, ages 10 down to toddler), and I'd like to make the days meaningful to them. On Tisha B'Av, we had a really meaningful day -- we had a kumzitz with a bunch of songs, many of which they knew, we made a kosel project, created a bein adam l'chavero
board game that really made them think, kept track of the mitzvos we did that day to try to rebuild the beis hamikdash, read Genendel Krohn's book about the day...I really felt that we made the most of the day.

Any ideas on what I can do on RHS/YK to really bring home the important parts of the day, while still entertaining them and not creating too much extra work for me? I'll start the list with ideas I already have, but I'm hoping some other creative moms can add to it...

Really open to any other ideas!

Good Friend

Tue, Oct 01 2024, 9:55 am

There are all kinds of games you can play, like bingo with Rosh Hashana pictures, memory matching game of the simanim, stories you can tell, pin the tail on the donkey but dip the apple in the honey version, put pictures of the simanim on a plate and then one kid leaves the room and you take one away and they have to guess which.
Also the actual mitzvos and minhagim of the day will help them feel it, like davening with them, taking them to hear shofar, going to Tashlich, eating the simanim…

I have many files of games I’ve made but not sure how to share them. I’d probably out myself because I share them with people IRL.
You would need to ideally take about an hour to prepare these things, print out games, cut them out, etc

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 01 2024, 11:12 am

Thanks! I might try some of those to keep them busy during the day. Much better than just building lego cars and playing Zingo all day long. Smile

I guess I'm looking less for activities with a Rosh Hashana theme, and more for activities that actually bring out the idea of the day. (On Tisha B'Av, all of the activities ended up leading to speaking about the Bais Hamikdash, or speaking about how we can be kind to each other, or what Ahavas Yisroel is.)

Do any of you discuss the concepts of teshuva, Hashem's malchus, etc. with older kids who are home with you? If so, how does it work? I feel like they won't be so interested because they've already talked about it in school, but it's important for them to feel that that's part of the day. Just not sure how to bring home these ideas. Any teachers, maybe, who found a way to get these concepts across to preschool/elementary schoolers? I spoke with my third grader recently about what she learned about Rosh Hashana, and she started listing off the four names of the day, things like that. But I don't feel like she got the core messages of the day.

My preschooler learned about a scale, how it works, and that we want to have more mitzvos than aveiros. I felt like that was something age-appropriate that she could relate to, but that at least somewhat addressed the themes I'm trying to get across. They learned about a lot of other things regarding yom tov--about how bees make honey, for example--that are very nice preschool concepts, but I want to make their experience of these yomim tovim to be about what they're really about...

amother

Cherry

Tue, Oct 01 2024, 11:32 am

Buy new Judaica books and magazines and put them away, only to be taken out on Rosh Hashana. (By age 10 my kids are already voracious readers).

Go through the past year and talk about the high points and low points - e.g. remember our trip to Orlando? What about when Yossi broke his arm ice skating? Remember how great our Purim seudah was? And then tell them to daven that this year it should all go smoothly.

Play the Rosh Hashana songs around the house on Erev - there are some medleys on YouTube (Uncle Moishy, Chaim Gammerman) and I also like the intro to maariv - we play that a lot. (La la la la la, ends in Barchu. Kind of an addictive tune).

There is a really good Mimi book by Chani Altein that goes through Mimi’s year and does a good job talking about the holidays. If your 10 year old is a girl.

amother

↑ OP

Tue, Oct 01 2024, 12:03 pm

amother Cherry wrote:

Go through the past year and talk about the high points and low points - e.g. remember our trip to Orlando? What about when Yossi broke his arm ice skating? Remember how great our Purim seudah was? And then tell them to daven that this year it should all go smoothly.

Ooh, this is fantastic. Just what I was looking for. We had a couple of major family things happen this year that will definitely make the list, and I think that each child will have some personal things as well. Thank you so much!

Any other ideas are welcome as well!

amother

Beige

Wed, Oct 02 2024, 3:33 am

I really love this thread! I am usually too busy to think along those lines before Yom Tov, but I always regret not coming prepared once we settle in for the day.
This gives me a great head-start! Although I don't have time for physical prep at this point, I'm glad to have these ideas lined up.
Thank you!

amother

Dodgerblue

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:38 pm

My kids are a little younger than yours, but here are a few things that we do!

-- davening time - my older ones daven what they know and then we all do "circle time" with the younger ones - they love being the morah/rebbe, giving out the toy torah, telling a story etc

-- kumzitz - I flip through the machzor and sing any songs I find from shacharis/mussaf/leining - many of them the kids know and sing along - I try to sing those songs at bedtime/naptime starting after tisha b'av so they're familiar. For the kids who aren't interested or are too young they're usually playing with something else anyway.

-- books - the round and round the jewish year books are great for younger kids and my older ones like to chime in with things they learned. Genendel Krohn put out one about Yonah this year that I wish we had for yom kippur! There is a short story one called Tishrei Tales I think that my kids like and we read the stories that are for that YT.

-- playing school - this was my kids' idea this year - they took turns being the morah/rebbe and teaching something that they learned in school about YT. It was adorable to watch.

-- we usually get a new game/toy/book for each kid or for everyone to share depending on what it is. not necessarily uplifting or YT related but something special that brings some sweetness (and hopefully no fighting!)

Would love to hear more ideas too!