Let's Celebrate Shavuot!

Shavuot celebrated the day God gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. In Israel, it is also connected to the season of the grain harvest. Today, the Shavuot celebration is made unique by the traditional consumption of dairy products like milk, cheese, and, of course, lots of cheesecake! Below we've collected some activities to teach children about Shavuot:

Mount Sinai Muffins
Teach children about Mount Sinai with this fun and edible craft! Make this easy by purchasing muffins and decorating them together, or go all out and bake them from scratch. Either way, this activity is sure to delight kids. This can also be made as a cake for a table centerpiece and family dessert! From Kveller.

Build Mount Sinai
If muffins won't work for your home or classroom, children can still build their own Mount Sinai using a paper or Styrofoam bowl, some paint, and colorful paper! You can also recreate the scene of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with just paper, crayons, and glue! From Bright Hub Education and Joyful Jewish.

Shavuot Flower Crowns
These beautiful flower crowns made from construction paper are great for the classroom or at home. Engage children in describing Mount Sinai, which was covered in beautiful flowers, while they make a colorful way to celebrate! From Hebrew Podcasts.

Tablets of Stone
Teach children about the Ten Commandments by making their own tablets of stone! Great for at home or in the classroom, this also reinforces counting and the Hebrew alphabet. From Joyful Jewish.

Shavuot Word Pomegranate
An activity to engage the entire classroom or family at once, this simple activity asks participants to come up with words and phrases associated with Shavuot to fill out an illustration of a pomegranate. A great way to create a visual reminder for all year 'round. From Hebrew Podcasts.

Printable Activity Book
This activity packet is great for younger children. In addition to teaching them about Shavuot and the Ten Commandments, it reinforces important skills like counting. Particularly useful for the classroom! From Jewish Homeschool.

Teach Shavuot Values
Kveller has some excellent ideas for teaching young children the important values of charity, loyalty, and kindness. Tell the story of the Book of Ruth to introduce these values, and reinforce them with these simple everyday reminders.

Test Your Knowledge!
If children have access to a computer at home or at school, they can test their knowledge of the Book of Ruth and the Shavuot story with a variety of quizzes and word matches online! Create a family or class challenge to see who can score the highest, or encourage children to improve on their own scores. From A Kid's Heart.

And, of course, read a good book! Kar-Ben has many unique and engaging books about Shavuot, from ones featuring Sammy Spider, to a photo story of children in Israel growing and harvesting their own wheat and making a cheesecake, to the story of little Mount Sinai. Find these Shavuot books and more on the Kar-Ben website!

Books Bring Shavuot into Your Home

This year, the holiday of Shavuot is May 19 and 20. Also known as the Festival of Weeks, Shavuot falls seven weeks after Passover and marks the day when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites.

Erev Shavuot (the night of May 18) is traditionally a night of study, when observant groups gather to read and discuss Torah. Since this isn't a realistic practice for families with young children (and early bedtimes!), why not add a Shavuot book to your regular bedtime story rotation? It's a wonderful way to share this special holiday with young readers.

For many children, preschool is a time for learning rules and understanding why they exist. In No Rules for Michael, a little boy wishes there were no rules, and the results aren't exactly what he wanted.

With 50 carefully chosen words and photographs of preschoolers acting out the Ten Commandments, Ten Good Rules introduces young children to the fundamental rules while teaching them to count from one to ten. The commandments have been recast in positive child-friendly language to make them easier for children to understand.

It is said that the words of the Torah are as sweet as milk and honey, so it is traditional to eat dairy foods, such as blintzes or cheesecake, to celebrate Shavuot. In Sammy Spider's First Shavuot, preschoolers learn along with Sammy about following steps in recipes. Here's a recipe for blintzes using ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen!

Mrs. Shapiro's Blintz Recipe
Adapted from Sammy Spider's First Shavuot

Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
2 tsp neutral flavored oil such as canola

Mix flour, eggs, and milk together. Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. When heated, drop spoonful of batter and tilt the pan to coat. When lightly browned, flip over to cook briefly. Remove from pan and stack pancakes between paper towels.

Filling
1lb small curd cottage cheese, drained
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar

Mix filling ingredients. Place a spoonful in the center of each blintz. Tuck in sides and roll. Place blintzes in buttered baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 30 mins.