With lots of options for the seder, Pesach events, and Matzah Bakes - you will sure find the perfect outing for your family! 
For a guide with lots of free online resources, Passover recipes, DIY crafts for kids, DIY projects for parents, and more - visit this page!

Happy Passover!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

• Passover Family Day at Congregation Beth El (Berkeley)
  A brief, family-friendly Shabbat morning service with Rabbi Rebekah Stern, fun Passover activities for the kids while the adults learn together with Rabbi Stern, and a culminating activity for the family to enjoy together.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

• Kids Pesach Activity and Matzah Bake at Chabad Israeli Silicon Valley - IN HEBREW (Palo Alto)
  Model seder and Matzah bake. Ages 4-12.
  $10 per child.
• Model Matzah Bakery (Castro Valley)
  Come make the Matzah from start to finish! Chaff the wheat, grind it into flour, roll the dough, bake it, and take it home!

Sunday, April 2, 2017

• Family Seder Game Show with Chabad of Fremont (Fremont)
  A lively morning of exciting games and family bonding, as together you embark on a multi-sensory journey, exploring the profound themes of Passover.
  Prepare your kids for Passover with a Model Seder experience that you've never seen before! Game shows and an interactive video and bring the story of Passover and the Seder to life so that your children will feel like they are truly experiencing the Passover story! 
  FREE, RSVP to chaya@chabadfremont.com. 
• Passover Puppet Show with Jen Miriam Altman at the Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco)
  Enjoy an interactive experience of the Passover story with puppets and songs. Meet Moses and Miriam and cross the Red Sea in this fun puppet show from Jen Miriam Altman.
  FREE with Museum admission; youth 18 and under always free. 
• Community Passover Celebration at the Oshman Family JCC (Palo Alto)
  Celebrate the Passover journey to freedom with your family and friends. Activities for children and families will teach you more about the Passover story: enjoy an interactive Hebrew story time, dance along to a fun musical performance, learn about insects and bugs with Mad Science, watch a fun Passover show, bounce along in the bounce house, and build and learn about pyramids with Legos® from Playwell.
  FREE 
• Pre-Passover Party with Jewish Baby Network (Redwood City)
  Come get ready for Passover with the Jewish Baby Network and PJ Library. Learn fun songs, read PJ Library® stories and learn how to bring joy and meaning to your young family seder.
  Bring an outdoor blanket, and JBN will provide snacks and drinks.
  FREE 
• Passover Celebration and Preschool Academy at Wornick Jewish Day School (Foster City)
  This educational and fun morning of learning activities with Wornick teachers and musician Elana Jagoda is especially for children ages 3 to 5 and their families. Co-sponsored by PJ Library. Lunch is included.
  FREE, RSVP required.
• Passover Escape Room (Palo Alto) - Journey to Ancient Egypt to unlock the mysteries of the Passover Seder, solve hidden clues, and rescue the Jewish people before it’s too late! 

Friday, April 7, 2017:

• Friday Night Lights: The Passover Edition - Congregation Etz Chaim (Palo Alto)A Shabbat experience for children ages 6 and unser and their families. Featuring seasonal and holiday scavneger hunt, songs and more.
  FREE, RSVP required.

Saturday, April 8:

• Passover-Themed Tot Shabbat Service (Los Altos Hills) - Following the service, enjoy grape juice and challah as well as arts and crafts. 

Sunday, April 9, 2017:

• Passover Storytime and Crafts at the Bookasaurus (Sunnyvale)
  Celebrate spring with storytime, an egg hunt and flower planting, read books to celebrate Spring, Easter and Passover. After storytime enjoy an egg hunt and then decorate and plant seeds in grow pots.
  FREE 
• Family Day: Celebrating Authors Big and Small at the Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco)
  Celebrate books, reading, and the story sharing tradition of Passover at The CJM’s annual Family Day. Stories come alive with acrobatic storytelling by Acrolele, Puppy Dog Tales, kid authors sharing their books, letterpress bookplate projects, free cake, and more!
  FREE with Museum admission; youth 18 and under always free.
• Jewbilee's Pre-Passover Presidio Picnic (PPPP) & Hike (SF) - Re-enact the wandering of our people out of Egypt while enjoying the coastline of the Bay & meeting other cool Jews.
  FREE, registration required.

