Beth Klareich shared with us some of her ideas about making Seder special the first time she and her husband Ross hosted a seder in their own home.

Some fun ideas to enhance a child’s (and everyone else’s) Seder experience…

When we hosted our first Seder, our table was filled with family and friends and we were thrilled to have them all. To say we were a “mixed bag” would be an understatement; young to old, Jewish and non-Jewish, learned and not so well versed, etc.

We asked each family to choose a part of the Seder to be responsible for leading. It could be as traditional or creative as they wished. We heard a three year old (dressed in a Tigger costume) recant the story of Moses asking Pharoh to “let my people go.” An adult, donning Mickey Mouse gloves, recited a meditation about G-d. One youngster demonstrated the ten plaques with props and magic.

So the children would stay engaged during more adult times, we provided holiday appropriate arts and crafts that were created at the table. One craft was creating and decorating afikomen bags. This was a great idea that we took one step further to avoid tears; each child hid some portion of the afikomen and at the end of the meal, each child had to find just one afikomen bag. This made it possible for everyone to “win” the game and everyone received a prize!

These were just a of the ideas we used to enhance our Seder and make it family-friendly and stress free.

What tips do you have to pass on for first-time seder hosts?

The good, the bad, and the hysterically funny. We would love to hear your stories. Email them to Beth Klareich at program@tiferethisrael.com and we will publish them here.