Families at Sukkot In-Gathering

A family-friendly festival!

At Sukkot, Wilderness Torah cultivates a welcoming, family-friendly environment with a vibrant youth village. We believe that children and adults thrive when we build village together. We seek to create an atmosphere where tots, children, and teens receive the support they need to find their unique place within the community. This is how we create vibrant village life!

Experienced, creative, and caring mentors weave youth in and out of whole-village programming, and facilitate activities tailored to each age group.

  • Nevatim “sprouts” (ages 0-5)
  • Youth (grades K-5) 
  • Pre-teens (grades 6-7)
  • Teens (grades 8-12)

Youth & Family Offerings

Child Supervision: Please note that while we provide supervision and programming during certain parts of the festival, children must be accompanied by an adult to attend the  festival, and parents and guardians are responsible for knowing where their children and teens are at all times.

Family Experiences

If you’re a family, we encourage you to join for the entire festival. This  will support your youth’s integration into the children’s and teen groups. Dropping in and out of the festival can make it more difficult for children to build a sense of connection with the mentors and their peers. We also provide a designated family camping area near the community sukkah, with youth gathering spaces nearby.

Youth Spaces & Programming

You are invited to bring supplies (e.g., decorations, books, games, toys, pillows) to make our youth spaces more beautiful and enjoyable. Please label your items and leave anything that has special value to you at home or in your tent.

We offer a dedicated, cozy space for infants, toddlers, and their caregivers to enjoy some special time to explore and play in a safe place. There are comfy pillows, children’s toys, and books available for them to enjoy.

Nevatim Garden staff offer designated times when older, independent tots can be dropped off for projects, story time, and creative play.

In our children’s village, youth grades K-5 spend their time exploring, learning about Sukkot, playing games, crafting, helping in the village, and making friends with other children and mentors.

Our talented staff run a children’s program modeled after our B’hootz program. The program provides structured activity and supervision blended with space for creative, spontaneous play, music, and exploration. Families with children are invited to camp in family camping, where they can cluster their tents and share nighttime supervision of sleeping young ones.

In the village, youth will engage in hands-on, nature-based, creative, and explorative activities, such as the following: 

  • Braiding challah
  • Making crafts to bring to the  Rain Dance ceremony 
  • Making grape juice
  • Torah theater performances
  • Nature-based art projects 
  • Playful games that celebrate the fall harvest

Youth will be guided by our mentor team, dedicated to helping kids connect to their sense of wonder, the natural world, and the celebratory spirit of Sukkot. This year the Children’s Village is thrilled to bring back the music and fun of Bay Area band Octopretzel!

The Middlers Sukkah is the central gathering area for youth in  grades 6-7. Youth will have the opportunity to decorate and make the space their own. They will work with natural materials on site  and collaboratively create a sukkah that will support them throughout the festival. The Middlers Sukkah is a place for learning and sharing.

Additional middler program activities may include:

  • Designing and running the ‘kids harvest fair’
  • Sukkot challenge course
  • Creating special edible treats from the harvest

Experienced mentors guide teens into creating their own rich group experience while holding space for each individual in the group.

The teen program starts Friday afternoon and ends after the Rain Dance and Water Ritual on Sunday.

While teens are integrated into the whole community, we also provide teen-specific activities. Dedicated mentors guide teens in deepening their connections to themselves, each other, Judaism, and the earth. Samples of the program include:

  • Celebrating havdalah on the hilltop
  • A nighttime council under the starlight
  • Teen tea time
  • Embodied earth-based challenges, hand skills, epic play, deep learning, and council 

Teens will also get a chance to bring their gifts into service to the greater community. We will call upon teens to support the Sukkot village by apprenticing at the Hearth, supporting younger youth programs, and helping other aspects of the festival.  Teens will provide 4 hours of service on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday.

Experienced mentors guide teens into creating their own rich group experience while honoring the unique path each teen is walking.

Contact us with any questions about our Sukkot youth programs.
We hope to see your family on the farm!

Testimonials

Sukkot on the Farm is currently the singular, concrete experience my children have with Jewish culture and Judaism and they have left both years associating being Jewish with all positive and joyous things.

Sukkot Participant and Parent

Schedule

Stay tuned for a more in-depth schedule of family programming for our 2023 Sukkot In-Gathering.