Traditionally, planting parsley has been a long-standing Tu B’Shevat preschool activity. Now what does parsley have to do with trees? Well, I imagine that pre-school teachers of years past could not plant actual trees with their students or that the symbolic act of “buying” a tree in Israel was not tangible enough. Given these factors, engaging in a planting activity was (and still is) a good way to discuss nature in a classroom setting. What is really wonderful about this activity is that if you plant the parsley on Tu B’shevat, by the time it germinates and grows, we have jumped two holidays to our major Spring holiday of Passover. A major component of the Passover Seder is Karpas, which is the spring herb/vegetable often represented on the Seder plate by parsley. The Jewish calendar works in amazing ways!
At Kehillah, we will be planting tons of parsley in a new parsley garden. The students will be able to both predict what will happen to the seeds and observe the parsley once it is planted. Basically, the children will be able to document the whole process from start to finish.
Planting parsley on Tu B’Shevat for use on Passover reinforces in a cyclical way how holidays connect us to seasons and one to another.
This Tu B’Shevat try planting something in your own homes that can be used later in the year.
Chag Sameach,
Abra Goldemberg
Director of Early Childhood Jewish Education
