There are several basic approaches to teaching about the holiday, which work well in
either the school or youth group:
Through the Jewish Calendar
Teaching Tu B'Shvat as part of the Jewish Calendar: reviewing the source of the festival, the
concept of the Jewish New Year - highlighting the 4 New Years; customs and celebration. Class
sessions are followed up by a special ceremony, including readings, poems, and a display of
students' art work, which could be incorporated within a Seder Tu B'Shvat.
Teaching by Themes
Teaching by theme (see Tu B'Shvat theme article) allows the students to participate in more
creative and proactive ways, since they can actively interpret the relevance and applicability of the
themes. The students undertake projects such as preparing an exhibition on trees in the Land of
Israel; conducting a street survey on conservation; taking on a conservation project in their
neighborhood; preparing their own version of the Seder, and so on. Project ideas like this are
developed below.
Teaching by Activities
Teaching through arts and crafts, puzzles, quizzes, songs, stories, and the usual gamut of similar
activities for younger children, in particular.
Using Virtual Jerusalem's Site
Using the Virtual Jerusalem Tu B'Shvat site as a springboard for further activities on the holiday.
You can set questions in advance, the answers to which are to be found on the site, either as
advanced preparation or as a competition (who can find the answer first?). Don't forget: all the
material can be printed up in any number of ways.
