סְּפָרִים
Book-Related Family Activities
Family reading advice
Books on customs, symbols and holiday dishes enrich the holiday experience, helping to develop anticipation and curiosity before it arrives. This book should also be read together with your toddlers during the holiday, and even when it is over – so that, together, you can think back on the beautiful moments, melodies, colors, flavors and scents.
Lea Naor was born in Herzliya in 1935.
Discussion – cooking and having fun together
You can discuss the food you enjoy making at home, and how to make it – Which ingredients are used? Which utensils? What do you do in each step?
Listen to the song
Listen to the song Ma? Ma? Tapuah Adama! (What a Potato). You can join in, sing and dance, coming up with your own dance movements.
What an illustration
Every time you read this book, try looking for new interesting details in its illustrations – Where’s the parrot? What is it doing in each of the illustrations? What are the father and children doing? Which items and ingredients are on the table? And which objects do you recognize in the kitchen? Perhaps you can also find them in your own home and kitchen.
Step by step
While making latkes, or any other of your favorite foods, you can take pictures of the preparation process. These pictures can later be incorporated into a small photo album that will help you repeat the correct steps, as well as the names of actions and ingredients.
A recipe for latkes
Ingredients:
5 potatoes
1 large onion
2 eggs
Half a cup of flour
Half a teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
Frying oil
Method:
1. Peel and grate the onion and potatoes. Squeeze out all the fluids, and place in a bowl.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients – the eggs, flour, sugar and salt (as well as other condiments, if you so wish) – to the bowl, and mix them well.
3. Fry the latkes carefully in hot oil (one to one and a half tablespoons for each latke) until golden on both sides.
4. Place on a paper towel, and enjoy!
שלב אחרי שלב
בזמן הכנת לביבות, או מאכל אהוב אחר, תוכלו לצלם את תהליך ההכנה. מהתמונות אפשר להכין אלבום קטן שיעזור לחזור על השלבים ועל שמות הפעולות והמצרכים.
Discussing – Giving love
The Shamash understands that a flame is endless, much like love. What do you think? Can love keep growing like a flame, even after some of it has been given to others? Do we have enough love for all those we care about?
Inspiration – From one generation to another
The story of Hanukkah is passed down from one generation to the next. Do you have stories, songs, or recipes that are passed down in your family? After lighting the Hanukkah candles, you may want to tell your child how you celebrated Hanukkah when you were growing up, and add stories you heard from your own family. How about singing a good old family song, or preparing some food for all of you to enjoy?
Playing – Passing the love around
As you light the Hanukkah candles, watch how they pass the flame from one to the other. Just like the Menorah candles, you could pass the love around in your family: stand in a row, and pass round the love “flame” by giving each other hugs and kisses, or saying something nice. You could go round several times, if you wish, finding new ways of expressing love and passing it round to different family members each time.
Moving – The candle race
This game is similar to a relay race, only instead of passing a baton to the next runner, you pass a candle: each time one of your family members runs with the candle to a set point, where another family member is waiting to receive the candle and run on to the next spot. You may want to create a circular route where you play round and round, or one with a start and finish line. Did you manage to pass the candle on? Good job! Afterwards, you can pass round some cushions and drinks, and rest together.
Doing some arts & crafts – A de-light-ful greeting card
Hanukkah provides us with a wonderful opportunity to bring joy and light into our loved ones, neighbors, and family’s hearts: you may want to make a greeting card in the shape of a candle in which to write a heartwarming greeting that will light up your holiday and that of its recipient.
Datia Ben Dor
was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1944, and immigrated to Israel at 12 months. At the beginning of her professional career, Ben Dor engaged in music education, writing scripts and songs for many Israeli children’s television shows, such as Parpar Nechmad (“Lovely Butterfly”), and Rehov Sumsum (the Israeli version of Sesame Street). Her children’s poems and numerous books are well-known and loved, among them Ani Tamid Nishar Ani (“I Always Stay Me”), Digdugim (“Tickles”), Otiyot Mefatpetot (“Chatting Letters”), and Kakha Zeh BeIvrit (“That’s How it is in Hebrew”). Datia Ben Dor has received much recognition for her contribution to children’s literature, such as the ACUM award, and Bialik Prize for Lifelong Achievement in Children’s Literature.
Proposed Family Activities:
- Can your child find Passover symbols in the illustrations? Perhaps you could ask them to point out the four cups, matzah, Passover Haggadah and wine. You may also want to look for clues that spring has arrived – short-sleeved shirts and shorts, flower bloom, and clear skies.
- Do you know the tune to this song? How about singing it together, dancing round and round?
- Springtime beckons us to go outside and enjoy nature. Where do you like to be when you are outdoors? Perhaps you could take this book along with you, take a stroll near your house, and look for signs of spring together.
- You may want to make “spring binoculars” and look through it all around. Decorate two toilet paper rolls with stickers and crayons, and attach them to one another on their long side. What can you see through your binoculars?
- Ma Nishtana? What has changed in your home in preparation for Passover? Young children can also take part in preparing for the holiday, and particularly Seder Night. Perhaps you could invite them to help you set the festive table, sing Passover songs, ask the Four Questions, and look for the Afikoman, of course!
- Datia Ben Dor has written many well-loved poems and stories for toddlers and preschoolers. You may want to look for them at home or in the library, and read them together.