"The Exodus" Tapestry of Grace Celebration Night -

Last fall we had an amazing Celebration Night with our Tapestry of Grace homeschool co-op/fellowship group. Since we are studying Year 1 (Ancient History and Literature) for Tapestry, we decided to have as our theme “The Exodus.” I’ll be sharing with you about the program, the costumes, and the food. I think all involved–moms, dads, kids, and guests had an enjoyable, educational, and spiritual experience!

As everyone arrived they received their table assignment on these pyramids:

The night began with a special Jewish Shabbat lighting of candles, prayer, and blowing of the shofar.

There were wonderful appetizers from the Middle East. The tables were beautifully decorated with items representing Egypt or Israel.

Egyptian Table:

Israelite Table:

We have 5 different age groups represented in our fellowship group, and each had a short presentation to perform for us based on what they have been studying in Ancient History or Literature this year.

Preschool: Acted out a movement story of the Days of Creation

Lower Grammar (K-3rd grade): Acted out the The Commandments

Upper Grammar (4th-6th grade): Sang a Song about the Ten Plagues

Dialectic (7th-9th grade): A “Family Feud” style skit between the Egyptian gods and the true Israelite God through Moses and Aaron.

Rhetoric (9th-12th grade): A recitation of an ancient Egyptian poem

We didn’t want the night to just be performances for an audience but decided to have an interactive experience with all who attended. We divided up those who were attending as either Egyptians or as Israelites and encouraged them to dress up in costume. The script to guide us through “The Exodus” was taken directly from the New Living Translation of the Bible, Exodus 7-12. I took out some of the repetitive phrases and it ended up being about 20 minutes long being read aloud. One side of the room represented Egypt and the other side was Goshen where the Israelite slaves lived. Some plagues affected both sides, but some only affected Egypt and the Israelites were spared. We had 5 dads volunteer to be the readers.

and three rhetoric and dialectic (high school and junior high) students acted out the parts of Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh.

Each of the 5 age groups were in charge of 2 of the 10 plagues. The teachers decided how they would use the kids to act out or help the audience experience the plague.

1st Plague: Nile turning to Blood

The blue plastic covered the width from one side of the room to the other as the Nile River. It was pulled to one side and became red to represent it turning to blood.

2nd Plague: Frogs

The little preschooler frogs hopped all over.

From the rehearsal-

3rd Plague: Gnats

Aaron struck his staff on the ground and the gnats appeared. The Lower Grammar group ran around being annoying gnats to all the people.

4th Plague: Flies

The small, plastic flies were thrown at those sitting at the tables on the Egyptian side. They had flyswatters on the table to swat the files away.

5th Plague: Livestock dying

The high school teens made cardboard cows which died during this plague.

6th Plague: Boils

You can see the “oven” up above in the Nile River picture. Moses took soot from the oven and tossed it in the air. It became boils which came on the people-in the form of red stickers.

7th Plague: Hail and Fire

Drums played while hail stones and fire balls flew through the air.

From the rehearsal-

8th Plague: Locusts

The preschoolers had locust masks and tore up green plants, ruining them.

9th Plague: Darkness

The lights were turned out. There was still a little light coming through the kitchen window on the Goshen side of the room.

10th Plague: Death of Firstborn/ Passover

Everyone who was a firstborn was asked to stand. The kids went through the Egyptian side with black streamers to represent the death angel passing through.

The blood was placed on the doorpost and the Israelites passed through it on their way out of Egypt. The Egyptian tables had gold and silver which the Egyptians gave to the Israelites to take as they walked past.

One thing that really struck me was how much of a mess everything was after the program was done. There was red bunched up by the Nile River, flies, torn green plants, soot from the oven, boil stickers, dead cows, hail, and fire balls all over the place. It gave a good depiction of how the plagues decimated Egypt at that time. With the death of the firstborn and of Pharaoh and his army and horses in the Red Sea, it must have taken Egypt a very long time to recover. God will be glorified!

My Kids (sorry so blurry-the photographer wasn’t too careful):