Fun Activities for the Four Questions: Why? Oh, Why?

You call this a feast? No bread, only bitter veggies, dipping foods, sitting on pillows... The Four Questions have a job: ensure everyone is paying attention to the strange meal. If they are, then they are bound to become curious and ask “Why are we doing this?!” If they are not, well, the Four Questions are there to get them focused.

Is it working? Or, is your seder in need of fresh acts of ordered madness?

It is not uncommon for families to create their own strange customs to get the Four Questions started.

Build, Build, Build

Set up: Place 5 playing cards on each plate + Kosher for Passover candies

See if anyone asks what the cards and candy are for. If not, ask everyone to build a house of cards. Explain the candy is ONLY to be eaten IF the house stays up. Every time a card falls, they lose a treat. Did any houses stay standing? How did it feel to lose something you wanted?

Catch: At the end of game give all the candy back to eat. Every bitter is met with a sweet.

Topsy Turvy

Set the silverware upside down and backwards. See who notices.

Freedom Fighters

Description: As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said “No one is free until we are all free.” How will you put your freedom to work this year? Will you help animals, the environment, soldiers, villages, schools? Ask your family or make a plan with your friends.

Supplies:

  1. Grab a pile of index cards or scrap paper + pencils to share.
  2. Decorate a shoebox. Add a slit in the top for the cards.
  3. Put the box + paper + pencils on your table next to the matzah.

Activity: Either wait for people to ask about the box, or, like the 4Qs, prompt them and bring it up. Once you do, invite everyone to write their goal on the paper and discuss. Make a family plan. Make a personal plan.

Add your own ideas in the comments below!