PJ Kindness Card Games: An Overview

During the first weeks of December, each new PJ Library family in North America receives a colorful PJ Tzedakah box. Tucked inside each box is a set of PJ Kindness Cards. These cards, which feature illustrations from beloved PJ books, are designed to teach children additional ways--beyond the giving of money (tzedakah)--to help others. Each color-coded Kindness Card describes a Jewish value and a corresponding action that even the youngest of children can perform in order to put that value into practice. For example, a card from the Be Kind to Animals Kindness Category displays a picture of a birdhouse, along with a caption that reads Make a Birdhouse, indicating that feeding and protecting backyard birds is one way of engaging in the Jewish value of Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim- Kindness to Animals.


PJ Kindness Cards can be used to play creative variations of many traditional card games (i.e. GoFilte Fish- a variation of Go Fish and Mighty Mensch-a twist on Old Maid). Many of the games described on the instruction cards (included in the game box) contain the word "mensch" (i.e. Mensch-Match, Mensch-arades, Mighty Mensch). Mensch is a Yiddish word that means a kind, caring and responsible person. PJ Library hopes that these cards will help your family discover fun and inspiring ways to integrate Jewish values into your daily lives and to become true mensches.

Check out the links below to learn easy, fun, and meaningful ways to use your PJ Kindness Cards.

Learn How to Play:

Explore:

Use PJ Kindess Card Games to inspire meaningful Jewish conversation and action inside your home. Learn how here.

Remember to visit the PJ Library Facebook Page to upload photos of your family playing the PJ Kindness Card games, and videos telling us how you are being mensches and helping others.