Teach Jewish History K–5 Lesson
Station 2 · Craft

Braid a Challah

Stories, Foods, and Words · Grades K–5
Name:Date:

Station leader: how to run it

  1. Give each child three balls of play-dough the same size (a fourth for the grades 3–5 challenge), or three paper strips about 1 inch by 11 inches and tape. Play-dough usually contains wheat, so a child with a wheat allergy uses the strips.
  2. Braid together, step by step. While hands are busy, read “What is this bread?” aloud. Describe what families do. No words are said over the bread, and no one eats it. It is play-dough.
1
Three ballsMake three balls the same size.
2
Three ropesRoll each ball into a rope, all the same length.
3
Pinch the topPress the three tops together.
4
Right over
Left over
Right over, left overRight rope over the middle. Left rope over the middle. Again and again.
5
Pinch and tuckPinch the ends. Tuck them under. A challah!

What is this bread?

Challah (HAH-lah) is a soft, braided bread. Many Jewish families bake it, or buy it, for Friday evening. That is when the weekly day of rest, called Shabbat, begins, and the family sits down to a special meal.

Often there are two loaves on the table. The braids are said to look like arms linked together. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, the loaf is often baked round instead, like a circle, for the circle of the year.

Many cultures have a bread for special days. What bread does your family eat on a special day?

Draw the bread your family eats on a special day.
Its name:
Grades 3–5 challenge: a challah can be braided with three strands, four, or six. Can your group work out a braid with four ropes? (Hint: the outside rope goes over one and under one, and you switch sides every time.)