Ideas for Your Seder

One of the prime functions of the seder is to educate our children. Entertainment is a legitimate part of education, so fun should be part of the agenda of the evening. The Haggadah, itself, is not a script, but rather a framework through which we tell the story and explain its meaning. Please do not feel limited by the Haggadah. To the contrary! Allow it to be a door through which you are ushered into a realm of creativity and spirituality. Let your imagination roam free and do as the Torah bids us: "Teach your children on that day..."

Below are some ideas to get you started.

  1. Have the children illustrate sheets listing the 15 parts of the seder, then hang these on the wall and refer to them throughout the evening.
  2. Make a mural of the story of the Exodus.
  3. Spice up your seder with some unconventional songs.
  4. Rabbi Mark Hurvitz's hyperlinked Haggadah.
  5. Uncle Eli's Haggadah.
  6. Run, do not walk, and buy yourself A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah by Noam Zion and David Dishon (both the Haggadah and the Leader's Guide are wonderful resources -- you'll wonder how you ever prepared an exciting seder without these). Published by the Shalom Hartman Institute.
  7. Reed Sea Seder (lots of photos of how we did this)
  8. Make your own Magid section (here's an example of one made by 5 children for their family sedarim) to tell the story of the Exodus.
  9. Rabbi Louis Reiser has a marvelous idea: He taped packing paper to the wall, surrounding the room in which the seder took place (you could use craft paper that comes in a roll). He drew Moses at one end of the room. As people arrived, had had themselves somewhere on the paper. During Maggid, he asked everyone to stand next to his/her self-portrait and he conducted "interviews" asking: What was it like for you to be a slave? Please describe the last night before you left Egypt. How does it feel to be free of the Egyptian taskmasters? Then everyone "marched out of Egypt."
  10. Rabbi Scott Gurdin has prepared a Dr. Seuss-style rhyming Haggadah, beautifully designed and illustrated. Click here of the pdf file.
  11. Passover Songs

More about Passover: