DIY Chia Creations

We usually plant parsley and a tree every Tu B’Shevat but this year I was excited to “plant” something new with the kids, and put a fun, creative spin on it: Welcome to our DIY Chia Creations (2 ways!). Either one of these methods to make Chia Creations are super simple and have quick results: your chia seeds should sprout within about five days. This makes it a fun and successful activity for your kids at home or at school.

We made our two creations about a week apart so you can see the progress that will take place if you wait patiently. I’m doing the Chia Creations Cup Friend at Sunday School this week and I can’t wait to see the creations my students make!

What You’ll Need

For the clay-based Chia Creations:

• Oven baked clay
• Chia seeds
• Spray bottle

For the Cup Style Chia Creations:

• Paper cups
• Markers
• Googly eyes
• Cotton balls
• Chia seeds
• Spray bottle

Putting It Together

For the clay-based Chia Creations:

1. Bring out some oven baked clay and invite your children to make whatever creations they want from the clay.
2. Once finished creating, bake the clay according to package directions.
3. Soak the clay creations overnight.
4. Sprinkle chia seeds onto the clay creations.
5. Spray with a water bottle multiple times per day to keep the seeds moist.
6. Chia seeds should start sprouting within five days but wait patiently to see the seeds tops grow taller!

For the cup style Chia Creations:

1. Give your child a paper cup.
2. Invite them to decorate the cup however they wish using markers, googly eyes, or whatever else sounds good.
3. Wet cotton balls then squeeze slightly so they are quite damp; place at the bottom of the cup.
4. Sprinkle chia seeds on top of damp cotton balls.
5. Spray with a water bottle multiple times per day to keep the seeds moist.
6. Chia seeds should start sprouting within five days but wait patiently to see the seeds tops grow taller!

For either version, pair with the sweet book Trees Make the Perfect Pets for a fun way to connect to plants, nature, and the holiday of Tu B’Shevat!

Finished & Loving It!

I was so excited to try this new open-ended creative fun with my kids! When we received our new PJ Library book, Trees Make the Perfect Pets, I knew this would be such a fun book + activity experience. And it was!

We started with the clay creations. As you can see, the kids loved it and made all kinds of creations. But I’ll be honest: the clay was incredibly hard when we first unwrapped it. I’ve never had such a challenging time with clay before and we work with clay a lot! It took all of the older and stronger hands to really work and maneuver the clay so that everyone had workable pieces to create their own creations. While it did not discourage my kids, I knew it would be harder to do this in the classroom.

We went forth and finished creating our clay creations, baking them, sprinkling them with the chia seeds and then watching them grow. And they did grow! However, many chia seeds did not sprout. I think that they did not stay wet enough, even though we were spritzing multiple times a day. The kids were super pleased and excited every time a seed popped open and even more excited as they grew taller. But just know that you will need to continuously wet these creations and that they still may not all sprout.

A week later we tried the cup style version to test it out as a potential activity for my Sunday School class. This version was much quicker and easier: even young children can draw on a cup without an adult prepping the material. So this would work much better for Sunday School or a preschool class.

The cup style version also allows for a lot of creativity; kids can create whatever kind of creation or design they want on the cup! I love the variety my children created in both the clay and cup versions.

We are almost at day 5 and I can see the seeds starting to pop and sprout; I can’t wait to see what they look like as the greens grow taller!

Whichever version you decide to try, it will be a wonderful way for your kids to explore their creativity, strengthen hand muscles and practice fine motor skills (hello water spray bottle!), get the joy of watching something grow, and is a beautiful way to participate in a Tu B’shevat tradition and celebrate the holiday!

Chag Tu B’Shevat Sameach!

We have a whole page dedicated to Tu B’Shevat, our Tu B’Shevat Hub. Check it out! It includes some of the Tu B’Shevat activities we plan to do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.

And don’t forget our Tu B’Shevat Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, a wonderful way to introduce Tu B’Shevat! And, now we also have all 13 Jewish holidays bundled together in A Year of Jewish Holidays 3 Part Cards.

If you want to have a ton of Tu B’Shevat early learner activities ready at your fingertips, try our Tu B’Shevat Activities Packet for Early Learners! I am so excited about all the Tu B’Shevat-themed literacy, fine motor skills, math, and play fun!

The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:

PJ Library: Tu B’Shevat

Reform Judaism: Tu BiShvat

BimBam: Tu BiShvat

Chag Sameach!

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