Toys and Games on Shabbos

Rabbi Doniel Yehudah Neustadt

 Courtesy of Ohr Olam Mishnah Berurah

Hashem gave us the gift of Shabbos, a holy day of rest, to be spent in prayer and Torah study.85 This concept of Shabbos should be impressed on children as well, even while they are allowed the games and toys that are permitted on Shabbos. In the following pages, we have divided many of the most popular games and toys into two categories: those that may be used on Shabbos by children under the age of bar or bas mitzvah, and those that entail Biblical or rabbinic violations of melachos, which children above the age of chinuch should be taught to avoid. (Games involving balls and marbles will be discussed later.) There are no restrictions on infants or toddlers playing on their own with toys or games on Shabbos.

Permitted Games and Toys:

  • Beads—may be strung, but only if the knot at the end of the string was tied before Shabbos.86
  • Binoculars—adjusting the focus is also permitted.87
  • Blocks
  • Board or dice games—Battleship, Chutes and Ladders, Risk, Trouble, etc.
  • Books—most poskim maintain that it is permitted to open and close books that have words stamped on their edges, as is commonly found in library books. The basic halachah follows their opinion.88 In deference to the minority view, however, it is proper not to use such books when others are available.89
  • Bubbles90
  • Cards—but after the game is over, the cards may not be sorted by color, type, etc.
  • Checkers, chess, dominoes
  • Dolls
  • Hide-and-seek, hopscotch, jump rope, tag91
  • Lego, Bristle Blocks, Clics, Tinkertoys—several poskim permit playing with these on Shabbos.92 There are, however, some poskim who rule stringently.93
  • Monopoly—play money is not prohibited.94
  • Pick-up-stix—if the game is usually played with the score being recorded, it is forbidden to play even if the score will not be recorded. If it is usually played without recording the score, then it is permitted.
  • Sandbox—but water may not be poured into the sand.95
  • Stamp collection—it may be shown and looked at when stamp collecting is a hobby, not a business.
  • Sticker collection—it may be handled when the stickers are effortlessly stuck on and peeled off. If they are stuck on firmly and will remain in place for 24 hours, it may be prohibited.96
  • Tent—it is permitted to drape a blanket over a table or a single chair so that children can play underneath.97
  • It is prohibited, however, to drape a blanket over an empty space between two or more chairs. It is likewise prohibited to remove a blanket placed in this manner over two or more chairs.
  • Tricycle98—it may be ridden in an enclosed area only.

Forbidden Games and Toys:

  • Bells, rattles, phones, whistles—any object whose purpose is to make noise is forbidden.99 If it makes noise immediately upon being picked up, it is also inherently muktzeh.100
  • Bicycle—it is prohibited because riding it is a “weekday activity,” and it is generally ridden outside an enclosed area and is liable to require adjustment.101 It is considered “light” muktzeh,102 which may be moved if the space it occupies is needed.
  • Boggle—since it usually entails writing words and recording the score, it is forbidden to play even if the words or the score will not be written.103 Placing the cubes in the individual slots may also be considered writing, since the letters remain fixed in the board. For this reason, Junior Boggle may also be prohibited.
  • Clay, Play dough—these may involve aspects of the forbidden melachos of kneading, building, smoothing, and writing.
  • Etch-A-Sketch, Magna Doodle
  • Models—toys composed of parts that are screwed together are prohibited due to the violation of the melachah of building. These include airplane or train models and the like.
  • Paper airplanes and boats—may be played with, but they may not be fashioned.104
  • Puzzles—many poskim are of the opinion that assembling a puzzle is considered writing and should be avoided on Shabbos, especially if the pieces are fitted into a frame or are tightly fitted together.105
  • Scrabble, Deluxe Scrabble—because this usually requires writing the score, it is forbidden to play even if the score will not be written. Playing Deluxe Scrabble may also be a violation of the melachah of writing, since the letters remain attached to the board.106
  • Snowballs, snowmen—snow that fell before Shabbos is definitely not muktzeh. Snow that fell on Shabbos is subject to dispute.107 The poskim agree, however, that a snowman or snowball may not be made on Shabbos.108 Writing in the snow is prohibited.109
  • Tree climbing.110
  • Weaving, Lanyards—yarn, plastic, and other materials are all prohibited to be woven.111

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85. Mishnah Berurah 290:7; 307:4-5.

86. Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:22; Be’er Moshe 6:37.

87. O.C. 307:17; Chazon Ish (quoted in Tzitz Eliezer 6, pg. 296).

88. Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 340:4; Aruch ha-Shulchan 340:23.

89. Mishnah Berurah 340:17. See also Chazon Ish, O.C. 61:1.

90. Rav S.Z. Auerbach (Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:31 and note 86). While blowing bubbles is permitted, children should not be encouraged to do so on Shabbos; Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:31 note 87.

91. O.C. 301:2.

92. Rav S.Z. Auerbach (Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16, note 57, Binyan Shabbos, Boneh, pg. 47, Shulchan Shlomo 314:1, note 1); Be’er Moshe 6:26; Tzitz Eliezer 13:30; Ohr le-Tziyon 2:272; Yechaveh Da’as 2:55.

93. Rav Y.S. Elyashiv (quoted in Shalmei Yehudah, pg. 90 and in Yashiv Moshe, pg. 35); Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:19; Machazeh Eliyahu 69. Rav M. Feinstein is quoted (Sefer Tiltulei Shabbos, pg. 24) as not rendering a final ruling on this issue. See also Igros Moshe, O.C. 5:22-27. It stands to reason that Waffle Blocks, which are loosely connected blocks, would be permitted even according to the more stringent view.

94. Rav S.Z. Auerbach (Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16, note 91).

95. Mishnah Berurah 321:50.

96. Based on O.C. 317:3 and 340:14.

97. Mishnah Berurah 315:31.

98. Rav M. Feinstein (oral ruling, quoted in Sefer Tiltulei Shabbos, pg. 24); Be’er Moshe 6:16.

99. O.C. 338:1. For this reason, games that use timers that make a noise as the minutes tick by are prohibited.

100. See Igros Moshe, O.C. 5:22-7; Chut Shani, Shabbos, vol. 3, pg. 146.

101. Kaf ha-Chayim 404:8; Tzitz Eliezer 7:30-1.

102. See O.C. 308 for details.

103. Chayei Adam 38:11.

104. Rav S.Z. Auerbach (Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:21).

105. Rav S.Z. Auerbach (Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:24; Shulchan Shlomo 340:13-2); Rav Y.S. Elyashiv (Shalmei Yehudah, pg. 90); Sefer Tiltulei Shabbos, pg. 25, based on an oral ruling by Rav M. Feinstein. See Children in Halachah, pg. 140, for more lenient opinions.

106. Igros Moshe, O.C. 5:22-14; Sefer Tiltulei Shabbos, pg. 25, quoting Rav M. Feinstein.

107. Mishnah Berurah 338:30 states that rain that fell on Shabbos is not muktzeh. Some poskim (Har Tzvi, Soser; Sefer Hilchos Shabbos, Dosh, pg. 120, quoting Rav M. Feinstein; Rav Y.S. Elyashiv, Shalmei Yehudah, pg. 203; Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:45) maintain that snow is similar to rain, while others (Igros Moshe, O.C. 5:22-37; Rav S.Z. Auerbach, Shulchan Shlomo 310:26-2) suggest that snow may be considered severe muktzeh. See also Mishnah Berurah 310:32, quoting Chayei Adam.

108. Be’er Moshe 6:30; Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 16:45.

109. See Mishnah Berurah 340:20.

110. O.C. 336:1.

111. Mishnah Berurah, 344 (end)-6.