15 Minute Tu B’Shevat Lesson Plan

This year I split my Tu B’Shevat lesson between two class sessions. I knew I wanted to do a Tu B’Shevat Seder (who doesn’t?!) but also knew I wouldn’t have time to do that activity plus my parsley planting activity in addition to the Torah story segment I’d promised the kids. The easy solution was to spread out the holiday learning and celebration. Everybody likes more time for fun!

For our first lesson we did a short, sweet and simple introduction to Tu B’Shevat followed by the always popular parsley planting activity. This lesson can easily be accomplished in 15 minutes. You can also choose to add additional activities if you want to have a fuller lesson.

But if all you have is 15 minutes, or if all you want is a short and to the point introduction, this 15 minute Tu B’Shevat Lesson Plan is perfect for you!

Lesson Objectives

My main objective for this short lesson was to introduce the holiday of Tu B’Shevat. I wanted the children to be able to say the Hebrew name and recognize what the holiday celebrated.

I also wanted them to think about how important trees are and why it’s necessary that people take care of them and the environment.

As always, it was also important to me that the children had a hands-on activity where they actively participated in practicing the traditions of the holiday.

Since I’m planning to do a second lesson on Tu B’Shevat, this 15 minute Tu B’Shevat Lesson Plan was able to be short and sweet and provide a simple introduction that hit the main points of the holiday, and my lesson objectives.

Introducing the Lesson’s Concepts

We introduced the lesson, and the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, with the book Thank You, Trees by Gail Karwoski.

Thank You, Trees is one of my favorite books. It’s short. It’s simple. It’s sweet. But it also covers the main points of Tu B’Shevat, especially for what we want and expect young children to know and understand.

This book illustrates how the holiday of Tu B’Shevat is the birthday and new year of the trees. It also shows the common tradition of planting a tree on Tu B’Shevat. And I love that it mentions good things that trees give the world.

All these points, shared in simple, easy to understand language, along with cute pictures, makes this the perfect book for introducing Tu B’Shevat.

Discussion questions

After we finished Thank You, Trees, I asked the following discussion questions. These questions allowed the children think back over what the book showed, and maybe what they also already knew, about Tu B’Shevat. These questions summarize the main points I wanted to get across in my lesson objectives.

What does Tu B’Shevat celebrate?
How do we celebrate Tu B’Shevat? What are some of the things we do during this holiday?
What good things do trees give us?
How can we help trees?

Parsley Planting Activity

Planting parsley is a great activity for accompanying Thank You, Trees, and for Tu B’Shevat in general. It’s an easy activity and can be totally personalized (yay for crayons and stickers!). It also relates to the discussion questions above and hence the purpose of Tu B’Shevat. And maybe the best part–it’s always enjoyed by the kids who participate!

Why parsley? Many Jews have the tradition of using parsley on their Seder plate for Passover. Since Passover is only a couple months after Tu B’Shevat, parsley is the perfect plant to plant now for use at this later, special holiday. And the children always love using something that they made or participated in.

As we did in my classroom, I recommend sharing this little poem along with the parsley pots to remind the children (and adults!) the purpose of Tu B’Shevat. It also describes the tradition of planting parsley and encourages the kids to look forward to using the parsley at Passover in a couple months!

If you have time for another sweet book, Sadie’s Snowy Tu B’shevat is another one of our favorites! And they even plant parsley in pots in the book! So perfect!

Discover how to put together the parsley planting activity here.

Fun, Meaningful, and Successful Lesson

This 15 minute Tu B’Shevat Lesson Plan hit all the highs points: an easy and simple lesson plan, an introduction to the holiday of Tu B’Shevat with a thoughtful and visually appealing book, and a fun activity that connects the children to this holiday and lets them think about and prepare for the future holiday of Passover.

This lesson can easily be adapted for use at home, with the same structure or by adding additional activities like those I mention below.

Whether you are in the classroom or at home, the children will love learning about Tu B’Shevat in these fun, interactive and simple ways.

Chag Sameach!

For the complete lesson plan in pdf format, click here.

Have More Time? Try These Activities!

I love the following activities and did them at home with my own kids this year. These would be so much fun in the classroom as well, if you have the extra time:

And don’t forget to check out our other Tu B’Shevat activities on the blog! We’ve been having so much fun preparing for this holiday!

Tu B’Shevat Scavenger Hunt

Parsley Planting: A Tu B’Shevat Tradition

Tu B’Shevat Sensory Bin

Tu B’Shevat Thank You to the Trees Challenge

What are your favorite ways to celebrate, and teach about, Tu B’Shevat?

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