Every year JNF UK runs its annual Green Sunday appeal to coincide with the Jewish festival of Tu Bishvat, which celebrates nature in general and trees in particular. 2021, however, saw the appeal also coincide with the continued presence of Covid-19. With the country under lockdown, JNF UK wanted to provide children with a variety of activities to still mark the day despite the circumstances they were under. We were delighted to see all the creative responses – here are just some of them!
Brushes for Tu Bishvat
JNF UK ran a competition with online art teacher Mr Tim Anders for children between the ages of 5 and 13. The young artists used their newly learnt skills to paint a tree, in honour of Tu Bishvat, with the winners having a tree planted in Israel by JNF UK in their name. You can see the three winners (from years KS1,2 and 3) below:
Ella Century, KS1
Etz Chaim School
Pareese, KS2
Hertsmere Jewish Primary School
Callie Diskin, KS3
Yavneh College
Snap Happy
We also ran a second competition for older children – taking a photo that captured the spirit of Tu Bishvat. We received a lot of beautiful photos of trees, and were really impressed by the sheer variety of submissions. Darcy had the winning shot, and will have a tree planted in her name in Israel, as well as getting a build-your-own camera kit.
Darcey Bash
JFS
Gavriel Lurie
King David High School, Manchester
Eden Lurie
King David High School. Manchester
Great work from Gesher!
Last but not least, we love this tree from pupils and teachers at the Gesher Primary School. We think this wonderful piece of art truly capture of the magic of Tu Bishvat! This is the explanation of the meaning behind the tree:
“At Gesher Primary School we are passionate about delivering an engaging and creative Jewish Curriculum for our children. This year has been challenging for the entire school community, so we hoped to foster a sense of mindfulness and togetherness through this Tu Bishvat art project for the JNF UK tree art initiative. This celebration has strong links for the children, as they have regular access to our forest area and place value on the environment's importance. We created a Gesher tree which incorporates creative-expressive art pieces designed by each child and staff members. The tree stands proudly in our hall so that the whole school can admire this joint venture and are reminded of the important messages that Tu Bishvat represents. This tree reminds us to be kind to nature and to each other.”
