While most families are sticking close to home during this war, there are some online resources that can help children stay busy and engaged, as well as a few in-person options.
Commercial theaters are still closed but the Jerusalem Cinematheque is reopening for a few hours a day, for free, and featuring many children’s movies. You need to reserve a place and there is a limit to how many people can be there at once. You can find the details here https://jer-cin.org.il/en.
The first day’s screenings on Monday were Barbie and a children’s movie called Ladybug & Cat Noir. The rest of the week’s movies were yet to be announced at press time, but that gives you an idea of the programming. There is ample protected space inside the cinematheque if there is rocket alert and the staff there is trained in how to help.
I was actually there when rockets were fired at Jerusalem during the Gaza War in 2014 when the Jerusalem Film Festival was in progress and there was no problem getting to a safe space within seconds. Ironically, I was attending a master class with the Korean director, Park Chan-wook, and he was totally relaxed and joked that only a Korean would understand what we go through here, because they get similar alerts due to missiles fired and tested by North Korea. If you take your kids out to playgrounds or grocery shopping, there is no reason to avoid cultural institutions that are featuring carefully planned programs.
Carefully planned events for kids
The Tel Aviv Cinematheque has not been able to reopen, but it is offering special programming called The Cinematheque Coming to You https://www.cinema.co.il/. These programs, sponsored by Red Cape Films, are free and are mostly for children.
They include meetings with children’s book authors who will read their work and talk about it, such as Shoham Smith, and there will also be a showing of the movie, Paddington. The Tel Aviv Cinematheque also includes some VOD programming with movies for children.
Yes has opened its library of movies for children for free for its subscribers in light of the situation on its VOD platform and StingTV. This is in addition to Yes VOD Kids Channel and its Childhood Channel, which it began offering last week. The movies available include all the Harry Potter films, the Lord of the Rings series, The Secret Life of Pets films, and much more.
Cellcom TV has also made its full catalog of children’s movies, including Harry Potter and other series, available.
The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem is open for in-person visits four hours a day, and it has partnered with the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School Jerusalem Arts Campus to provide activities for children at the museum. Admission is free but you need to reserve tickets and the number is limited, so visit their website at https://www.blmj.org/en/home-2/ for further details. There will be all kinds of workshops, including drawing and AI, as well as games. Musicians will perform at the Heracles: A Glimpse into a Hero’s World exhibit.
The Biblical Museum of Natural History, just outside the entrance to Beit Shemesh, is open and tickets must be purchased in advance https://www.biblicalnaturalhistory.org/ It is featuring a new exhibit called The Art of the Ark, which showcases a distinctive collection of over 100 artistic representations of Noah’s Ark from around the world.
Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, the museum’s founder and director, said in a statement: “It’s truly remarkable to discover how the concept of Noah’s Ark has permeated virtually every culture and nation on Earth. The very existence of a vessel that gathers diverse animal species on a journey towards a new and better world has transformed the ark into a symbol of the conservation of life and nature and the preservation of endangered species.
Karben books has made a free Israel-themed virtual bookshelf available, featuring books in English for young children, some of which you can listen to as well as look at https://ebooks.lernerbooks.com/bookshelf