PAPER TUBE MENORAH
Make the Festival of Lights extra bright with this eco-friendly menorah! Your kiddos will love painting paper tube “candles” and “lighting” each one with yellow tissue paper. The best part is that each night of Hanukkah, kids can add the correct number of candles (setting them up right to left, just like we read Hebrew) and then “lighting” them left to right, lighting the most recent night’s candle first. What a joy it will be for them to participate in this nightly Hanukkah ritual!
INSPIRING GELT
Make your dreidel game extra meaningful with Inspiring Gelt! Each paper “coin” has a powerful message and will remind every player of Hanukkah’s deeper lessons. Download the free Inspiring Gelt PDF, and then your kiddos can decorate the “coins” however they like — paint, markers, crayons, and colored pencils all work great! There are even four blank “coins” for kiddos to write their own inspiring messages. They will surely enjoy this super important Hanukkah prep job — making lots and lots of Inspiring Gelt!
WASHI TAPE MENORAH
This craft has been a fan-favorite with my kindergarten synagogue students for years! Kids (and kids at heart of all ages) will love bringing more joy and light into the world with this fun Hanukkah craft! Make sure you download the free Washi Tape Menorah PDF (pictured here), which will be a great starting point for your kiddos. You could even print eight copies so that there’s one for each night of Hanukkah!
FELT DREIDEL TOYS
Your kiddos will be proud as a Maccabee when they make their very own FELT DREIDEL TOYS! It’s so fun to sew with felt (it’s the perfect material for beginning sewing) and these sweet Hanukkah toys are surprisingly easy to make, even for little hands. Your family Hanukkah celebrations will surely be extra festive with some colorful FELT DREIDEL TOYS!
DECORATIVE PASTA MENORAH
Mamma mia — what a beautiful menorah! Who knew that you can make a menorah out of pasta AND that it’s pretty easy?! Just glue nine pieces of ziti (for the eight candles, plus the helper candle) to a lasagna noodle, spray paint it, and then add birthday candles, which fit perfectly. Wow! This sweet little menorah will surely add extra joy to your Hanukkah celebration, but just to be on the safe side, please use it as a decorative and/or play menorah that you don’t light. Chag Hanukkah Sameach!
LAMINATED VELCRO MENORAH
Kids love this menorah activity board with Velcro candles and flames because they can put them on and take them off as many times as they like! I made this board in 2005 when my older son started preschool, and we’ve used it many times through the years when my kids and I were asked to talk about Hanukkah at their schools. It’s perfect for that and also very fun to play with at home!
EGG CARTON & CRAFT STICK MENORAH
Celebrate Hanukkah AND honor the Jewish values of shomrei adamah (guardians of the earth) and bal tashchit (do not destroy) by reusing an egg carton to make a festive menorah! This menorah is practical, too, because kids will be able to put the craft stick “candles” in and out each night of Hanukkah and also “light” the mini clothes pin “flames.” Add some extra joy to the Festival of Lights with this simple and colorful craft!
HANUKKAH STORY BOARDS
This is one of my favorite Hanukkah art projects, and it’s great for any age! Story boards are similar to books, but they’re not bound. They’re great for retelling a story from memory because the pictures help the artist/author remember the main parts. Here’s what you do — read the Hanukkah story with your kiddos, and then have them draw pictures on a series of cardstock or posterboard to depict the different parts of the story. They can also write numbers on the back of each story board so that they can see the order. Alternatively, I divided the Hanukkah story into six parts and created a PDF that can be printed with Avery 8464 Labels (they are 3 1/3” x 4”) and stuck to the backs of the story boards. That link is below in the materials list. Once your kiddos are finished, they’ll be ready to retell the Hanukkah story to family and friends, which is one of the most important parts of celebrating the holiday!
RECYCLED LATKE BOX DREIDELS
Homemade latkes are so delicious, but there’s something so familiar and comforting about latkes made from a boxed mix — yum! Here’s a fun way to repurpose those latke mix boxes: use the cardboard to make dreidels! You can paint them, color them, put stickers or washi tape on them, or decorate them any way you want. Use them as Hanukkah decorations to make the Festival of Lights extra festive! Chag Hanukkah Sameach!
DREIDEL CAP COLLAGE
Not all cities accept plastic bottle caps for recycling; and even if they do, they’re not always really recycled. Here’s a fun way to put those caps to good use — make a dreidel cap collage! Kids love this one because they do a mitzvah (helping take care of the earth), and they get to use lots and lots of glue, which is always a crowd pleaser! It’s a great group project, too, as more than one person can be adding the caps to create that big dreidel shape. Once your family has enjoyed this unique creation, don’t throw it away! You can pull off the caps and use them for a different cap collage or craft — reuse, then reuse again!
