High Holidays Kids Corner

Zoom Programs with Amanda

Make Your Own Rosh Hashanah Honey Bowl on Zoom: Monday, September 6 at 2pm.  Register to pick up supplies in person at our Pre-Rosh Celebration HERE. 

Lego Contest, Sukkah Edition: Sunday, September 26 at 4:30pm, register HERE

Shofar in the Park

An all-ages Shofar and Tashlich Service at Gallup Park Playground with playtime and Tashlich scavenger hunt!  Click here.

Engage from Home with these Curated Resources

Rav Nadav, Heather Gale, and Amanda Glucklich have handpicked this collection of online content so that you can choose your own path of high holiday learning.

High Holidays at Home: A PJ Library Family Guide and JKids Radio are wonderful resources. Please let us know if you would like a printout of the PJ Library guide by contacting Amanda at engage@bethisrael-aa.org. These are our suggestions; don't feel bound by our age groupings! 

Ages 4 and under

Apples Dipped in Honey - Doda Mollie
Rosh HaShanah Song for Toddlers 
Kids on Rosh Hashanah at Shalom Sesame
Sammy Spiders First Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah for Kids: Dip the Apple
Shana Tova, Happy New Year
The Maccabeats - Bashana Haba'a
Sammy Spider’s First Yom Kippur
Practicing Gratitude: Seth Rogan teaching Elmo to say Todah

Ages 5-8

Rosh Hashanah Shaboom: Be The Best Me
The Maccabeats - Bashana Haba'a - Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah: Can’t Stop the Feeling
Tap Your Heart: A family "Ashamnu" for Yom Kippur
Really, Really Sorry: For Yom Kippur, the Sparks say SELICHAH!
Yom Kippur: A Book of Jonah song for kids

Ages 9-12

Mayim Bialik on Rosh Hashanah
What is Rosh Hashanah? The Jewish New Year
The Maccabeats - This Is the New Year - Rosh Hashanah
The Maccabeats - Bashana Haba'a - Rosh Hashanah
Acharei Mot: A Hot Mess?
What is Yom Kippur? The Jewish High Holiday 
Yom Kippur: A Book of Jonah song for kids

Ages 13+

How to Celebrate Rosh Hashanah (at Unpacked)
How Loves Transforms Us
How Four People Found Happiness
How To Celebrate Yom Kippur (at Unpacked)
Central Synagogue Teen Choir: Yom Kippur Song

Older Teens

Unpacked YouTube Channel
Rabbi’s Spiritual Music Spotify Playlist
Rabbi’s Favorite Music Youtube Playlist

Adapted from The Biblebelt Balabusta

Apples and honey make a sweet start for the Jewish New Year. They take no time to prepare, and even less time to eat: wash, slice, pour, dip, munch! Maybe this is why it’s so easy to take the custom for granted, to treat it more like an appetizer than a minhag (custom).
 
But how about if we slow things down and invite our kids to help?  Even toddlers can operate a two-handle apple slicer with supervision. And what if we turned Rosh Hashanah apples and honey into an edible craft?  The kids get a hands-on reference point to the holiday and a chance to practice kitchen skills, plus the thrill of turning an apple into a dish. They’ll enjoy using the bowl for dipping chunks of round Rosh Hashanah challah, too. A team effort takes a bit longer, but it can make the same old apples and honey way more fun and meaningful.
 
To go deeper into the seasonal meaning of this custom, you can take kids to pick apples at an orchard and buy local honey.  The outing can become an annual tradition (and photo op) your kids will remember.  Plus, it supports local agriculture and shows where foods come from. Win-win.
 
Supplies:
Apples, small for slicing
Apple, a big one for the bowl (plus a spare, in case you mess up)
Lemon juice or quartered lemon
Cutting board
Apple slicer/corer with two handles
Serving plate
Paring knife (adults only)
Melon scoop/baller
Bowl for soaking apples slices in lemon water(optional)
Honey
 
Apple Slices: Place the apple on the cutting board (see safety suggestions below). Center the apple slicer over the apple with a hand on each handle. Ask your child to put their hands over yours (because you need “help”) and push down together. You may need to rock it a bit from side to side. Push all the way to the bottom and voila! - slices for the plate and a core for the compost heap.
 
Once your child has helped operate the slicer, they can try to do it themselves. You may need to start the cut by applying just enough pressure to make an indentation. Make sure their hands are on the handles and nothing is underneath the slicer except that apple.
 
To keep cut apples white, your child can either wipe each piece with a lemon wedge or opt for the soak method: cover apple slices in lemon water (a few squeezes should do, but a typical ratio is one part lemon juice to three parts water). By the way, green apples don’t turn brown as quickly as red apples, and some varieties are famously slow to brown (like Cortland and Ginger Gold).
 
Safety with the Apple Slicer/Corer: If a child is helping, make sure the table surface is at a low working height. Standing at a sturdy child-size table is ideal. Close supervision is needed with any cutting tool.
 
The Bowl: Pretend an apple is a pumpkin and gut it in a similar fashion: cut out the top with a paring knife (adult) and scoop the insides with a melon-baller (adult or child). Try not to poke holes in the sides or bottom. Children can wipe the inside of the finished bowl with a lemon wedge to keep it from turning brown.
 
To Serve: Let your child pour honey into the apple bowl and place it in the middle of a serving plate. Drain the apple slices and arrange them around the bowl.

Dip, bless, munch and enjoy!