How to Celebrate a Christian Passover Meal for Preschoolers

On the Thursday before Easter, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. They broke bread and drank wine, a gesture that we now commemorate in communion.

But that Passover meal, what was that about?

Last year, I wanted to start a tradition with my kids that we would observe Passover, share a meal with friends that would celebrate (in a somber way) the Last Supper and prepare our hearts for the holiest of holy holidays while the Easter bunny loomed in the background.

It was a wild success.

First, the food was ah-maz-ing. Amazing. It was so good.

Second, the script I prepared was perfect. Our littles (3-years-old) followed along and our bigs (6-years-old) understood the message. After the scripted part of the meal, we feasted and it was so good.

Did I mention that the food was so very good?

Here’s our script:

Thank you God for choosing us to be your people. Thank you for making us holy through the blood of Jesus and helping us to remember Him as we celebrate his Last Supper.

Thank you for this feast of unleavened bread, when we can remember how you freed the Israelites from Egypt through the Passover and how you freed us from sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Allie, the youngest among us, asked, Why are we eating unleavened bread tonight?

We eat matzoh because we remember Jesus. Sin, like yeast, puffs us up and makes us feel bigger and better than we are. This bread has no yeast, like Jesus, who was never puffed up with sin.

The adults broke the matzoh in half. Jesus was broken for us.

Tynley, the next youngest, asked, Why are we eating bitter herbs? (Except this was purely academic since none of the kids would go near the bitter herbs. Alas. Maybe this year.)

We eat bitter herbs to remember the bitterness of slavery the Israelites suffered under the Pharoah. We also remember all the people who have suffered or died so that we may worship Jesus freely and how Jesus took on all the bitterness of our sins. 

Grace, the next youngest, asked, Why do we eat parsley dipped in salty water? (Except I bought cilantro by mistake, so we had cilantro dipped in salty water. We all had a good laugh over that at our somber Passover Seder.)

Parsley reminds us of the branches that the Israelites used to wipe lamb’s blood on their door frames so that the angel of death would know to pass over their homes.

It also reminds us of the new life we find in Jesus.

We dip our parsley in salty water to remember the salty tears the Israelites cried as they painted their door frames.

Dakota, the oldest of the children, asked, Why do we eat haroset?

We eat this sweet apple paste to remember the bricks and mortar the Israelites had to lay as they did the Pharoah’s work.

Its sweetness reminds us of the hope we have in eternal life with Jesus.

In the middle of the table sits a cup of the fruit of the vine. The Israelites never drank from this goblet, saving it for Jesus. Since Jesus has already come, we can drink from this special cup.

We drink in hope for our future and joy in Jesus!

The Israelites avoided death by the blood of a lamb painted on their door frames. Jesus is called the Lamb of God because His blood saves all of us from our sin and the death we deserve.

We will eat a special dinner of lamb, new spring vegetables, new baby potatoes, and New Life cupcakes to symbolize the new life we all have thanks to Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray.

And since I said the whole script, I let the men do the praying for the families.

And then we ate.

Did I mention how good it tasted? It was delectable.

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I compiled our script from a variety of sources, including the Dayspring I AM booklet and Ann Voskamp’s Christian Passover.

© 2015 – 2018, Tara Ziegmont. All rights reserved.