Every year this Grandma looks for an inviting and memorable project to do with the grandchildren for the holidays. In the past, this Grandma has done elaborate projects and recipes, not necessarily with many and complicated ingredients which this Grandma does not approve of with children, but with elaborate messes. See, for example, see the delicious chocolate covered matzo recipe that comes from our family in a previous holiday blog. Making it the day of the Passover Seder was a mistake. Even with covering all of the kitchen counters and floors with old towels, which is a must, I was stressed and concerned about the time it took and the mess, and ended up purchasing chocolate covered matzoh! I now know that it is a recipe to be made with older grandchildren and not the day of the holiday. But, I wanted a project to do with the grandchildren for the holiday. After all, children and grandchildren remember traditions and rituals from their childhood, not necessarily the day to day events as they grow up. I wanted to find an activity that would be a ritual and tradition that they would always remember and relate to this Grandma and the celebration of Passover and pass along in the future generations.
I searched the internet last year, and found a fabulous idea. I do not remember where I found it, but it was simple and easy and the grandchildren loved it and remember it. They are looking forward to doing it again this year. We made matzo place cards! Of course, I covered all of the kitchen counters and floors with old towels, even for this simple project. All I did was have the older grandchildren cut twelve matzos in half for twenty four place cards for twenty four guests. I bought four tubes of Betty Crocker Decorating Cookie Icing, chocolate flavored of course. Each 7 ounce tube decorates 12 cookies, but you must have one separate tube for each grandchild. I had several copies of a typed guest list enlarged and divided into names, the shortest names of which were for the youngest grandchildren, and longer for the older grandchildren. The oldest helped the youngest write their own names and the guests’ names on the matzo. Wonderful! No elaborate mess. No elaborate cleanup. We will have great pictures for the annual photo album this Grandma does for each grandchild. Simplify applies to Passover projects with grandchildren, and Easter projects too!
When I told a long (we never say old) grandma friend about this project, she loved it. She said she is going to do it with her grandchildren for Easter. She said all Easter egg coloring kits come wih a clear crayon to write on the egg. When the egg is colored, what is written on it will come up white. She is going to have her grandchildren color eggs as placecards, having the children write each guest’s name with the clear crayon. Of course, she said they do not color eggs on Easter, but do it the day before because of the mess. I told her about using towels to cover the kitchen counters and floors, but I wish I had spoken to her sooner about doing the project the day before the holiday, rather than on the day of the holiday meal.
It takes a grandma team to think of everything with
Joy,
Mema
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