Paper Bag Tree Activity for Tu B'Shevat

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One of my favorite Tu B'Shevat activities is a paper bag tree in blossom. They're SO easy and fun! There's no glue or other adhesive necessary since the packing peanuts stick all by themselves when wet.

Materials:

~ Colored biodegradable packing peanuts such as these from Amazon  (or just any leftovers)

~ Brown paper lunch sacks

Directions:

1) Open lunch sack.

2) Squash the middle of the sack to make the trunk.

3) Tear about four or five strips into the top of the sack to make branches. This part requires adult help for the very little ones.

4) Squish to mold the branches.

5) Very lightly wet each of the packing peanuts and put them on the tree as blossoms. This is the hardest part since kids tend to want to wet the packing peanuts enough to dissolve them. I sometimes just have them press the peanut against a sponge instead of fully wetting it.

The finished tree:

DIY Foaming Hand Soap and Foaming Bath Soap

Post contains Amazon affiliate links.  See full disclosure here.

I never like to buy foaming hand soap, because I feel like I'm just paying 5 times more for the amount of soap that I'm getting. I had a hard time looking up the soap-to-water ratio in order to make my own, so when I finally got it right, I figured I would post it here to save for all time!

I bought these foaming soap dispensers from Amazon.  You can also just recycle and old foaming dispenser, but they tend to give out after a few refills.



InterDesign Metro Aluminum Foaming Soap Dispenser

I buy whichever liquid soap is on sale, but this is the soap I like best because it's gentle and unscented and I can add in the essential oils I want for scent:

Foaming Hand Soap

1 Part Castille or liquid soap
5 Parts Water

Foaming Body Wash

1 Part Castille or liquid soap
4 Parts Water
1 Part Cooking Oil (olive or avocado works nicely)
Essential oils if desired (5-10 drops)

Instructions: Mix all ingredients into foam soap dispenser. I also usually shake gently before using the body wash because of the whole oil and water not mixing thing. Happy sudsing!