Shivat Haminim Puppets Craft (Perfect for Tu B’Shvat)
Celebrate Tu B’shvat with a fun Shivat Haminim puppets craft – featuring the 7 species of Israel. When youโre done, check out these Neviot puppets too! This post contains affiliate links.
If you’re looking for a fun and engaging Tu B’shvat craft that can be made by many different age groups, you’ll want to give these Shivat Haminim puppets a try! This is a really easy craft that can be made more simply, or colored more ambitiously. And I created a color-in AND full color version based on how much crafting you really want to do.
I explain more about each puppet and how to assemble the set below, but meanwhile, if you want to get them, you can do so in my shop, on Etsy, orTpT.
Get the color-in version:
Get the full color version:
The Seven species of Israel feature five fruit, plus wheat and barley. These are the fruit that were biblically the celebrated “special” foods that Israel was blessed with, and so they have always been special in Jewish culture, and even have significance in Jewish practice, in the priority given to foods when reciting blessings on mutliple foods.
While some of these are featured as Rosh Hashanah simanim (and I made puppets special for those too) This set is very specifically the seven species. In order, they are: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegrate, olives, and dates.
Tu B’shvat is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the “birthday” of the trees (or more accurately, the new year for the trees). It falls of the 15th of the Jewish month of Shevat (its name is actually that as “tu” spells out the Aleph-bet of the number 15). This usually is sometime in February – about a month and a half after Hanukkah and a month before Purim.
IT’s a very minor holiday, usually celebrated by eating fruits, with a focus on the five of the seven species that are fruit. Okay, grapes grow from a vine, but they are included in our Tu B’shvat fruit celebrations.
These puppets are fabulous for Tu B’shvat, or any time you’re highlighting the seven species. It’s great as a Parshat Eikev craft – the portion of the Torah that lists the seven species.
About these puppets
The puppets were hand-illustrated digitally (that is, with a stylus but without any generation or anything along those lines) on my Surface Pro using Adobe Fresco. They were colorized the same way and then turned into puppets for you to enjoy using Illustrator.
2 versions: Color-in and full-color
I love “color & craft” projects – they offer the same easy entertainment of a coloring page, with lots of input from the kids, and an educational factor. But they also give kids an end product to play with! For that reason, I offer a line-art only version, which is perfect for classroom or at-home activities.
These offer so many options for any age group. I pulled out alcohol markers (perfect for teens and older) for a more professional color. Toddlers can use do-a-dot markers, preschoolers can use crayons, and grade-schoolers can use SuperTips.
Sometimes, you just want a quick finished product to cut and assemble as a classroom tool, toy, or visual. For that reason, I decided to create a full color version too! And while the puppet itself is a bit smaller than you might want for a bulletin board or classroom decor, you can scale up the PNG images a little to get a larger size for more versatile use.
The Shivat Haminim(the 7 species)
The seven species featured are as follows. If you want to learn more about them, I recommend this resource. You do get printable instructions as well as explanations with your download.
The source – Deuteronomy 8:8 – lists them as: “ ืึถึคืจึถืฅ ืึดืึธึผืึ ืึผืฉึฐืืขึนืจึธึื ืึฐืึถึฅืคึถื ืึผืชึฐืึตื ึธึื ืึฐืจึดืึผึืึนื ืึถึฝืจึถืฅึพืึตึฅืืช ืฉึถืึืึถื ืึผืึฐืึธึฝืฉืื – a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey;“
- Wheat: Chita (ืึดืึธึผื)
- Barley: Se’ora (ืฉึฐืืขืึนืจึธื)
- Grapes: Gefen (ืึถึผืคึถื) – This translates to vine but refers to grapes
- Figs: Te’ena (ืชึฐึผืึตื ึธื)
- Pomegranates: Rimon (ืจึดืึผืึนื)
- Olives: Zeit Shemen/Zayit (ืึตึฅืืช ืฉึถืึืึถื/ืึทืึดืช) (olive oil/oil) – While it refers to olives as the fruit, the Torah refers to it as olive oil.
- Dates: Devash/Tamar (ืึฐืึธึฝืฉื/ืชึธึผืึธืจ) (honey/date honey) – Once again, it states honey but we understand it as dates/date honey.
The puppets were illustrated to be playful, with some showing more than one of the fruit and adding character to them.
Get them here
The Shivat Haminim puppets craft is available for a few bucks in my shop, on Etsy, orTpT. Purchasing premium products from me enables me to keep doing what I do, to give more focus to my Jewish blog, creating authentically Jewish resources for homes, educators, and parents.
Get the color-in version:
Get the full color version:
How to assemble your Shivat Haminim Puppets Craft
You’ll need
- The puppets, printed on cardstock
- Craft sticks
- Glue or glue lines. I like to prep these in advance with glue lines for kids, with the backing still intact, so that they can just peel it off and stick it on without glue.
- If using the color-in version, crayons, markers, etc, depending on the age group. I used alcohol markers – perfect for teens and adults,
- Kid-friendly scissors.
Process
1. Print your puppets on cardstock. Choose the color-in or full color version.
2. Color them in if crafting the color-in version.
3. Cut them out on the solid outer line. To make it easier, I placed each one in a shape that creates the puppet.
4. Glue or tape a stick to the back/bottom.
5. That’s it! Your Shivat Haminim puppets are ready to play with and celebrate Tu B’shvat.
In case you missed it, you can get the Shivat Haminim puppets craft here!
Get the color-in version:
Get the full color version:
