Hillel Builds a House

As many synagogues are not open to celebrate our favourite festivals, PJ Library are bringing the fun to you. Please enjoy this activity guide with your family and friends and share how you got on with the activities. We’d love to see the fabulous way your family and community chose to celebrate the festivals.

Hillel Builds a House 

This book celebrates a year of Jewish festivals! All year, Hillel builds treehouses and forts. His structures are everywhere, from the back garden to under the stairs.

Sukkot starts five days after Yom Kippur and lasts for a week. The most popular tradition of Sukkot is building, decorating, and spending time inside a hut called a sukkah. On Sukkot families welcome guests into their sukkah, or visit friends in theirs, enjoy delicious seasonal foods, and feel thankful for what they have.

Hillel builds a house

Craft: Welcome visitors to your home and garden and make a hanging mobile with messages from people who visit you. When a child has a friend or a family member over for a get together or play date, encourage them to let their friend choose the activity. Part of being a good host is taking turns and being open to a guest’s interests. Reminding children that a guest gets to pick first helps reinforce hachnasat orchim in a fun way.

Collect mementos of time together with friends and family by downloading these message cards and use some thread to tie them to a hanger to make your own Sukkot memories mobile that you can add to every year.

Harvest veggie roll up

Recipe: Harvest veggie roll up                                            

This easy, kid-approved, recipe is great lunchtime idea you can enjoy with family and friends. Roasting the vegetables will highlight the natural sweetness in them.

Activity: Learn the Jewish months in Hebrew by making a calendar of the year. You can use it as a hanging decoration in a sukkah or in an indoor Sukkot celebrations space.

This interactive calendar shows the Jewish year at a glance. The paper wheels allow children to tie in the months and seasons in English and in Hebrew

Instructions

Print the template. Cut out and decorate three circles and then use a split-pin to connect the circles together. You could include an arrow on top of the circles to indicate what time of year it is now and rotate it as the year goes by.

More

A Rainy Day Story Activity Guide
One, Two, Three, Rosh Hashanah! Activity Guide
Tashlich at Turtle Rock Activity Guide