Childrens Program
A great way to boost attendance at lengthy High Holiday services is by offering a children's program for all or part of the davening. Here are resources you can use in preparing yours.
Sample Schedules
Here are two sample schedules for children’s programs: the first is a two-track children’s program (for older and younger kids) for the two days of Yom Tov up until Shofar, and the second is designed to run throughout services, with Shofar and lunch included in the program.
This program suggests a runtime from 10:45 - 12:45, which allows parents to participate in the core parts of davening, while also allowing the children to then join for Shofar blowing after the program.
Day 1: Older groups
10:45 – board games
11:15 – davening and I go to rosh hashana dinner game to learn about rosh hashana
11:45 – apple toothpick challenge
12:05 - Tashlich on a tablecloth game
12:25 – snack and story
Day 2: older groups
10:45 – board games
11:15 – davening and headbands to review rosh hashana learning
11:45 – twister with RH pictures
12:05 – cut the apple and honey
12:25 – snack and story
Day 1: younger groups
10:45 – free play
11:15 – circle time with mystery box
11:30 – centers:
Rosh Hashana felt board
apple pie sensory bin
match pomegranates with numbers and seeds
apple picking fine motor
12:15 – snack
12:30 – story time
Day 2: younger groups
10:45 – free play
11:15 – circle time with rosh hashana sensory table
11:30 – centers:
apple jack necklaces
honey transfer
apple counting activity
apple pie sensory bin
sticky honey oobleck – water beads, corn starch, cornmeal
12:15 – snack
12:30 – story time
This program suggests a runtime from 10:30 to 2:00, with Shofar in shul scheduled for 12:15.
Younger Kids (preschool-1st grade):
10:30 – Shana Tova in corner with funny voice
10:45 – Davening
11:00 – Mitzvah Hunt
11:15 – Make cheerios necklaces and eat them for snack
11:30 – Bingo
11:45 – Shofar Sounds Animal Farm
12:00 – Discuss being very quiet by Shofar so e/1 can hear all the sounds & Pin the Shofar on the Ram
12:15 – Shofar
12:30 – Lunch (Read Shofy & Blowfy)
12:45 – Hot and Cold
1:00 – Run to Tashlich 1-2-3
1:15 – Rosh Hashanah Fruit Basket
1:30 - Supervised free play together with older kids until Shul is over
Older Kids (2nd grade and up)
10:30 – Blanket name game
10:45 – Davening
11:00 – Apple Relay Races
11:15 – Food craft?? Snack
11:30 – Rosh Hashanah Mitzvah Board Game
11:45 – Shofar Sounds Animal Farm
12:00 – Discuss being quiet by Shofar and show them how to follow along with the paper & Tic Tac Toe
12:15 – Shofar
12:30 – Lunch & hear story
12:45 – Rosh Hashanah Charades
1:00 – Run to Tashlich 1-2-3
1:15 – Apples to Apples
1:30 - Supervised free play together with younger kids until Shul is over
Junior Congregation
Another way to keep children occupied during davening is by hosting a Junior Congregation, incorporating some aspects of davening as well as activities and participation in the main minyan. Here’s a sample program, supply list and schedule for that:
Program:
1) Learn about the special Tefillos said on Rosh HaShana
(Sing some songs/say some of the tefillos depending on age of group)
● Dip the apple in the honey make a bracha
● Unesana Tokef (story: chabad.org/418982)
● Teshuva, Tefillah,Tzedakah
● Akedas Yitzchak
● Tashlich
2) Go in for Shofar
3) Story time- Stories about Rosh HaShana
● Boy in shul, didn’t know how to daven, animal sounds
● The Fireman (about the shofar) chabad.org/4745
4) Lunch/snack
● Apples and honey
5) Group games + Board games
● Charades
● Match it with Rosh HaShana pictures
● (Throw away all your bad deeds game)
● The King Says (like simon says) -crown
● Asking for forgiveness (guess the language)
● Taboo
● Rosh Hashana Headbands
● Step on It
● Jewpardy
6) Incentives
● Raffle
7) Discussion (depends on age of group)
● Hachalatos/goals they can take on for the new year
● Why do we eat the head of a fish? (how Jews are compared to fish and Torah is
compared to water...)
Supplies:
English & Hebrew text of specific tefillos — for tefilla
Siddurim
Rosh HaShana pictures + taboo cards — for game. Headbands and symbols for headbands
game.
