With the dawn of spring, comes the celebration of a new year. Persian New Year, which is called Nowruz! Based on the Iranian Solar Hijri calendar, Nowruz begins every year on or around March 21st and lasts 13 days. During this time, individuals celebrate their New Year with traditional games, activities, food and art. We were so happy to see these traditions brought into LCCC, and the excitement it brought to the children who were able to celebrate their own culture within our centre, and the ones who were eager to embrace something new.
Growing Sabzeh
One of the important parts of Nowruz tradition is growing wheat seeds, called Sabzeh. It takes two weeks for them to fully grow into flourishing grass, and the children completed every step of this process with excitement and interest.
Once the Sabzeh is fully grown into grass, it's a Nowruz tradition to tie knot in one blade of grass, make a wish, and then tie a bow around all of it. These Sabzeh grasses look to be flourishing!
Haft Sin Table
The Sabzeh is just one of several items that gets added to the Persian New Year table, called Haft Sin. Along with the fully grown Sabzeh are mung bean, or lentil sprouts grown in a dish; Samanu, a sweet pudding dish; Senjed, fruit from a lotus tree; Serkeh, vinegar; Seeb, an apple; Seer, garlic; and Somaq, sumac, a mirror and a beautiful Hyacinth flower. Each child helped in assembling the Haft Sin, and once complete, the classroom read "Soraya's Nowruz Dance" a book all about a little girl learning a traditional Persian dance for Nowruz.
If you're interested in reading this book with your child, it's available to buy on Amazon. And if you'd like to learn more about Nowruz with your little one, check out this website for some resources.
Nowruz lasts for 13 days, so it has now come to an end. But the Persian New Year has only just began, as has spring. A perfect time to set some goals, get outside more and enjoy the presence of loved ones around you.
Happy Nowruz, and Happy Spring.