Shabbat Resources

Blessing over Shabbat candles with Hebrew transliteration, simplified English translation and visual supports.

Kiddush with Hebrew transliteration, simplified English translation and visual supports.

Motzi with Hebrew transliteration, simplified English translation and visual supports.

Match the ladies blessing Shabbat candles by the colors of their dresses. This activity familiarizes students with the idea that we light candles on Shabbat and that we cover our eyes while we say blessings over the Shabbat candles.

Match the challahs based on the colors of their challah covers. This activity will familiarize students with challah and the idea that challahs are covered with a cloth on Friday night.

There is one candlestick missing from each pair! Students can find each candlestick's mate by matching the color. This activity helps reinforce the idea that we light two candles on Shabbat.

What Shabbat objects go together? Wine and a kiddush cup, a Torah and a yad. In this activity, students match Shabbat objects that are associated with each other. Each pair of objects has the same background color, which provides students with an additional visual cue about which objects go together. This cue also will help students to correct themselves if they make an error.

This file folder activity involves matching large photographs of Shabbat objects. Prior to recognizing line drawings of objects, some children are better able to understand photographic representations. In addition to trying this file folder, we recommend taking photographs of the actual objects you use in your home which would lend familiarity to this task for your child. For a child with fine motor challenges, consider mounting the photographs on chunky blocks of foam, or built up cardboard.

The kiddush cup you use at home is not the only example of a kiddush cup. Students with disabilities may have difficulty understanding that kiddush cups can be different colors or shapes and still all be kiddush cups. By using photographs of a wide variety of kiddush cups, this activity will help students to generalize the idea of a kiddush cup.

Students gain familiarity with the blessing over the Shabbat candles and its meaning as they match the symbols representing the blessing.

This file folder activity is for students who are already familiar with the blessing over the Shabbat candles. This activity lets students place the blessing symbols in the correct order. Colored targets on the file folder and a colored frame around each symbol provide students with a visual cue to help them find the correct answer. This visual cue will also help students to correct themselves in case they make an error. Once this activity is mastered, try removing the colored frames and targets for a more difficult task. Another next step would be to make one of our text-matching file folder activities.

Mickey, Minnie, and their Disney friends each need to have candles, a kiddush cup, and a challah before Shabbat starts! Different-shaped pieces help cue students to give the correct items to each character. The shapes also help students correct themselves independently if they make an error.

Celebrate Shabbat with Jake! One of our Gateways students demonstrates how he celebrates Shabbat on Friday night with the help of his teen volunteer. This book can help familiarize your children with Shabbat rituals. It also includes symbol prayers to help your children follow along as you recite each blessing.  Download the template to make your own Shabbat book below.

Celebrate Shabbat with Zoe! One of our Gateways students demonstrates how she celebrates Shabbat on Friday night with the help of her teen volunteer. This book can help familiarize your children with Shabbat rituals. It also includes symbol prayers to help your children follow along as you recite each blessing.  You can create your own book just like this one using the template below!

Make your child the star of his or her very own Shabbat book! Take photos of your child as you celebrate Shabbat and insert them into this Shabbat book template. The template includes the text of the Shabbat book as well as the prayers. Children just love looking at pictures of themselves as they go through the steps of welcoming Shabbat.  View samples of completed Shabbat books above.

Let's go to temple! This story helps prepare children for a trip to temple by telling them what events to expect, naming the people and items they will see, and explaining what behavior is expected of them. When children know what will happen in temple they will be less anxious and more likely to have a successful day.