How do you keep the kids from dropping off to sleep during the Passover Seder? Bring them into it ahead of time, suggests Devorah Katz in the spring 2011 issue of Jewish Action, the magazine of the Orthodox Union.
Plagues? We got yer Plagues right here — plastic animals scattered on the table will keep little hands busy, as will a "touch ‘n learn" pre-Passover session on the Seder plate.
Make a family Haggadah. Using a binder, create a family Haggadah that you can add to each year. Weeks or even months before Pesach, have your younger children act out parts of the Haggadah; take photographs and include them in the Haggadah. Your children can dress up as the Four Sons, or they can reenact the Ten Plagues or the miraculous departure from Egypt.
Costumes and happy endings are par for the course.
