Tu B’Shevat Interactive Seder Plate Activity

It’s always been important for me to engage my kids in understanding the concept of categorizing the foods we eat during a Tu B’Shevat seder so I was excited to put together this Tu B’Shevat Interactive Seder Plate Activity for us to enjoy this year (and in the future!). Not only did the kids have fun painting all the pieces for the seder plates, it was a fun and interactive way for them to think about each food and which category it would belong to for the Tu B’Shevat seder.

Since we are homeschooling this week I thought it would be fun to test out our Tu B’Shevat Interactive Seder Plate Activity for a delicious and meaningful snack even though we still have a couple weeks until the actual holiday and our real seder.

What You’ll Need

(4) wooden tree cut outs. Buy yours from our partner Woodpeckers Crafts and get 5% off with our discount code “WithLoveIma5”! You could also DIY these out of cardboard, see my notes on that below.
At least 15 wooden circle cut outs, optional
Acyrlic Paint
Sealant
Paintbrushes
Category labels–either written on the trees or print and cut them out
Fruits and nuts, ideally including the seven species of Israel: wheat, barley, dates, figs, pomegranates, olives, grapes

Putting It Together

We used adorable tree cutouts from Woodpeckers Crafts for our seder plates. You could easily cut tree shapes from recycled cardboard as well.
Paint your tree cutouts.
If desired, paint 15 circle cut outs (again, we got ours from Woodpeckers Crafts but you can cut yours from cardboard or leave out this part entirely).
Once dried, label a tree plate with the following categories (one category per plate): Tough on the outside but you can eat the inside; You can eat the outside but not the inside (you could also title this fruits with pits at the center. I think I might change this category to this title going forward because it makes a little more sense); You can eat the whole thing; One of the Seven Species of the Torah
When you’re ready for your Tu B’Shevat seder, or just want a fun Tu B’Shevat snack, place your tree plates on a table with the circles scattered around them.
Put your Tu B’Shevat foods in smaller bowls or plates. Since this was not our real seder we did not have all the ritual food. We used what we had from our fridge and pantry.
Place the foods on each of the 15 circles. Why 15? Because during a Tu B’Shevat seder you will eat at least 15 different types of fruits and vegetables. I liked the idea of having these 15 circles as kind of landmarks and reminders of how many different foods we will taste but you could easily leave this part out and just focus on the main tree seder plates.
Invite your children to match the different foods to the different categories on the labeled tree plates.
Once organized, you can start your seder or tasting fun!

Finished & Loving It!

My kids love to paint so they really enjoyed being creative in their tree painting. Having them create these plates however they want have them instant ownership of this experience and the seder plates. They were thrilled to see the plates and circles come out again during our special snack.

When asked to categorize the foods the kids rose to the challenge! And it is a challenge, especially with dried fruit! They had to identify what each food was, think about what it looked like in its whole form, then decide on the category to put it in. There was discussion and giggling and pride. All great indicators that these kids were engaged and enjoying this interactive activity!

Once classified, I brought out their spinners so they could each spin to see from which category they should eat first. These spinners are an annual Tu B’Shevat craft for us and they are such an easy and fun activity.

I also printed out Pop Studio Shop’s free Seven Species Tu B’Shevat taste testing activity. The kids tried the different seven species that we had available (I hadn’t prepped any barley nor had any olives for this snack but will for our seder!) and worked through the questions on the sheet.

This Tu B’Shevat Interactive Seder Plate Activity was such a fun way to bring Tu B’Shevat art, knowledge, discussion, and engagement to our morning! I really look forward to repeating the categorizing part of it with our beautiful new Tu B’Shevat seder plates during our real seder on the 16th!

Are you looking for a short and sweet kid-friendly Tu B’Shevat Haggadah for your seder? We love using the PJ Library one and have been using it for years!

Make sure you’re prepared for your Tu B’Shevat seder by getting to the grocery store before the holiday. Another annual fun tradition of ours is for the kids to go on a grocery store scavenger hunt to find all the items needed for the seder!

Think your kids are up for the challenge of categorizing Tu B’Shevat foods and creating their own Tu B’Shevat seder plates? If you try this Tu B’Shevat Interactive Seder Plate Activity, let me know! I can’t wait to hear all about it!