If you're looking for a fun craft project to do with your children for Tu B'Shvat, this quick project from Bonnie Wilczynski might be just the ticket. After decorating paper cups with markers or colored pencils, kids can plant parsley seeds that will grow over the coming weeks and can then become a part of your Passover seder table.
For this project you will need:
- Paper cups (all white, no decorations or lamination)
- Markers, colored pencils or crayons
- 1 small bag of planting soil (organic)
- 1-2 packages of parsley seeds
- 3 disposable paper tablecloths (for easy clean up)
Give each child a paper cup and ask them to decorate it with symbols that they associate with Tu B'Shvat. They could draw trees, fruits from Israel, nature scenes, whatever they like. You can learn more about Tu B'Shvat in this About.com article.
While the kids are decorating their cups lay two (maybe three) tablecloths on the floor - these are just to catch any dirt that doesn't make it into the cups and to make clean up easier later on.
Have the kids fill their cups with soil, about ¾ full. Give them each a few parsley seeds. Have them poke a finger into the dirt, then drop the seeds inside and cover them with soil.
Place the cups in a sunny or partially shady spot and water the soil until moist. Parsley likes to grow in moist soil, so over the coming weeks the dirt should be kept moist, not soaked or dry.
Now the kids can watch their plant grow - in April it might even be big enough to use for their Passover seder!
If I were to do a similar project, I would not use parsley for children to raise. It takes about a month for the seeds to sprout and I would think that any enthusiasm they had, would be long gone by then
Parsley grows easily and by Pesach it is just the right thing to use. The excitement is in the child taking care of the parsley as we have been asked by G-d to take care of the earth. They are doing their part age appropriately.