RECYCLED BOTTLE BEAD GROGGER
The best part of this craft (other than shaking the grogger when it’s done, of course!) is choosing the beads. Kids love to search through the bead pile, examine them with a magnifying glass, decide if they want to do a color theme or a shape theme, and just marvel at them. My kindergarten students usually take a long time to choose their beads; it’s THAT fun! Be sure to download the free Purim Terms PDF, too, so that kids can learn how to say (and spell in Hebrew) Purim Sameach, grogger, and raashaan, which is the word they use in Israel instead of grogger (it means “noisemaker”). You can print this PDF, and kids can cut out some of the words to glue onto their bottles. Purim surely will be extra colorful with a Recycled Bottle Bead Grogger!
BIRTHDAY OF THE TREES PARTY CROWN
Celebrate trees and think of the many reasons to love them with this festive party crown! It’s truly amazing all the things that trees do — everything from cleaning the air, providing a home to animals, giving us shade on a hot day, and so much more. This Tu B’Shevat craft gives your kiddos a chance to not only be creative, but also inspire others to be thankful for trees! Be sure to download the free Birthday of the Trees Party Crown Leaves PDF, which also includes a sheet of blank leaves so that your kiddos can brainstorm their own “We Love Trees!” list. Chag Sameach!
PAINTED PINE NEEDLES BOUQUET
Looking for a Tu B’Shevat decoration? Look no further than a tree itself — its fallen branches make delightful decorations! I used a pine branch because that is native to my area and has full branches, even in the winter; but you could substitute a branch from any tree where you live. Your kiddos will love choosing a branch and then painting it. There are so many things to love about trees, but first and foremost, they are simply beautiful! This craft gives kids a close-up look at a special part of a tree and gives them an appreciation of how magnificent they truly are!
FINGERPRINT TREE
Have you ever met a kid who didn’t like playing with a stamp pad? Nor have I! Your kiddos will surely love making a Fingerprint Tree to celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees! They can make a trunk using a brown marker, crayon, or colored pencil, and then poke their fingers in a green stamp pad to make fingerprint “leaves” on the tree. Year after year, my kindergarten synagogue students LOVE making this; and, truth be told, most of them end up putting their whole hand in the stamp pad, which is, of course, all the more fun (but less fun for the grown-ups if it’s not a washable stamp pad — make sure you use a washable stamp pad)! Each year, I am amazed at the uniqueness of my students’ tree creations and how much they inspire me to appreciate the beauty of trees even more!
3D CARDBOARD TREES
Tu B’Shevat reminds us of our sacred obligation to care for trees and the environment and to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. This fun and colorful craft gives kiddos the chance to do all three! They’ll REDUCE the amount of new art materials your family buys by using upcycled cardboard as their canvas; they’ll of course REUSE the cardboard, giving it a second life; and, if the day comes that they no longer want to keep their masterpiece, it can easily be RECYCLED! Sounds like a win-win-win and the perfect way to honor trees!
BUTTON TREE
If you’ve been saving all those extra buttons for years, now’s the time to break them out! Gluing buttons is so fun, and gluing them into the shape of a tree is even more exciting! Your kiddos will surely love creating this unique Tu B’Shevat craft while at the same time honoring the Jewish value of BAL TASHCHIT (do not destroy) — a win win!
PUFFY PAINT CARDBOARD TREE
Puffy paint is positively palpitating, and your kiddos will flip for its foamy fun! It’s so easy to make — just mix one part white glue with two parts shaving cream, add a few drops of paint, and voila, you have puffy paint! There is endless room for creativity when your kiddos create a Puffy Paint Cardboard Tree, and it makes a colorful and unique decoration for Tu B’Shevat — perfect for celebrating all the reasons we love trees! Make sure you make some extra puffy paint and mix it with different colors so that your kiddos have lots of time to play with it. Wishing you and your kiddos hours of delight as you make these dazzling decorations!
UPCYCLED MAGAZINE TREE COLLAGE
The best way to celebrate trees is to protect them — not just on Tu B’Shevat, but every day! Honor the Jewish values of SHOMREI ADAMAH (guardians of the earth), BAL TASHCHIT (do not destroy), and L’DOR V’DOR (from generation to generation) by having your kiddos use upcycled materials for this beautiful art project — cardboard from a box as the canvas and magazine scraps to create the tree collage. They’ll have so much fun, all while learning important lessons in being kind to trees and the planet! Sounds like the perfect birthday party for trees!
WHIMSICAL FELT TREES
Get ready to squeal when your kiddos make these Whimsical Felt Trees — they’re THAT cute! This simple sewing craft for Tu B’Shevat, the Birthday of the Trees, gives kiddos a chance to explore how beautiful and unique trees really are. Sewing felt is actually pretty easy, even for little hands; and these sweet little trees can be used as decorations for your Tu B’Shevat celebration or for anything you want. Hip hip hooray for trees!
HANDPRINT TREE
Hands down, Tu B’Shevat is such a wonderful holiday! Celebrate the birthday of trees by having your kiddos make a Handprint Tree! Just trace their hand (and part of their arm) to make the trunk and branches and then have them cut out lots of paper leaves (or use a leaf craft punch). Glue everything to a piece of cardboard that your kiddos can paint first if they wish. This would be a fun project to do every year to see how your kiddos’ hands have grown and to display their artwork as beautiful Tu B’Shevat decorations!
