Azizan

Nowruz countdown: 14 days of activities for kids, with the Persian words

Start the countdown on Sunday 7 March 2027 by planting the sabzeh, the wheat or lentil sprouts for the Haft-Seen table, because they need about two weeks to turn green. Then do one small activity a day: a paper countdown chain, cleaning one drawer for khaneh-tekani, one Haft-Seen word a day, painted eggs, the greeting «عید شما مبارک», a message for grandparents, until the year turns on Saturday 20 March. Nowruz 1406 begins at the spring equinox, which comes on 20 March 2027 at about 20:25 UTC, just before midnight in Tehran, so the first day of the new year, 1 Farvardin 1406, is Sunday 21 March. Below are the key dates, a 14-day table with the Persian words for each day, the safety points for fire, sprouts and eggs, and links to the full guides on the Haft-Seen, Chaharshanbe Suri and Sizdah Bedar. Azizan (azizan.app), founded by Aida Fard, is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves on video reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page. This page is a free guide for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad, written in our own words from sources we opened and checked.

Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.

The Nowruz 2027 dates at a glance

Nowruz does not have a fixed date. It begins at the exact moment of the spring equinox, and the family waits for that moment, tahvil-e sâl, around the Haft-Seen table. For Nowruz 1406 the dates are:

Abroad, the moment comes on Saturday 20 March in the Americas and Europe: about 13:25 in Vancouver and Los Angeles, 16:25 in Toronto and New York, 20:25 in London and 21:25 in Berlin. In Sydney it is 07:25 on Sunday 21 March. Some families celebrate at the local moment and some at the moment in Tehran; either works for a child. Chaharshanbe Suri is on Tuesday evening because in Persian the evening before a day carries that day's name: shab-e chahârshanbe, "Wednesday night", is Tuesday evening.

The 14-day Nowruz countdown

One small activity a day, about 10 to 20 minutes, from Sunday 7 March to Saturday 20 March. Days 4 to 10 each add one Haft-Seen word, so that by the time you set the table the child knows all seven. Move the other days around your family's week; only the sabzeh on day 1 and Chaharshanbe Suri on day 10 are tied to their dates.

The Persian in the table is everyday spoken Tehrani Persian, the way a parent says it at home. Your family may say some of these differently, and the family's way is the right one for your child. What each Haft-Seen item stands for is in the Haft-Seen guide; this table only gives the words.

Growing the sabzeh with a child

The sabzeh is the reason the countdown starts two weeks early. Wheat and lentils both need about two weeks to grow from dry seed into a green layer for the table, and a little longer in a cool kitchen, so if your home is cold, start three or four days before day 1.

• Soak first. Cover the seeds with water for two or three days and change the water once a day. Lentils are usually ready to spread sooner than wheat.
• Damp, not wet. Spread the seeds on a plate, cover them with a damp cloth or paper towel, and keep that damp. Seeds left sitting in water go mouldy and smell. A child can do the daily misting with a spray bottle.
• Light once they sprout. When the shoots lift the cloth, take it off and move the plate to a bright window. Keep watering lightly.
• For looking at, not eating. Food-safety advice says young children should not eat raw sprouts, so the sabzeh is a plant for the table, not a snack. If it grows mould, throw it out and start a small new plate.

On Sizdah Bedar, Friday 2 April 2027, many families take the sabzeh outside and give it to running water or a garden bed. That day has its own guide.

Keeping the eggs and Chaharshanbe Suri safe

Painted eggs. If you want to eat the eggs you painted, hard-boil them, paint them with food colouring, and put them back in the fridge within two hours, counting all the time they spent out. Eggs that stay on the Haft-Seen table for days are decoration only and go in the bin afterwards. Wooden, plastic or paper eggs avoid the question entirely and can be used again next year.

Chaharshanbe Suri. The traditional custom is jumping over a small fire, but that is not an activity for small children, and fireworks and sparklers are not safe for them either. Many families abroad keep the parts a child can join: a row of battery tea lights to step past, banging a spoon on a pot, a bowl of ajil and the old words. Check local rules before any outdoor fire, and keep any real flame with an adult. The words, the history and more ideas are in the Chaharshanbe Suri guide.

Bringing grandparents into the countdown

Three days are built around grandparents and other relatives: the video message on day 9, the card on day 11 and the call after the year turns on day 14. For a grandparent in Iran or another time zone, the countdown gives them something to follow: they can ask on each call how tall the sabzeh is, or which Haft-Seen word the child learned that day.

A grandparent can also take over the story on day 8. On Azizan a grandparent can record themselves on video reading an illustrated Persian story page by page, and the child can watch it again on the days that follow, so the Nowruz story arrives in a familiar voice even across the time difference. For tips on making that kind of recording, see how to record a story video for grandchildren.

If your child has done the 14 days of Persian over the winter break, this countdown works the same way: small, daily, and done together.

Related guides

• Haft-Seen for kids: the seven items, what they mean, and how to set one up abroad
• Chaharshanbe Suri explained for kids, and how to celebrate it safely abroad
• Nowruz for kids: explaining the Persian New Year, with stories grandparents can read from afar

Questions

When is Nowruz 2027?

Nowruz 1406 begins at the spring equinox on Saturday 20 March 2027, at about 20:25 UTC, which is just before midnight in Tehran. The first day of the new year, 1 Farvardin 1406, is Sunday 21 March 2027.

When should we plant the sabzeh for Nowruz?

About two weeks before, so around Sunday 7 March 2027 for Nowruz 1406. Wheat and lentils both need roughly two weeks to soak, sprout and turn green; start a few days earlier if your home is cool.

When is Chaharshanbe Suri in 2027?

On Tuesday evening, 16 March 2027. Chaharshanbe Suri is held on the evening before the last Wednesday of the Persian year, and the last Wednesday of 1405 is 17 March.

When is Sizdah Bedar in 2027?

On Friday 2 April 2027, which is 13 Farvardin 1406, the thirteenth day of the new year and the last day of the Nowruz holiday.

Can my child eat the sabzeh or the painted eggs?

Not the sabzeh: food-safety advice says young children should not eat raw sprouts, so keep it as a plant for the table. Painted hard-boiled eggs can be eaten only if they went back in the fridge within two hours; eggs left out on the table for days are decoration only.

Open Azizan — record a story for your child

Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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