Activity:
What Were the Ten Plagues?
A significant part of the Passover feast is to discuss and sing songs about the Ten Plagues. What were the ten plagues? They were the disasterous events mentioned in the Book of Exodus. In the Torah, it is written that Israel's God inflicted these plagues on Egypt to force the abusive Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. This year, have the children play a more active role in the Seder by helping them prepare paper puppets that represent the plagues to accompany the songs and text of the ritual. The memorable theatrical performance will definitely impress guests at the Seder dinner.
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What You Need:
- Construction paper, 11" x 17"
- Scissors
- Oil pastel, or crayons
- Skewers
- Tape
What You Do:
- Discuss the nature of the Ten Plagues of Egypt with your child, or group of children participating.
- Ask the children if they can list all ten of the plagues. A list of plagues to represent are:
- Plague of water turning to blood
- Plague of frogs
- Plague of gnats, or lice
- Plague of flies
- Plague against livestock
- Plague of boils
- Plague of hail
- Plague of locusts
- Plague of Darkness
- Plague of the death of the firstborn
- Assign an equal number of plagues to each child for puppet-making. Then, hand each child the corresponding number of sheets of construction paper and skewers. Remind them to be careful of the sharp point on the skewers!
- Ask them to draw a single visual representation of a plague on each sheet of construction paper, making them as large as possible. Color them in with oil pastel, or crayons.
- Have them cut the drawings out and set them face down.
- Ask them to tape the pointy side of the skewer starting a bit below the top of their puppet, so the skewer hangs below the puppet and has enough room to be held by a hand.
- Help them tape the skewers securely in place.
- Practice the portion of the Seder with the children so they can synchronize reading about the plague they are representing from the Haggadah as they hold up the puppets.
- When the time comes, have the kids bring the puppets to the Seder table and put on a memorable performance!