LEAF RUBBINGS
Good old-fashioned leaf rubbings! This was one of my favorite activities as a child — it’s so simple, yet completely magical at the same time! This Tu B’Shevat, give your kiddos a chance to take a really close look at leaves and appreciate their beauty and uniqueness by setting up an invitation to create leaf rubbings. Depending on the climate where you live, this may require some advanced planning as some people have snow on the ground on Tu B’Shevat. You can collect the leaves in the summer or fall and keep them pressed safe in a book until Tu B’Shevat — what an exciting surprise that will be!
AIR-DRY CLAY JEWISH STARS
If your kiddos know how to make cookies, this craft will be easy peasy! Just roll out some air-dry clay and then use cookie cutters to cut out Jewish Star shapes. After they’re dry, paint them in lots of different colors (if you want a marbleized effect, just swirl in some white paint with each of your main colors). Use them as decorations; sprinkle them all over your house; and trade them with friends! What a fun way to show some Jewish pride!
BEDAZZLED TZEDAKAH BOX
Everyone will want to give more tzedakah when they see that your kiddos have made a Bedazzled Tzedakah Box! All the sparkles will remind them that tzedakah means “justice,” and it’s our obligation to help those in need. Kids LOVE any craft that involves gems — it’s so fun to look at them all and decide which ones to pick. Sequins work, too; but I think we all know that gems are the best! Your kiddos will surely enjoy making this colorful craft AND making it easy for your family to do one of the most important mitzvot — giving tzedakah!
MEGA TZEDAKAH BOX WITH SUPERSIZE COINS
When your kiddos make a Mega Tzedakah Box, everyone in your family will be inspired to GIVE BIG! Use a shoebox or whatever box you like, cut a hole at the top (that part, of course, is best done by grown-ups), and then decorate the box with paint, markers, washi tape, stickers, etc. Finally, glue on some tzedakah graphics from the Tzedakah Graphics PDF and any other items you like, such as craft gems or sequins! It’s also fun to make some supersize coins — just use paper coasters, wood circles, or cardstock paper and sketch in a design. Kids will enjoy taking a closer look at an actual coin for inspiration or creating their own unique coin design. When it’s complete, put the tzedakah box in a place of honor in your home, reminding everyone of this central Jewish value and obligation — tzedakah!
PENCIL BOX TZEDAKAH BOX
In Judaism, tzedakah, meaning “righteous behavior” or “justice,” is not something we do just when we’re feeling generous. It’s an ongoing obligation and one of Judaism’s most important mitzvot. Here’s a creative way to make tzedakah central to your family values — make a Pencil Box Tzedakah Box! It’s bigger than a traditional tzedakah box, and little hands enjoy lifting the lid up and down to add money. Decorate it with colorful tissue paper or any way you like! Be sure to add some graphics from the Tzedakah Graphics PDF, too. Happy Giving!
CHESED CONFETTI
Judaism teaches us that the world stands on three things: Torah, service to God, and acts of loving kindness. Kindness (in Hebrew — chesed) is foundational to living Jewishly, and every time we are kind, we not only help create a better world, we also make joy for ourselves. This simple craft gives children a concrete way to understand our duty to sprinkle chesed everywhere we go. Sometimes we can sprinkle a lot of chesed; other times, we may only leave a little. Either way, every act of loving kindness is immensely valuable and helps build the kind of world we want to live in.
CHESED BOOK
Help your kiddos explore how they can show kindness (in Hebrew — chesed) with this sweet little craft book! Using the letters of CHESED, each page features a way to be kind:
Be…Caring
Be…Helpful
Be…Empathetic
Be…Sincere
Be…Encouraging
Be…Delightful
Kids can decorate each page however they like — with markers, stickers, dot markers, crayons, colored pencils, paint… anything! When they’re done, see if they can think of even more ways to show kindness! This is a great companion craft with the wonderful book Be Kind: You Can Make the World a Happier Place by Naomi Shulman.
DO A MITZVAH! PLAQUE
We all need to remember to do mitzvot, but it can be easy to forget. Once your kiddos make some colorful DO A MITZVAH! plaques, however, everyone in your family will be reminded each and every day! This is a super simple craft, but you can make it more elaborate by creating colorful designs and/or adding sparkly embellishments. Make sure your kiddos write their names and the year on the back of their plaques too so that you’ll always know who made these beautiful plaques which will surely brighten your home with color and the inspiration to make the world a better place!
MITZVAH CARDS
Teach your kiddos to notice when other people do a mitzvah with these cute little cards! On one side write “You just did a mitzvah! Thank you for making the world a better place.” On the other side, your kiddos can decorate it however they like. Sky’s the limit — markers, stickers, paint, collage! And when kids notice that others are doing mitzvot, they’re more likely to do some themselves! Pretty cool!
PUFFY PAPER BAG DREIDELS
This eco-friendly craft is fun, festive, and all-around fantastic! It’s also a great way for kids to learn the Hebrew letters on a dreidel — Nun, Gimmel, Hey, and Shin, which is an acronym for the Hebrew saying “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham” and means “a great miracle happened there.” Your kiddos will love making Puffy Paper Bag Dreidels in different sizes and different colors and then using them to make your family Hanukkah celebration extra special!