Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

• A copy of the story, Grandmother's Lesson
• Goblet or wine glass from the Wonder Box
• Optional: A shawl and/or reading glasses for storytelling props
• Optional: "Grandmother's Lesson" coloring sheet, and crayons

Preparation for Activity

• Read the story. If you can, prepare to tell it, rather than read it from the page. You may wish to don a shawl or glasses, and perhaps alter your voice when you speak as the grandmother.
• Optional: Print the coloring sheet and copy for all participants. Place coloring sheets and crayons where children can use them when invited but will not be distracted beforehand.

Description of Activity

Invite the children to get comfortable for listening to a story. Set out the goblet, telling the children it is for Elijah. Ask a child to go and open the meeting room's door. Tell the children these actions are customary during a Passover Seder.

Read or tell the story. After the story, ask children if they can think of a time when someone made them feel welcome by inviting them to do something or go somewhere. You might ask children to raise their hands if they have ever been invited to play, to a birthday party, or to eat with someone? Ask them how it felt to be invited. Then, ask if anyone wants to tell about a time they invited someone else to play, to come to a party, or to eat together. Ask how that felt, too.

Including All Participants

Offer children the opportunity to color the illustration provided for “Grandmother's Lesson” to engage different learning styles and to help children focus on or relate to the story. A coloring activity can be a "preview" of a story. It can work as a quiet activity to help children physically settle. You might use it afterward to help the group recall and respond to the story.