Family-friendly Passover Guide for East Bay Families

Our Passover Guide for East Bay kids and families is sponsored by PJ Library Bay Area. This year, Passover begins at sundown on Saturday, March 27, and lasts until sundown on Sunday, April 4, 2021.

Passover is a spring festival commemorating the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt, using many symbols and rituals. The story of Passover is a collective remembrance of the Jewish people, passed down for generations.

This year marks our second Passover celebration during the pandemic, and hopefully our last.  As we cautiously move towards more freedom, we can create lasting Passover memories for our families.

During the Passover seder, we recount the miracle of freedom. PJ Library has you covered with all the Passover resources families need in the Passover Hub including a simple step-by-step video playlist for the Passover seder. Follow along with a downloadable PJ Library Family Haggadah, the book that recounts the Passover story, and you are set. New this year: a 15-minute seder for the youngest kids at your Passover table. The Haggadah is available for free download in several languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.

Read Passover books together

PJ Library and PJ Our Way have a large collection of Passover books for preschoolers and elementary-aged children. You can read the Passover Story in 10 scenes together as a family.

More Passover crafts and activities

Create: You can make simple Passover crafts from materials found at home such as seder plates or 10 plagues finger puppets (with beautiful printables from artist, Brenda Ponnay, pictured above).

Play: People from ages 9 to 99 can play Escape the Plagues. This family-friendly game includes 5 scenes of script-style dialogue, family-friendly puzzles, and thoughtful discussion questions about climate justice and Jewish anti-racism among many other engaging topics. Print at home for $15.

Sing: Shaboom has a wonderful selection of Passover songs. Some of our favorites are Bang Your Hammers, Frogs Here, Frogs There, and Chad Gadya.

Watch: There are many online videos that teach children about Passover. We love these Shaboom renditions of the Four Questions.

Cook: Many Passover-friendly recipes beyond eating Matzah. Here are some flavorful meals you can make together with children of all ages.

Paint: Color Me Mine Alameda has some beautiful seder plates you can paint together. Here’s an adorable kids’ make-your-own Afikoman Bag for young ones to paint and decorate ($20).

Shop local!

Afikomen on Claremont Ave. is a terrific local store in the Elmwood district with everything you need to celebrate at home — we are lucky to have it in our neighborhood. This Judaica shop offers wonderful customer service and so many great Passover products for your family. They have seder plates, Passover books, ritual items, Kosher food products including matzah, and special treats. And don’t forget the prize for finding the Afikomen!

Order in for your seder

With Passover still impacted by Covid-19, people who normally go out to a seder at a synagogue or the home of a friend may be preparing a seder meal at home. If you can’t or don’t want to cook at home, there are delicious options for delivery or takeout seder meals in the Bay Area! A few of our favorite places to order delicious Passover meals are Dove Dinners, Saul’s Berkeley, Wise Sons Jewish Deli, Comestible Oakland, and Market Hall Foods. Choose one, and you can’t go wrong.

Family-friendly Passover Events

Tuesday, March 16, 5 pm to 6:15 pm Virtual Passover Cooking Demonstration with Michael Solomonov. Join a James Beard Award-winning chef as he shares how to cook his favorite Passover dishes. Free event. Register here >>

Sunday, March 21, 10:30 am to 11:10 am JKids Radio Musical Passover Seder. Join an interactive online Passover program with a lineup of popular artists in Jewish kids’ music. Sing traditional and contemporary songs, listen to the Passover story, and explore the foods on the seder plate, the blessings, the questions, and the highlights of the Exodus in this Zoom program. RSVP here >>

Sunday, March 21, 4 pm to 5 pm ArtBash Live with The CJM. Join the art-making festivities at The CJM’s ArtBash Live inspired by Passover. Drop by one of several Bay Area locations, including one in Berkeley, to pick up a FREE art kit filled with all the supplies you’ll need. Then attend the Zoom together to make art with the community. Register here >>

Sunday, March 21, 4 pm to 4:45 pm Virtual Matzah Family Cooking Event. Kids of all ages are invited to cook along with Michelle Greenebaum as she teaches how to make homemade matzah from simple ingredients. Materials list and Zoom link sent upon registration. $18 per family. Register here >>

 

Friday, March 26, 4 pm to 5 pm Puppet Passover. Members of Octopretzel create an epic, interactive puppet show with songs, stories, and lots of drums for children under age eight. Tickets are $20 per family. Register here >>

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PJ Library provides free, developmentally appropriate, Jewish books to children from birth through eight years old. For more information or to sign up please click here.

PJ Our Way provides the gift of exceptional books with Jewish themes — that they choose themselves — to kids 9-12. Check it out.

Follow along and be part of the conversation on social media on either Instagram and Facebook or both  @pjlibrarybayarea.

Thanks again to PJ Library Bay Area. for supporting 510 Families. Images used with permission.

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