Category Archives: Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur

image from JGateways.org: Mayer-Johnson symbol greeting card for Rosh Hashanah

Thanks to Shira Dicker,  I just learned about Gateways, “Boston’s central agency for Jewish special education,” and am pleased to pass along a page of their holiday resources.  Granted, I have no experience in this area, but I adore any attempt to include the widest possible range of abilities in holiday preparation and celebration.  Gateways has quick, downloadable instructions on how to make stuff like:

• The classic apple-print Rosh Hashanah card, but with scrupulous step-by-step visual and written  instructions. They include options like an improvised slant board for kids with accessibility issues and a quickly-assembled foam-covered fork for kids who need a firm handle on a slippery, paint-soaked apple. Plus, what to do if someone logically wants to eat that apple currently being used as a vehicle for paint.  (I mean, it’s an apple and it’s even got a fork in it…) Continue reading →

Adult’s hands cover child’s hands on the two handles

Wait, why do the kids need to cut the apples? Isn’t it easier and faster just to do it yourself? Yes, but letting kids share in the prep has oodles of benefits. It’s quality family-time, it creates anticipation, it’s fun, and it becomes a personal reference point to a holiday that kids will remember and can build upon. Still, I wouldn’t attempt this or any parent/child exploration/task/activity if I wasn’t in a decent mood at the moment. Common sense dictates when to chirpily invite a preschooler to assist in the kitchen and when to beg him to find something quiet to do in another room. Continue reading →