What can children learn from Parshas Bo?

Bitachon: Bnei Yisrael walked into the midbar without food, trusting that Hashem would provide. We can trust Hashem too, even when we do not know what comes next. Being ready for a mitzvah: They ate the korban Pesach dressed and ready to leave. When it is time for a mitzvah, we can be quick and eager to do it. Telling the story: The Torah tells parents to tell their children about Yetzias Mitzrayim. Asking questions and listening to the answers is part of the mitzvah.

Parshas Bo for Kids

פרשת בא

Locusts, darkness you could feel, and then the night of makkas bechoros. Blood on the doorposts, matzah baked in haste, and by morning Bnei Yisrael walk out of Mitzrayim as a nation.

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What happens in Parshas Bo

Locusts cover the land, and then comes a darkness so thick the Mitzrim cannot move, while in every home of Bnei Yisrael there is light. Hashem gives the very first mitzvah to the whole nation, Rosh Chodesh, and then the mitzvah of the korban Pesach. Each family places the blood on its doorposts and eats the korban with matzah and maror, dressed and ready to go.

At midnight Hashem Himself brings the last makkah, and the houses of Bnei Yisrael are passed over. Paroh finally hurries them out, and they leave so quickly that their dough has no time to rise. Rashi praises them: they followed Hashem into the midbar without even packing food for the journey, trusting completely that He would take care of them. The parsha also gives us the mitzvos of tefillin and of telling our children the story every year.

Lessons and middos for children

Bitachon
Bnei Yisrael walked into the midbar without food, trusting that Hashem would provide. We can trust Hashem too, even when we do not know what comes next.
Being ready for a mitzvah
They ate the korban Pesach dressed and ready to leave. When it is time for a mitzvah, we can be quick and eager to do it.
Telling the story
The Torah tells parents to tell their children about Yetzias Mitzrayim. Asking questions and listening to the answers is part of the mitzvah.

Questions for the Shabbos table

What do you think it was like to have light in your home while everything outside was dark?
Why do you think Bnei Yisrael put the blood on their doorposts for everyone to see?
If you had to leave in a hurry, what would you take with you?
What does the matzah at the Seder remind us of?

How your child steps into the story

Your child helps a family of Bnei Yisrael get ready on that night, standing by the doorway and carrying matzah dough wrapped up for the journey. The story ends at the edge of the midbar, with the sea of Beshalach still ahead.