Monday, April 10, 2017:

• Community Pesach Seder with Chabad MidPen (Redwood City)
  Passover Community Seder, a meaningful Seder that you can follow! The Seder will be hosted at the Brand New Courtyard Marriott in Redwood City.
  Enjoy a full-course, sumptuous Seder feast, with all the traditional delicacies!
  The story of the Exodus will come alive through the Kabbalistic insights and mystical teachings told with humor and melody. The Seder is English-friendly so everyone can feel welcome.
  Adults $40, Children 2-12: $20. Nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds.
• Passover Seder with Chabad (Castro Valley)
  Celebrate Passover in the great company of friends, family & community! The Passover Seder features a gourmet four-course meal, hand baked Shmurah Matzah, four cups of wine, personal Hebrew-English Haggadah and interactive Children's program.
• Pesach Seder Experience with Chabad of Fremont Jewish Center (Fremont)
  Gourmet Gluten-free Passover cuisine, hand-made Shmurah Matza and Kosher Wine. Family-friendly Hebrew/English Haggadah.
• Community Passover Seder with Chabad (Palo Alto)
  Family-Friendly Seder with games, songs and activities. Adults $25, Children: $15. Nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds.
• Passover Community Seder (Santa Clara) - Relive the exodus and Share a traditional Seder with Chabad Santa Clara. Enjoy a delicious four course meal. Taste the special Passover delicacies of Charoset & Marror and eat the special hand baked “Shmurah” Matzah. 
• Community Passover Seder at the OFJCC (Palo Alto) - This interactive, warm and welcoming event is perfect for the whole family!  Enjoy a delicious Kosher for Passover meal, singing and matzah decorating!

Tuesday, April 11, 2017: 

• Community Passover Second Seder with Chabad (Palo Alto)
  Family-Friendly Seder with games, songs and activities. Adults $25, Children: $15. Nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds.
• PJCC Family Seder (Foster City) - A playful, interactive and meaningful Seder. Explore the Passover traditions in a fun and engaging atmosphere full of singing and storytelling. 

Thursday, April 13, 2017:

• PJ Library Passover Playdate at the Rec Room (Berkeley) - Passover reading nook and music, and craft activity. Admission: $5 discount for PJ Library families given at the door. 

Thursday, April 20, 2017:

• Mimouna: A Post-Passover Celebration (Los Gatos) - Mimouna is a Moroccan-Jewish post-Passover festival. It's a celebration of community, friendship, and hospitality. Moroccan-Jewish families invite relatives and friends and other guests over to each other's houses and there is a sweet table covered in a white tablecloth that is set up in each house that serves as the centerpiece for the Mimouna festival.  Admission: $8 (JCC members $5)

Saturday, April 22, 2017:

• Community Mimouna Celebration (Berkeley) - Traditional sweets and desserts, Henna artists, Moroccan lantern making, traditional Moroccan clothing and photobooth, belly dancers, Havdalah ceremony, DJ and dance party. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. 

Passover Resources

Pesach, or Passover, will begin at sundown Monday, April 10th, 2017. 
Here’s a guide with lots of free online resources, Passover recipes, DIY crafts for kids, DIY projects for parents, and more. 

Happy Passover!  

Online Resources

• Bedikat Chametz - How, when and why.
• Brief overview of the 15 steps of the Passover Seder
• The Passover story for kids
• Lots of games and activities for kids from Chabad.org
• Create your own Haggadh with this simple platform which allows you to create a custom Passover Seder, with access to unique content contributed by the community.
• Send free Seder invitations and e-cards for family and friends, courtesy of Chabad. 
• Free e-book - “A Playful Passover: A Toddler and Preschool-Friendly Passover Seder Kit of Crafts and Activities to Engage, Entertain, & Educate Young Kids.” 

