Culture Corner AND Holiday Hoopla - Sukkot

Sukkot, or the Festival of Booths, is a Jewish celebration that takes place in September or October.  It is a time of giving thanks for a bountiful harvest.  One of the customs of Sukkot is to build a harvest booth, or sukkah, in a place outside the house.  The sukkah is decorated with harvest fruits, and a roof is made by placing green tree branches across the top.  During the week-long festival, many families often gather inside the sukkah to eat their meals.

Making a Sukkah

Let your children help create a sukkah for your celebration.  To make a three-sided booth, place two chairs against a wall, about four feet apart, with their backs to each other.  Make a roof of branches topping with a green blanket.  Let children use play food or plastic fall decorations to decorate their sukkah.

Another option for making your own sukkah that I have found online is to build one out of legos. This example was found at Bible Belt Balabusta.

It is Harvest Time

Sung to: "Ten Little Indians"

Gather up the food and put it in your basket,

Gather up the food and put it in your basket,

Gather up the food and put it in your basket.

It is harvest time.

Additional Verses: Gather up the corn, the grapes, the pumpkins, the apples, the nuts, the carrots, the berries, etc.

Harvest Snacks

At snack time discuss foods that are harvested.  Set our bowls of foods such as nuts, seeds, dried fruits and raw veggies.  Let each child place a small amount from each bowl in a resealable plastic sandwich bag and eat their snack in your sukkah.

Because Sukkot happens during the harvest, apples are a traditional food. I found a new take on the candy apple using one of my favorite foods - chocolate!- at Chabad and we will definitely be trying this out. I'm thinking that perhaps adding a layer of chocolate over a caramel dipped apple would also be wonderful!

One of the first questions I had when looking for Sukkot ideas was how to incorporate culture without religion. This is a fine line as the two are interwoven throughout the world. When I present any of these projects I am careful to refer to them as part of Jewish culture and we do not mention the religious aspect of any of these activities. I believe it is important to educate our children about as many cultures of the world as we can. We truly only fear what we do not understand.

So, what do you do to celebrate culture in your organization? Do you have a fun and exciting way to introduce a culture or do you have a special way to let parents know what to expect when you showcase a new culture? Let me know!

Graphics for this post from