Ideas and resources
If you are looking for an easy Easter game that you can easily make, check out this printable Don’t Eat the Peep game create by Mique from Thirty Handmade Days. This is a silly Easter game that young kids especially will get a kick out of. The rules of the game are simple and it is fast paced and even funny. Best of all, kids get to eat the candies, pretzels, or whatever you decide to use for the game pieces.
Print out and make your own Don’t Eat the Peep Easter Game.
If you want to teach kids the basics of Hanukkah in the classroom or at home, the picture book Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow is a nice place to start.
The book explores the Jewish holiday through the eyes of Lior, a boy whose name means “my light” in Hebrew, which is appropriate for talking about the Festival of Lights.
The book goes through all the preparations the family does, including cleaning, setting the table and cleaning the menorah. It talks about what the menorah symbolizes and the Hanukkah story of the oil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem lasting for eight days when it should have only been a one-day supply.
The meaning of the letters on the dreidel are also explored, in that when you are in Israel they have a different fourth word (the letters symbolize the Hebrew letters for “a great miracle happened there” or, in Israel, “a great miracle happened here”).
Because the story of Hanukkah involves oil, a lot of the foods that are eaten during the celebration are fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Other foods mentioned include challah, noodle kugel and sour cream and applesauce, which are served with the latkes. Family and friends drop by to share their food, light their menorahs together and play dreidel (the game is explained in the story). It also talks about how the candles are lit through the eight days and what happens at the end of Hanukkah.
The book includes Hanukkah blessings in English and Hebrew and talks about the lunar cycle of the Hebrew calendar, which is why Hanukkah is sometimes celebrated in November and sometimes in December. It also talks about why Jewish holidays are celebrated beginning at sunset rather than in the morning.
Other topics covered include Hanukkah greetings; how to spell Hanukkah; how to make an edible menorah and an tzedakah box (to collect money for charity); recipes for latkes and applesauce; and a more detailed story of Hanukkah than is included within the story of the book. There’s also a quiz to see how well you were paying attention.
This sweet little book is a quick read and a cute overview of the basics of Hanukkah and what the symbols, foods and games mean. It’s a great book for classrooms or at home for sharing basic knowledge.
About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99.
Feeling particularly dense about the directions: one kid leaves the room, everyone else puts candy on the board, the kids comes in and eats one piece of candy at a time while everyone yells, “Don’t eat the peep”? What step am I missing?
I understand your confusion… Let me try explaining it in a bit more detail
Place small candy on each Peep. One person is chosen to be it and leaves the room and the others all decide which Peep is the one that can’t be eaten… When the person who is it returns, they eat the candy off of one Peep at a time until they touch the candy on the Peep that everyone selected while they were out of the room. Once they touch that candy, everyone yells “Don’t Eat the Peep” and that person’s turn is over. Choose someone else to be it and continue this until everyone gets a turn.
Hope this helps!