Music and Movement to Nurture Jewish Joy
Pray and Play
Twenty-five playful, prayerful songs for kiddos and the grown ups who love and care for them.
A songbook, songleader guide, and 25-track album by Dr. Emily Aronoff, Ed.D.
Get the Songbook and GuideOr Stream the Album
The Guide
A Guide + Songbook That Equips Songleaders to Engage and Educate
The context and concepts you need to nurture the next generation in song
Twenty-five prayer songs for kiddos and the grown ups who love and care for them. The songs were written, sung, and refined across fifteen years (2010-2025) in sanctuaries, classrooms, and Tot Shabbat rooms. They are shaped by twenty-five years of practice leading Jewish music for kiddos and the grown ups who love and care for them.
Each song carries the songleader strategies that make it land in a room of mixed ages, the structural analysis that tells you why the song works, the developmental why behind the design choices, the variations and open slots for community contribution, and the cross-references to the twelve Pray and Play principles.
Built for the cantor, the music specialist, the songleader, the rabbi who leads family worship, the early childhood director, and the grown up who wants to connect and create with their kiddos.
Why Pray and Play
Built to Hold a Room of Mixed Ages
Layered Entry Points
Every song offers many paths to participation, designed to simultaneously meet the needs and interests of different ages and stages. A two-year-old joins with a gesture. A five-year-old adds their idea to a zipper song. A grown up joins the singing.
Meaning Inside the Music
The kiddo learns the prayer by participating in it. The music and the movement and the lyrics and the transitions and the manipulatives each serve as an invitation to process, a path to understanding.
Anchored in Child Development
Every design choice is anchored in Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). The songs and system respect the diverse ages, stages, and abilities of all participants and what they typically do at each stage, cognitively, physically, socially, and spiritually.
Intergenerational by Design
The grown ups in your room are learners, too. The music and movement is built for everyone, and served best in connection. The book equips you to invite parents, grandparents, and caregivers into the ritual as learners themselves, inviting reflection and engagement that is meaningful and relevant to their entire, human, adult self.
Sneak Peeks
Music & Movement: See It In Action
ZIPPER MOVEMENT
How Good It Is, How Sweet It Is (Hinei Mah Tov)
A zipper movement song that names how sweet it is to be together in peace. Interactive and responsive, inviting the room to add their own movements.
ECHO SONG
Family Blessing Song (The Priestly Benediction)
A gentle echo song inspired by the Priestly Benediction. Made for giving and receiving blessings across generations.
IMPROV GAME
Shir Chadash (A New Song)
Improv echo game inspired by Psalm 96's call to sing a new song. Each participant gets four beats to invent a melody and the room echoes them back.
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Digital or Spiral Bound
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Digital Edition
Spiral Bound Edition
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Preview All 25 Tracks
Listen to the Full Playlist
Tap the playlist icon in the player to see all 25 tracks.
The Full Track List
Twenty-Five Songs Across the Arc of Family Worship
How Good It Is, How Sweet It Is (Hinei Mah Tov)
A zipper movement song that names how sweet it is to be together in peace. Sets a warm, inclusive tone.
Bim Bam
Baby's first niggun. A familiar three-part folk classic with built-in group choreography. An instant Shabbat anchor.
Hello Blessing, Bye-Bye Stressing (What Kind of Shabbat?)
A reflective zipper song that helps the room name what to release and what to welcome.
L'cha Dodi Please Come On In
A call-and-response welcome zipper movement song that anchors the L'cha Dodi tradition in a kid-sized format.
Baruch Haba (We Welcome You)
A warm, customizable welcome song for new babies, new families, guests, or first-time arrivals.
Five Little Challahs
A familiar Five Little counting structure that scales across ages and leads the room into Shabbat.
Thank You! (Modeh Ani)
A zipper morning gratitude song teaching that the first words we say each day can be thank you.
Hole-y Body (Baby's Asher Yatsar)
A playful, embodied entry into Asher Yatsar for infants and toddlers.
My Body (Toddler's Asher Yatsar)
A child-centered Asher Yatsar song that helps toddlers name what their bodies can do.
Shir Chadash (A New Song Echo Improv Game)
Improv echo game inspired by Psalm 96. Every participant gets four beats and the room echoes back.
Dancin' Song (Ivdu B'Simcha)
A high-energy freeze dance from Psalm 100, teaching impulse control while celebrating joy.
Bubbles (Mah Rabu)
Pairs the Hebrew language of awe with bubble play. Doubles as a regulation tool.
Makin' Music (Psalm 150)
An interactive instrument song highlighting individual contributions and joyful worship.
Oh, My God, OMG! (Mah Tovu)
Tells the biblical story behind Mah Tovu, a blessing offered where a curse was intended.
To Infinity and Beyond (Bar'chu)
A short, soaring setting of the Bar'chu that frames the call to prayer as an invitation across generations.
Ba Ba Bar'chu
Set to Baa Baa Black Sheep. A low-barrier entry into the Bar'chu for anyone new to Hebrew prayer.
Echad Means One (Sh'ma)
A movement-and-meaning frame for the Sh'ma that names what echad means through partner cues.
La La Love (V'ahavta)
An echo song inspired by the V'ahavta with simple finger signs babies can mimic.
Miriam's Movement (Mi Chamocha)
Celebrates Miriam's leadership after crossing the sea, paired with timbrels.
Peaceful Parachute (Sukat Shalom)
Uses a parachute to delight kiddos and to represent Sukat Shalom, the shelter of peace.
Please (Sim Shalom)
A simple echo peace song that frames prayer as both a request and an invitation to participate in making peace.
Gonna Make Peace (Oseh Shalom)
A zipper adaptation of Oseh Shalom that helps kiddos explore peace as an action.
