Thread by @JewWhoHasItAll

Another great MULTICULTURAL HOLIDAY PARTY GUIDE my friend Avital wrote to help #publicschools:

1. Hold in the Northern Hemisphere early spring.

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2. Decorate pillowcases or matzah covers with seasonal symbols like wine, matzah, shank bones, eggs, and bitter herbs, for kids to take home to use at their Holiday meal.

2/11

Recognize that kids come from many cultures, include alternate symbols like baskets, ashes, & rabbits for those who celebrate a holiday other than Pesach. These kids may like to stand up front & explain the meaning of these important symbols! They will really feel included!

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3. Create custom Haggadah covers.

Kids should bring in their favorite Haggadah to school to ensure their cover will fit their book. Kids who don't have a Haggadah can bring in any book and make a cover for it.

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Prepare precut secular seasonal symbols like Egyptian pyramids, frogs, flies, and diseased animals for the Haggadah covers. Omit Hebrew letters and the Malach ha'mavet as some people may consider these to be too religious for school use.

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4. The day before Spring Break you can enjoy a special Holiday meal at school to celebrate!

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Include seasonal treats like grape juice and fruit jelly candy. Kids may come to school dressed like their favorite plague. Play secular seasonal music such as "Who Knows One?"and "One Little Goat."

7/11

Some schools may allow a festive visit from Eliyahu ha'Navi, a popular secular figure in Judeo-Islamic cultures.

8/11

5. On return from Spring Break, a fun craft is to make your own Omer calendars!

Kids can enjoy counting the weeks and days to 49. It's an excellent tie-in for math class in this holiday season as well.

9/11

Prepare cut-out construction paper shaped like matzos (for the beginning of the calendar), wheat sheaves, pomegranates, dates, figs, grapes, olives, barley, and mountains or flowers to surround the number 49.

10/11

Some kids may want to use their calendar to count the days to a different holiday; you may include some other cultural symbols like lambs or pine trees for those children.

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