Pesach חַג הַפֶּסַח
The Holiday of Freedom — where the journey starts. Count the Omer from Pesach to Shavuot.
See the Pesach pack →
The Holiday of Torah and Customs · early elementary Judaic Studies
Shavuot lesson pack חַג הַשָּׁבוּעוֹת
Cheesecake on the table, flowers in every vase, the Aseret HaDibrot read aloud while the whole shul stands. 15 slides walk your child through six joyful Shavuot customs, then gently tell the why — Hashem giving us the Torah at Har Sinai and our famous answer: na'aseh v'nishma.
Ages 5–9 · K–3
15 slides + 8 worksheets
Digital download
What's inside
Everything you need to teach Shavuot — and to make this year's chag the warmest one yet.
- English presentation deck — 15 slides, 16:9, with a full speaker script in the notes.
- Hebrew vowelized deck — same 15 slides in Hebrew with full nikud, including all custom names.
- Worksheet pack — 8 printable pages: color the Shavuot table, trace Shavuot vocabulary, count & circle, picture-icon match (six customs to six icons), draw "my Shavuot table," design my bikkurim basket, reflection.
- Teacher prep PDF — 15 pages; slide image on top, full Hebrew speaker notes below.
- Parent guide — 11 pages including 1-day & week-long lesson plans, Hebrew pronunciation help, the full vocabulary list, calendar context (Sefirat HaOmer to 6 Sivan), FAQ.
- Scope & sequence — single-page curriculum overview.
Six customs, one big thank-you
The pack is built around the six joyful things Jewish families and communities actually do on Shavuot — not just the historical event. Slides 5 through 10:
- Eating dairy foods (cheesecake, blintzes, ice cream)
- Decorating with flowers and greenery
- Tikkun Leil Shavuot — all-night Torah learning
- Reading Megillat Rut — kindness, loyalty, harvest
- Bringing the Bikkurim — first fruits at the kibbutz parade
- Standing for the Aseret HaDibrot in shul
The arc
Customs-first storytelling, then the why.
We open with the lived experience — what your child will actually see at the shul Shavuot table — then gently fill in the why behind it. Matan Torah at Har Sinai gets one slide, treated with reverence and without figural depictions of Moshe (we use the Mt. Sinai landscape instead).
Slides 1–10 · the customs
- Title — Chag Shavuot Sameach
- What is Shavuot? — the holiday of the Torah
- When is Shavuot? — counting the Omer to 6 Sivan
- Six joyful customs (intro)
- Custom 1 — Eating dairy foods
- Custom 2 — Flowers and greenery
- Custom 3 — Tikkun Leil Shavuot — staying up to learn
- Custom 4 — Reading Megillat Rut
- Custom 5 — Bringing the Bikkurim
- Custom 6 — Standing for the Aseret HaDibrot
Slides 11–15 · the story and the celebration
- Matan Torah — the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai
- Brachot for Shavuot — candles, kiddush, Birkat HaTorah
- Chag HaKatzir — Shavuot's three names and the harvest
- Let's celebrate! — review of the six customs
- Chag Shavuot Sameach! — closing blessing
Why parents love it
Built for early elementary learners (K–3, ages 5–9). Written for the parent who's never taught Shavuot before.
No Hebrew required
Every Hebrew word transliterated. Every speaker note in English. The parent guide has a pronunciation cheat sheet for every Shavuot word — Shavuot, Torah, chalav, perachim, Tikkun Leil, Megillat Rut, Bikkurim, Aseret HaDibrot, na'aseh v'nishma.
Reverent, not graphic
The Matan Torah slide treats Har Sinai with awe but no figural depictions of Moshe. We use Mount Sinai landscape imagery, the Decalogue parchment, and an illuminated Megillat Rut from a 13th-century Spanish bible.
Customs-first pacing
Six customs get six slides, one big idea each. Cheesecake, flowers, all-night learning, Megillat Rut, Bikkurim, and standing for the Aseret HaDibrot — your child can pick a favorite and start a new family tradition this year.
FAQ
Questions parents ask about the Shavuot pack.
Why dairy foods on Shavuot?
Several beautiful traditions. The Torah is compared to milk and honey because both are sweet and nourishing. Eretz Yisrael is called "a land of milk and honey." And tradition tells us that when our family received the Torah at Har Sinai, the laws of kosher meat were brand new — so the very first Shavuot meal was dairy. Slide 5 covers all of this gently for young learners.
Do you read the whole Torah-giving story?
Slide 11 tells the Matan Torah story gently — the family at Har Sinai, Hashem's question, and the famous answer Na'aseh v'Nishma ("we will do, we will hear"). No figural depictions of Moshe; we use the Mount Sinai landscape. Most of the pack focuses on the joyful customs, not the dramatic event itself.
Is the Aseret HaDibrot in Hebrew?
Slide 10 covers the custom of standing for the Ten Commandments in shul on Shavuot morning. The pack uses an illuminated parchment image of the Decalogue. Each commandment is named in the parent guide's pronunciation cheat sheet — both in Hebrew and transliterated.
Do I need to read Hebrew to teach this?
No. Every Hebrew word in the pack is transliterated, every speaker note is in English, and the parent guide includes a pronunciation cheat sheet for every Hebrew word you'll meet — Shavuot, Torah, chalav, perachim, Tikkun Leil, Megillat Rut, Bikkurim, Aseret HaDibrot, na'aseh v'nishma, Sefirat HaOmer.
What is Megillat Rut and why is it on Shavuot?
Megillat Rut is the short, beautiful book of the Tanach we read in shul on Shavuot morning. It tells the story of Rut, who chose to join the Jewish people out of love and loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. We read it on Shavuot for three reasons: it takes place at harvest time (Shavuot is the harvest holiday), Rut accepted the Torah just as our whole nation did at Sinai, and her great-grandson was David HaMelech. Slide 8 features an illuminated Megillat Rut from a 13th-century Spanish bible.
Is this Shavuot or Shavuos?
Both names refer to the same holiday — שָׁבוּעוֹת in Hebrew. We use "Shavuot" throughout the lesson; you can use whichever pronunciation your family prefers when discussing it.
From the blog
Counting the Omer with kids: a 49-day countdown to Shavuot.
Free parent guide — how the count works, the bracha, four kid-friendly ways to make Sefirat HaOmer visible at home (sticker chart, countdown jar, kindness chain, bedtime ritual), and the Hebrew vocabulary that lasts. The natural runway to teaching Shavuot.
Pairs beautifully with
Other packs in the Jewish Calendar Series.
Pesach and Shavuot are one long story — leaving Mitzrayim, then counting 49 days to Har Sinai. Buy them together and your child sees the whole arc, with Sefirat HaOmer as the bridge between them.
Sukkot חַג סֻכּוֹת
The third pilgrimage festival. Together with Pesach and Shavuot, the Shalosh Regalim — the three big trips to Yerushalayim.
See the Sukkot pack →
Ready to teach it?
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