You may enjoy discussing flexibility and stability in life. You may want to share examples from everyday life. Situations in which we behave like cedars, rooted in our positions, or situations in which we are agile, changing our behavior or opinion. What happens when we realize that our desires cannot be met as we expected them to be?
You may enjoy sitting opposite one another, inhaling and lifting your arms up at your sides until they are straight up. Next, exhale while lowering your arms until they reach out in front of you. We recommend doing some short exercises each time and gradually add more. Enjoy!
What’s the opposite of reed? Cedar! And what’s the opposite of hot? Cold! And the opposite of old? Young! What’s the oppostive of…flexible? stable? sour? baby? Take turns saying a word and having the other players come up with its antonym. By the way, what’s the opposite of… opposite?
You may like to look at the illustrations together, where many details appear that are not mentioned in the story. What do the siblings like to do while their father works in the field? What are the animals in the story doing? Perhaps you’d like to find the illustration where the father tells them he does not remember where the treasure is buried. What do the children imagine finding there? You may want to ask your own child what they regard as a “treasure” and what they might have hoped to find in the field, had they been promised a treasure.
Your child can work the land, even at home! Together you may enjoy making seeds sprout, or planting bulbs, avocado pits or potatoes, whether in a flowerpot or in the ground. Water it, look after it, follow its growth. It requires effort and cooperation, just like in the story – maybe in the end you’ll grow a “treasure” too?
A treasure at home! You may want to suggest that your child make their own treasure chest. You could hide the treasure in a room in the house and play “treasure hunt”. Draw illustrated notes with clues on them and help your child get closer to the hidden treasure from one note to the next.
The farmer’s three children work together, and each one makes suggestions and comes up with good ideas. Perhaps you’d like to talk about the different roles in your family: what is each family member good at?
“He who works his land shall have plenty of bread” (Proverbs 28:19): In the field the brothers plough, sow, reap… in Hebrew there are many words that describe farming! You may like to look at the illustrations, and identify together which action is being performed in each one and compare the tools, then and now.
The story depicts the changing seasons: Does your child know which season is most suitable for sowing and harvesting? Which is yours and your child’s favorite season, and why? Perhaps you’d like to suggest that your child draw a picture depicting themselves in their favorite season.
The Reed and the Cedar 
A Treasure in the Field 
שִׂיחָה
שֵׁמַע
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
כְּלָלִי
חֵקֶר
