Making Grape Juice for Passover

The seder plate in our classroom

As we get ready for Passover, we have been learning about the different symbols we see at the Seder. Drinking four cups of wine (or grape juice, in our case), is one of the most important parts of the Seder. At Circle Time, we practiced counting to four, and showing four with our fingers.

We drink grape juice every Friday at Shabbat Party, but we wondered what it would be like to make our own grape juice.

Using this recipe as our guide, we began by plucking the grapes off of their stems. We counted as we went, placing the green and red seedless grapes into a colander.

 Once all of the grapes were in the colander, we rinsed them and put them in a bowl to mash.

 

We  started out using a potato masher, but it turns out grapes are much harder to mash than one might think!

 

So we put the grapes in plastic Ziploc bags and squeezed the grapes using our fingers. It was quite a workout for our fine motor muscles!

"I see the juice! It's coming out!" - Bryna

Freshly squeezed grape juice

The next step was cooking the grapes and juice (with a pinch of sugar), and then straining with a cheesecloth:

The finished product, ready to be chilled in the fridge.

The finished product was refreshing and perfect as an end-of-the-day treat. We can't wait to drink the four cups of grape juice on Passover!