Once you’ve conquered the challenge of preparing for Pesach, you’re ready for more fun!
I firmly believe that everything can be gamified—it makes life more interesting, exciting and engaging. And Pesach is no exception! Here are seven games that can be played at any time during the holiday. With a few modifications, they can be fun for all ages.
Matzah Puzzle:
Let’s start with a game you’ve probably played before. And if not, it’s time to start! Crack your matzah in two, then line up the pieces so it’s hard to tell where they were broken apart. Hold them up together and challenge those around you to guess where the crack is. If they guess right, you eat the pieces. And if they guess wrong . . . well, you also get to eat the pieces.
Pesach Baseball:
Some of my favorite yom tov memories involve a baseball game my father carefully prepared. Here’s how it works. Write down a bunch of Pesach-related trivia questions on slips of paper, assigning each one a difficulty level.
Single = easy question
Double = medium question
Triple = hard question
Home run = super challenging question
Divide into two teams. When a team is “at bat,” a player picks a question. If they answer correctly, their team gets a theoretical runner on base. Answer incorrectly, and that’s an out. Keep track of the bases, and play with two outs per inning (it keeps the game going). Play for as long as you like. It’s a great way to review knowledge, learn new things and add some competitive fun to your meals!
Forbidden Words:
Want to make discussions more fun? Make them harder! Pick some common Pesach words (like matzah, Seder and freedom) and write each on a slip of paper. Give each person a word at the start of a meal, and the goal is to avoid saying it. Whoever slips up the least wins! Want to make it harder? Pick three words for the whole table to avoid.
Get Rid of the Chametz:
Create a piece of chametz. Important: It should be FAKE. Think: a printed paper with a picture of a pretzel. Decide how long you want to play (a meal? all of yom tov?). The goal? Avoid having the chametz! Sneakily hide it in someone’s shoe, under their napkin or on their chair. Whoever has it when the game ends . . . loses!
Pesach Remembered:
Create a giant memory/matching game using full-size pages with Pesach pictures. You can use clipart images (or print my illustrated one, here). Lay the large cards out on the floor and flip them over as you play, looking for matches. Want a variation? Start with all the cards face up and give players thirty seconds to memorize them. Then flip them over and test their recall. Or add a creative twist: If you flip two that don’t match, convince the group why they actually do!
Pesach Salad Bowl:
Combine Taboo, Charades and more into a giant heap of Pesach fun. Write down about thirty Pesach-related names, phrases or objects on slips of paper. Fold them up and drop them into a bowl. Divide into two teams and use a timer (or if you’re playing during chag, use a watch with a second hand for approximate timing) and give each team a minute per turn.
Round 1: Players describe the words on the slips (without saying them) while their team guesses. When time’s up, the next team goes. Once all the slips are guessed, tally the points, and put the slips back into the bowl.
Round 2: Same words—but now you can only give one-word clues!
Round 3: Same words again—but now you must act them out!
At the end, the team with the most points wins.
Clean Up:
This one is ridiculously simple, and it actually helps clean up! At any meal, the host secretly picks one item on the table that needs to be cleared and then announces the challenge. Whoever clears that item wins! Watch as the table magically gets cleaned in record time.
Try one, try some or try them all—and see how much fun these games can bring to your Pesach!
Sari Kopitnikoff is an experiential educator, digital artist and content creator who is passionate about creating books, games, activities and shows that bring Judaism to life. You can find her books, games and lots of educational activities on her website, thatjewishmoment.com and on social media, @thatjewishmoment.