Tisha B’Av can be a difficult day to teach children. It is not a joyful Jewish holiday with songs, costumes, candles, or treats. It is a Jewish remembrance day connected to sadness, mourning, the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, the loss of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and many painful moments in Jewish history.
But even though Tisha B’Av is serious, it can still be taught to children in a gentle, meaningful, and age-appropriate way. With the right Tisha B’Av activities for kids, parents, teachers, homeschool families, and Hebrew school educators can help children understand the day without making it feel frightening or too heavy.
A good place to begin is with a story. Children often understand big ideas better through characters, pictures, and feelings. Before explaining every historical detail, you can read a Jewish children’s book about Tisha B’Av and then use it as a starting point for discussion.
For older children, The Old Olive Tree: A Story for Tisha B’Av is a thoughtful way to introduce the story of the Beit Hamikdash and the Temple Mount. In this Tisha B’Av book for kids, an ancient olive tree that has overlooked Jerusalem for thousands of years tells children what it has seen.
This helps young readers connect with Jewish history, memory, and the meaning of Tisha B’Av through a gentle storytelling approach.
For toddlers, preschoolers, and younger children, Tisha B’Av Story for Kids in Sweet Rhymes offers a softer introduction. This rhyming Jewish picture book uses simple language, colorful illustrations, and a child-friendly story to help little ones understand sadness, change, and comfort.
After reading, one simple Tisha B’Av activity is to ask children to draw Jerusalem. They can draw the Beit Hamikdash, the Kotel, the Temple Mount, or a picture of people praying and hoping for peace. For younger children, this can be a coloring activity. For older children, it can become a short writing prompt: “Why is Jerusalem special to the Jewish people?”
Another meaningful activity is a kindness chart. Tisha B’Av is often connected to the idea of sinat chinam, baseless hatred, and the importance of ahavat Yisrael, love for fellow Jews. Children can write or draw kind actions they can do during the week: helping a sibling, speaking gently, sharing, saying thank you, or including someone who feels left out.
Teachers can also create a simple timeline activity. Children can place cards in order: the Beit Hamikdash stood in Jerusalem, it was destroyed, the Jewish people remembered it, and we still hope for rebuilding. This can help explain Jewish history in a visual way without overwhelming young learners.
For a quiet classroom or home activity, children can make a “memory stone.” Give each child a paper stone shape and ask them to write or draw something they want to remember about Tisha B’Av: Jerusalem, the Jewish Temple, kindness, hope, or family traditions.
Parents searching for Tisha B’Av activities for kids, Jewish holiday activities, Beit Hamikdash lesson ideas, Tisha B’Av books for children, Jewish homeschool resources, or Hebrew school lesson plans can use books, drawing, discussion, and kindness projects to make the day meaningful.
Tisha B’Av is a day of mourning, but for children, it can also become a day of memory, learning, compassion, and hope.