Counting the Omer with Tweens

The counting of the omer is the forty-nine-day period between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot. Traditionally, it was a way to count down the days before harvest of first fruits. Many cities and towns in Israel still celebrate the end of the omer with parades where young children dressed in white carry baskets filled with fruit and wheat.
 
Today, counting the omer can be a reminder to find the value in each day and to make it count for good. Thus, when counting the omer some people will think about character traits like kindness, chesed, honesty, and strength.
 
In 2018, counting the omer ends the evening of Saturday, May 19. Although counting began the evening of Saturday, March 31, it’s never too late to start thinking about the value of each day. 

Leading the family in counting the omer is a great task for tweens. Here are some ideas to share with them or let them be creative and come up with their own.
 
Scratch Off Days
 
You can laminate a calendar page and use white board markers to cross off the days or you can create an easy, interactive, scratch off calendar like this one from Land of Honey by purchasing scratch off stickers and placing them over each number on the calendar.
 
Create a Paper Chain
 
Tweens love making paper chains out of construction paper, scrapbook paper, or old wrapping paper, and doing so is a fantastic way to engage younger siblings. Each day add a link to the chain as you count the omer. Hang your chain somewhere prominent to remind you to make each day count.
 
Use Clothespins
 
Hang a piece of twine or ribbon across a wall or doorway and pin clothespins to it. Have your tween add a paper number for each day left in the omer. Then take down a number each day. You can encourage your tween to be creative and assign a value to each day. Then find a picture that represents that value to count that day.
 
Count with Candy

Count the number of days you have left and put that many pieces of candy in a jar. Each day, think about a Jewish value and what you did to live it during the day, and then eat one piece of candy.
 
Does your family count the omer together? Share what you do in the comment box below and share pictures on social media using #pjlibrary.