Crown — for game
(Tickets — for raffle)
Lunch/snack
Schedule
Schedule: Group One (Younger Group)
Time | Day One | Day Two | Notes |
10:30 | Free play until kids come | Free Play |
|
10:45 | Circle time/Davening | Circle Time/ Davening | (What they know) Modeh Ani, Al HaTorah, Hareini, Shema, Dip the apple in the honey...
|
10:55 | Storybook On Rosh HaShana | Story | Or story with pictures (The Fireman/The boy who didn’t know how to daven) |
11:05 | The King Says | Rosh HaShana Bingo | Like Simon Says: on Rosh HaShana we are crowning our King HaShem, explain concept Want to remember that Hashem gives us everything we want/need. Crown HaShem as King. When people get a new king they make a big deal. Today we try to ask Hashem to be our King and we will try to do everything He wants us to do – make this world a better place. |
11:15 | Snack Time Explain to them about Shofar and how to act when we go inside to hear it (Mashal of the prince goes away comes back they don’t recognize him, calls out to his father, then explain nimshal very simply)
| Snack “Who Remembers how we act by Shofar? review about Shofar | Apples and Honey (Ba-ruch a-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam bore pri ha-etz. Blessed are You, L-rd our G d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree. Ye-hi ratzon she-ti-cha-desh alei-nu shanah tovah u-m'tu-kah.) A shofar is a horn of a kosher animal with the marrow removed. The 'shofar blower', the Baal Tokeya, recites two blessings before sounding the shofar.This is a most suitable moment for self-examination and final repentance.The shofar blower, called the Baal Tokeyah, blows a set sequence of three kinds of blasts: 1) Tekiah ==an uninterrupted blast lasting for several seconds. 2) Shevarim == three medium length blasts. 3) Teruah == a minimum of nine very short blasts.There are three different sounds of the Shofar. “Tekiah” is a long, drawn-out sound. “Shevarim” are the shorter, broken sounds. “Teruah” are the shortest, yap-like blows. These are all meant to signify the sound of crying, to awaken within us the yearning to do Teshuva with all our heart.
|
11:30 | Shofar Blowing | Shofar | (Whoever is quiet will get a ticket) |
11:40 | Rosh HaShana Match It | Tic Tac Toe with RH Questions | With Rosh HaShana pictures make a tic tac toe board on a cardboard - and in order to put a piece down, the kids has to answer the question correctly. |
12:00 | Circle/Discussion | Discussion Why do we eat a head of a fish? (how Jews are compared to fish and Torah is compared to water...) | Teach Teshuva: Go around everyone says a hachlata (because we throw all our sins away at the fish, we are clean and pure! tashlich) On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we visit a river bank, or any flowing body of water, (that contains fish) and recite the Tashlich prayers. There, we “cast away our misdeeds” into the water, and resolve to act properly from now on. If one cannot do Tashlich on the first day, he may do so up until Yom Kippur.After saying the special Tashlich prayer we shake the corners of our garments, as if to dump all our sins into the water. This is symbolic of the words of the prophet, Micah: " …and you shall throw into the depth of the sea all their sins…" Of course, the mere shaking of the corners of our garments will not shake off the sins. But it does remind us that we must give our heart a thorough cleaning and rid it of all evil.Another reason that Tashlich is performed at the side of a body of water is because Tashlich represents our coronating Hashem as King, and it is customary to coronate kings at a riverbank.We try to go to body of water that has fish, because just as the eyes of a fish are always open, so too hashem’s “eyes” are always open, He is always watching us |
Lunch |
Schedule: Group Two (Older)
Time | Day One | Day Two | Notes |
10:30 | Board Games Until More Kids Come | Board Games |
|
10:45 | Daven/Teach Tefillos | Daven Review- Unesana Tokef and teach Teshuva, Tefilla U’tzedakah (By returning to one's innermost self (teshuvah), by attaching oneself to G-d (tefillah) and by distributing one's possessions with righteousness (tzedakah), | (What they know) Modeh Ani Al Hatorah Hareini Ma Tovu Adon Olam Shema Ein Kelokeinu/Aleinu Read and teach about Unesana Tokef (story)- Day One |
11:10 | Discussion Spider web Hachlatos | Discussion (Why we eat a head of a fish) | Hachalatos/goals they can take on for the new year (Teshuva)(because we throw all our sins away at the fish, we are clean and pure! tashlich) |
11:15 | Snack Explain About the Shofar How We Act in Shul | Snack How do we act? Info about Shofar | Story (The Fireman, The Mashal, or the young boy...) |
11:30 | Shofar Blowing | Shofar |
|
11:40
| Match It | Tic Tac Toe with RH Q’s | Rosh HaShana Pictures |
12:00 | Hedbanz Game | Charades | Rosh HaShana Names/objects |
Lunch |