COUNTING BLESSINGS AND BEADS
The Talmud teaches us that we must each recite at least 100 blessings a day. Doing so encourages us to live a life focused on gratitude and helps us truly appreciate all the good in our lives. This simple craft gives kids a tangible way to count these daily blessings and to see what 100 looks like. Plus, they have so much fun examining the beads, deciding which ones to choose, and then stringing them onto the pipe cleaners — ten beads each on ten pipe cleaners. Surprisingly, even the tiniest beads fit on the pipe cleaners, reminding us that we should say a blessing even for the seemingly smallest good things in our lives.
SHABBAT ROCKS
Rocks make the perfect canvas for any painting — your kiddos will love painting their own Shabbat scenes on flat rocks! It also will give them a chance to take a closer look at the pieces and parts of Shabbat — candlesticks, kiddush cup, challah, the Torah, tzedakah box, and so much more! Happy painting!
HAKARAT HATOV JAR
Hakarat Hatov is the Jewish value of GRATITUDE, and it literally means “recognizing the good.” Judaism teaches us to be vigilant about noticing the abundance of blessings that surround us. Knowing that a regular practice of gratitude is scientifically proven to make people happier should put a smile on your face, too! Teach your kiddos to notice all the things they’re thankful for starting at a young age. Making a Hakarat Hatov Jar will give them a tangible way to do just that! Give them a little pad of paper, and every time they see something they’re thankful for, they can draw a picture of it and put it in their special jar. Before they know it, their jars will be filled with all the good in their lives; and won’t that be wonderful!
TEENY TINY SHABBAT SET
Could this be more adorable? It’s hard to imagine how! Kids love creating anything that’s teeny tiny, and this Shabbat set is no exception. It gives them a chance to take a really close look at Shabbat candles, a kiddush cup, and challah to recreate them. Their little masterpiece could be a decoration for your Shabbat family dinner, a special set for little dolls to play with, or…they could just make it for the joy of making it, which is always a great way to go!
CINNAMON SALT DOUGH HAVDALAH STARS
When we see three stars on Saturday night, it’s time to say “goodbye” to Shabbat and start Havdalah. Your kiddos will love making these Havdalah stars that smell like cinnamon! It’s very easy to make the dough, which is an air-dry play dough, and it’s so fun to make lots and lots of stars with it. You can use them as decorations and also to smell when it’s time to smell the spices for Havdalah. Once they’re completely dry, they are a very pretty white; but you can paint them if you wish. Your whole family will surely have an extra sweet week with this delightful craft!
WOODEN “SHABBAT SHALOM” SIGN
“Shabbat Shalom!” What a beautiful greeting! It’s so nice to wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat, and making a “Shabbat Shalom” sign is another great way to do just that. Won’t your family and friends feel so happy when they see your welcoming “Shabbat Shalom” sign!
PAINTED WOOD HAVDALAH SPICE BOX
Your family will have an extra sweet start to each new week when you include a hand-painted spice box in your Havdalah ceremony! Havdalah is a short but very meaningful closing ritual to Shabbat on Saturday night. Once we see three stars in the sky, we light a braided candle, and then say blessings for grape juice, spices, and light. The blessing for spices is Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam borei minei vesamim (Blessed are you, Adonai, Source of the universe, creator of different scents). Saying this blessing and smelling the spices helps us bring some of the magic and sweetness of Shabbat into the new week. And when you smell the spices from a spice box made by your kiddos, your week will surely be all the more special! Shavua Tov!
CHALLAH COVER FOR SHABBAT
Shabbat is such a special holiday; we want to do everything we can to make it beautiful and pleasing. In Hebrew, this is called Hiddur Mitzvah — enhancing a mitzvah. Everything from tidying up our home to cooking a delicious meal to setting out a fresh bouquet of flowers makes Shabbat extraordinary. One way you can make Shabbat simply magnificent is to make your own challah cover. Use lots of colors and draw whatever designs you like. Make sure you write your name and the year, too — you will surely cherish it (and use it!) for many years to come, and you’ll want to know when you made it!
CHALLAH BRAIDING WITH PLAY DOUGH
Playing with play dough truly is the best! It’s so fun to roll it, squish it, and mold it into shapes. One Jewish shape you can try making is a challah — just roll your dough into three long and skinny strands, and then braid them together. Voila! Challah! You can use your play dough challah as a Shabbat decoration if you’d like, or you can just make it for fun. Try making them in a bunch of colors!
WOODEN SHABBAT CANDLESTICKS
What is the best kind of Shabbat candlesticks? You guessed it — the ones you paint yourself! Create your own dazzling designs on wooden candlesticks, and your Shabbat celebrations are sure to be extra delightful!