Ways to Make Shabbat Dinner Special for Kids
Little Traditions Make Friday Nights Creative, Memorable
Every Friday evening, Jewish families around the world gather around the dinner table to celebrate the start of Shabbat, or sabbath. It's a weekly holiday dinner that should be full of joy, but one that can be long for children to sit through. It's easy to make the evening more kid friendly by making the usual Shabbat bread more creatively, adding a table game and a few sweet treats.
Here are some creative Shabbat suggestions:
Fun With Challah
Children love to make challah, the twisted egg bread that is traditional for Shabbat. While homemade challah is time consuming to make, it's quite easy to make a shortcut challah using store bought frozen challah dough (or even regular bread dough.) Parents and children, even young ones, can make this together. The following instructions are more a method than a recipe:
Shortcut Challah:
- Thaw a loaf of frozen bread dough according to package instructions.
- Separate dough into three sections. Roll out dough into into three ropes of about 10 inches a piece.
- Braid, let rise according to package directions.
- Brush braid with a glaze of one egg yolk thinned with a tablespoon of water.
- Apply toppings (see below)
- Bake according to package directions
Fun Challah Toppings
While it's traditional to top a challah with sesame or poppy seeds, why not get a little more creative and delight the kids? Sprinkles or a variety of colored sugars work wonderfully well for topping the unbaked , glazed dough.The challah can be decorated for seasons or holidays: For spring, challah can be decorated with pink and green sprinkles; for the Shabbat nearest the Fourth of July, a challah would look festive with red, white and blue sprinkles. Red and gold sugar make a beautiful topping for a challah served the night after Thanksgiving. During Purim, a raucous Jewish springtime holiday, the challah can be topped with many colors - the more, the better.
Children love to help make this kind of challah and are very proud to tell guests about "their challah." The decorated challah lends an unusual element to a Shabbat dinner table, and brings a smile to adult guests.
Mitzvah Counting
From the time they are in preschool, children can talk about the good things that they do, such as helping Mommy or listening to Daddy. That is a child's version of a Jewish mitzvah, or the Jewish version of a good deed. A fun tradition is to go around the Sabbath table and take turns talking about the mitzvot (more than one mitzvah) that each family member did during the week.
Children enjoy teing able to participate in the general conversation on a topic they understand. Preschool children, however, may need "ideas" from a parent about what to say.
Making Dinner Special
Parents may find that relaxing the usual nutrition rules for Shabbat dinner will create much anticipation and excitement of Shabbat. It may be the time to have a special homemade cake as a dessert, or a Shabbat "wine" of grape juice mixed with lemon-lime soda pop. After all, the Jewish tradition is that learning should be sweet - and certainly, much is learned about faith and family around the Shabbat table.
Approaching Shabbat creatively takes little time, and has a big payoff in enjoyment.
Resources:
For more information about creative approaches to Shabbat: The Modern Jewish Mom's Guide to Shabbat by Meredith L. Jacobs. New York, Harper Collins, 2007.
To learn about the strictest traditions of Shabbat, the Chabad Jewish movement offers an extensive library of information.
Candles Lit Before Shabbat Dinner
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