Passover Recipes to Make with Your Children
There are so many fun recipes on the internet, here are a few which caught my eye and I plan to try during the holiday:

• Passover Matzo Pizza - Matzah makes a great base for a pizza that kids and adults will love! Top it with your favorite vegetables and cheese and you have yourself a quick meal.
• Flourless Chocolate Cookies - With just six simple ingredients, you and your little ones can bake a delicious dessert the whole family will enjoy. 

DIY Crafts for Children
There are really endless options out there! We will craft and post our favorite ones as we try them.

• Passover Matzah House - the ultimate family craft for Passover.

Kids Books

• Children's Passover Fun Book - This book for children is all about reviving the basic themes of Passover in a fun way. With 70 colorful pages, your kids will enjoy and remember what are Chametz, Matzah, Ten Plagues, Ten Commandments, Four Cups, Eliyahu Hanavi, the Children of Israel Exodus from Egypt and more.
  This is not a Jewish Orthodox "study book" for Passover but a light way to familiarize the main Jewish traditional themes of Passover through stories, games, activities and puzzles.

Seder Table Printables

• I am officially obsessed with these free printable Four Questions Place Cards I found at Almost Makes Perfect!

DIY Projects for Parents

• This Felt Passover Plate is super simple to make! You can sew or glue, use templates or cut it as you go. Either way - it will be fast, leave you enough time for holiday prep, give you the chance to talk about the Seder with your toddler, and keep the kids busy and happy.
• Passover ''Bag of Plagues'' - Put together this awesome entertaining bag of plagues for the kids to enjoy during the Seder.
• Build a Pyramid - I plan to build a cardstock pyramid for the kids to play with before the Seder. Found this awesome pyramid idea, now I need to find some really large cardstock boxes!

Felt Seder Plate

Pesach, or Passover, is just around the corner, so it’s time to get into the holiday spirit!

I found great online resources for children, DIY projects and children's crafts, amazing recipes to try with children and so much more. Check out this great list here! I will share some of the projects and recipes we did in the next few weeks and update the list as we go.

Felt Seder Plate
It can be very frustrating finding great toys for children for Jewish holidays, especially for Passover. There are a few sets you can purchase online (wood or felt), but it's usually expensive and not always in good quality. I ended up deciding to make it my self, but keep it simple. 
It really is super easy to make - you can sew or glue, use templates or cut it as you go. Either way - it will be fast, leave you enough time for holiday prep, give you the chance to talk about the Seder with your toddler, and keep the kids busy and happy.

You will need:

• Two 12"X12" felt sheets (You can also find it at Joann and Michael's - they don't always have 12 by 12, but they do have bigger ones you can use)
• Three 12"X12" brown felt sheets
• One 9"X11" felt sheet for the circles
• A few small pieces of colorful felt - this set is really awesome, and gives you lots of colors for future use.
• Felt glue, but you can also sew it instead - just have your needles and thread or sewing machine ready!
• Scissors
• Printable template

Directions:
Cut 2 large circles from the 12"X12" felt sheets (Any size 11" or more would be fine - just use the biggest plate you have). 
Cut 6 small circles (See template or trace a glass).
Glue or sew the small circles into one of the big ones.
Cut the egg, lettuce leaf, shank bone, horseradish, parsley, and Charoset (see template). For the Charoset I just used scraps of felt and used fabric glue to attach them.
Cut 3 brown circles or squares (use another plate :) - any size about an inch smaller than the big one will be fine) - You can add some sewing in brighter thread to give it more like a Matzah look, or you purchase a Matzah fabric (how awesome is that?!), but it will be great as is. 
Sew or glue the 2 large circles together half way to leave enough room for the matzahs to fit inside.


How do you celebrate Passover? I hope you will love this Seder plate tutorial and pass on the love by sharing it with friends and family!