Although it is snowy and cold outside, the early childhood children at Stein Yeshiva learned that on Tu B’Shevat we celebrate the “birthday” of the trees. Not only that, when Tu B’Shevat comes, the trees, at least in Eretz Yisrael, begin to “wake-up” from their winter “sleep.” Through science and art, the children explored trees and fruit, constructing trees out of various loose-parts, crafting trees and fruits using a variety of media to create a sensory extravaganza, planting herbs and flowers and even investigating the age of a tree by counting its rings. The kindergarten also concluded the week with a brochos bee.
On Thursday everyone got together for a special celebration. The children sang Tu B’Shevat songs, complete with motions, in Hebrew and English. They discussed how Hashem made His fruit so beautiful and fragrant so that we would want to eat it. Fruit is Hashem’s candy for us. And of course, when we receive a gift, we must say “todah,” which is why we all need to say brochos before we eat. Each child received a plate of fruit, then one class made a brocha ha’atez and all the other children answered “Amen”—being careful to eat a date or olive first as the shiviis haminim are super chashav. Each class followed suit with other brochos, one group saying the brocha together and everyone answering “Amen.” The children had the chayalim in mind when they said “Amen” which added a very special element to our celebration.
