The Ten Commandments

I like having this book to refer to when I am teaching the basic concepts of the Ten Commandments to pre-k and first graders in Jewish Schools. This book includes coloring pages as well as activities for kids to do.

This 95-page activity book was written for Jewish children aged six to 10 and is perfect for them. Christian and Muslim children would of course learn too, but the book does include many Hebrew prayers and phrases which may be unfamiliar to them, emphasizing the commandments to worship One God, and keep Shabbat holy.The book opens with a pen and ink drawing of the Hebrew letters on the tablets that God gave Moses and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, and asks children if they have ever seen these shapes. "The Ten Commandments help us to be good," the text explains. A two-page text next explains the covenant that God made with the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai, a time when the people felt great joy at the gift that would make them holy. "Na'aseh v'nishma, they called out in one voice. "We will do and we will listen."Tons of fun comes with the book's crossword, word-find and mystery word puzzles, mazes, riddles and word games, interspersed with explanations of each commandment and 20 stories and legends. There are also exercises and things for children to think about. After pages and puzzles explaining the first commandment, "I am the Lord your God," children are provided a page to cut into a pinwheel. The author asks if they can see, feel, touch or hear the air that turns it. They are then asked how this is like God. Similarly, following pages on the second commandment, "You shall have no other Gods before me," kids are asked told of an American general who said, "My country right or wrong." The book asks them how this general broke the second commandment. The Biblical, Talmudic and classical Jewish legends all expound upon the commandments. From the Talmud, children learn that one must never rejoice another's death, even the death of an enemy. The Israelites sang and danced after the ancient Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea. God admonished them, "The Egyptians are also my creatures. How can you sing when my children are dying?" A fine way to introduce children to the 10 basic Judeo-Christian rules. Alyssa A. Lappen