Tzedakah Blessing Song
An echo song framing tzedakah as action: helping, sharing, building, pursuing justice.
Peaceful Ways (Shalom Aleichem)
A gentle, movement-friendly setting with paired ASL signs the youngest learner can sign.
Family Blessing Song (Y'varechecha)
A gentle echo song inspired by the Priestly Benediction. Made for blessings across generations.
Free Preview
See Sample Pages from the Guide
A short preview of what's inside. The full book is 106 pages.
This is a sample preview. The full spiral bound guide includes all 25 song entries, lead sheets, and appendices.
Inside the Collection
What's Included in the Guide + Songbook
25 Songs
Welcome songs, Shabbat songs, shacharit (morning prayer) melodies, blessings, movement songs, and the closing rituals that encourage expression, creation, and appreciation.
Comprehensive Songleader Guide
Every song entry includes songleader strategy notes, structural analysis, the developmental why, variations, and space for a community to add their own verses and movements.
Lead Sheets and Chord Charts
Guitar, ukulele, and piano chord charts and lead sheets for every song. Beginner friendly, only twelve chords in the whole thing.
Visual Supports and Musical Manipulatives
Guidance on including slide decks for projecting lyrics, and on musical manipulatives like scarves, bubbles, parachutes, shakers, and rhythm sticks to deepen engagement.
Twelve Pray and Play Principles
The design framework that every song is built against. Use it as a self-check before your next session or to anchor a staff conversation.
Developmentally Appropriate Expectations Field Guide
A standalone chapter of Developmentally Appropriate Expectations: why behavior is communication, what the prefrontal cortex means for what you plan, what a room of 25 kiddos ages 0 to 10 actually looks like today, and the three core considerations that ground developmentally appropriate practice: commonality, individuality, and context.
Glossary and Newcomer's Orientation
The vocabulary new prayer leaders need to lead Jewish family worship with confidence, plus a primer on the movements and gestures we use.
For Whom
Who Should Pray & Play?
Songleaders Who Work With Kiddos
The folks who show up every week and lead music for kiddos. Pray and Play is built for you first. The songs, the framework, the developmental why, and the language you need to explain your choices to a rabbi, a board, or a parent.
Cantors and Music Directors
Repertoire and frameworks to help you deepen engagement and extend education for your youngest congregants and their families.
ECE Directors and Tot Shabbat Leaders
Developmentally appropriate music for Tot Shabbat, holiday programs, and early childhood Jewish learning.
Rabbis and Clergy
Practical tips and tools to invite, create, and sustain relationships with families through connection.
Parents, Grandparents, and Caregivers
Songs and rituals to bring home, plus the language to ask your synagogue or center for what your family needs.
About
Shalom. I'm Emily.
Fanatic learner. Devoted educator. Lover of data. Mom3. Elder Millennial. Optimistic teller of cautionary tales.
I am an educator, musician, and nerd dedicated to increasing and improving the ways communities educate and engage children, families, and joyful Judaism. My work creates meaningful, memorable moments that foster relationships, nurture learning, and encourage harmony.
BA in Jewish Studies. Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. Doctorate in Jewish Education from Gratz College, with a dissertation that was the first formal study of Tot Shabbat as a phenomenon. Twenty-five-plus years in early childhood centers, synagogues, camps, and schools. Original compositions featured by PJ Library, Behrman House, and Transcontinental Music. Writing in The Jewish Educator, The Journal of Jewish Music, Kveller, RJBlog, and ScaryMommy. Recipient of the Grinspoon Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education and the Geffen Prize in Contemporary Jewish Studies.
Founder of the Songleading for Kiddos Support Squad, a professional membership offering curriculum, coaching, and community to folks who nurture the next generation in song.
Pray and Play is the working book I wished I had when I started.
Further Reading
The Philosophy Behind the Book
The research and thinking that shaped Pray and Play.
Launch Essay
Why Play Belongs in Prayer
Play and prayer are the same kind of work: creation, reflection, expression, and connection. The case for the book, grounded in Brené Brown, the AAP, NAEYC, and Dr. Lisa Miller.
Read the Essay →
Article
Behavior Is Communication
Why the kiddo who runs the room is telling you something, and how the songleader who reads the room can shift from correction to curiosity.
Read the Article →
Research
The Impact of Tot Shabbat
Findings from the first formal study of Tot Shabbat as a phenomenon, and what songleaders can learn from families about depth of engagement.
Read the Article →A Gift For You: Lyrics + Guide Sample
Beyond the Book
Songleading for Kiddos
Curriculum, coaching, and community for the songleaders who want support every week.
The book gives you twenty-five songs, the framework, and the pedagogy behind every choice. Songleading is a weekly practice, though, and every week brings a new room, a new holiday, a new question. That is what Songleading for Kiddos is built to answer.
Many members reimburse through their institution's professional development budget.
Voices
Emily is one of the best Jewish, children's musicians of our generation. I teach Sunday School at my synagogue and lead our Tot Shabbat and her music is an essential part of my teachings. I love hearing the kiddies singing her songs and learning about Judaism through them.
Rikki Kass
Jewish Federation of Sacramento Region
We incorporate many of the songs from Dr. Emily's programs into our daily life. I find myself relying on her now familiar tunes, to connect with my children during different times in our lives.
Nicole Epstein
Whenever we hear Dr. Emily is hosting a service or event, we do our best to be there. Our young daughter loves Dr. Emily and her music. Seeing her learning and enjoying Jewish music at such a young age makes us incredibly proud and happy as parents.
Hilary Lane Cohen
Questions
Good to Know
Get the Book
Twenty-five songs, fifteen years of writing, twenty-five years of practice, one book to take into your room.
Get the Songbook and Guide