Question:
Is it OK for children to carry on shabos, what are some sources. Many parents allow them to wear backpacks to carry food to shul.
Answer:
According to many opinions it is permitted to give the child something that would be ossur m’drabonon if it is being done for the child’s needs. For example, it is permitted to give a child a siddur or nosh for him to take to shul so he can daven on Shabbos, if he will only be carrying it in a place that is not a public domain m’dorayso.
Sources:
Chayei Adam Shabbos 6-6, Shulchan Aruch Horav 343-6, Biur Halacha 343 D:H M’divrei Sorfim according to the opinion of the Rashba and Ran. See Be’er Moshe 6-18, Levush Mordechai 1-61, Chinuch in Halacha chap. 1 ftnt. 20 that this only applies to a child that hasn’t reaches the age of chinuch for shabbos yet. However the Biur Halacha, Chayei Adam and Shulchan Aruch Horav did not differentiate between the two.
