Imagine Me at the First Pesach

Children image yetziat mitzrayim and draw a picture of themselves along with their fellow slaves leaving Egypt.

Introduction

On Pesach, it is a mitzvah to envision leaving Mitzrayim (Egypt). This lesson plan gives children the opportunity to make Pesach more meaningful to them by allowing them to imagine their own role in the Exodus.

For a virtual classroom: ask students to come to class with paper and coloring utensils ahead of time. At the end of the lesson, ask parents to take a picture of each child’s drawing. Alternatively, use an online drawing tool such as Sketchpad. Teachers can then compile an online photo gallery of all student drawings using Padlet or Google Slides (see and copy the Google Slides art gallery here). 

Lesson objectives

The students will imagine what they think the first Pesach was like and then draw a picture of themselves at the first Pesach for a class book. They will describe the picture to the class using Hebrew vocabulary.

 

Terms

English	Transliteration	Hebrew
slaves	avadim	עֲבָדִים
Egypt	Mitzrayim	מִצְרַיִם
Exodus from Egypt	Yetziat mitzrayim	יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם
unleavened bread	matzah	מַצָּה
plagues	makot	מַכּוֹת
it would have been enough!	dayenu	דַּיֵּנוּ

 

Resources & Equipment needed

• Imagine by Alison Lester – Purchase here or watch a video reading of the book here
• White construction paper
• Crayons/markers

 

Procedure

1. Review key points about the Exodus from Egypt.
2. Ask the children if they know what the word imagine means. Listen and respond to several suggestions. A good age-appropriate definition of the word “imagine” might be “to think of a picture in your head.”
3. Read the book Imagine or play the video to the class. Before you read each page, have them imagine in their minds what they think each different place looks like. Discuss how the picture in their minds might differ from the picture in the book. Discuss how we can be a different person or be in a different place if we use our imaginations.
4. Do a simple relaxation procedure. Then have the children close their eyes and imagine what they think the first Pesach was like. Describe to them some things they might see: the desert, Egyptians and Hebrew slaves, and packages of belongings. Now ask the class to imagine themselves there. What are they doing? What are they wearing? What are they holding? What are they feeling?
5. Have the children draw a picture on white construction paper of what they imagined the exodus to look like. Have each child include him or herself in the drawing.
6. Collect the finished pictures and compile a book entitled “Imagine Our Class at the First Pesach.”