SavvyPicks: Hanukkah Fun

December 08, 2008

by Amy Rees

With Hanukkah starting relatively late this month, that gives all of us a little bit of extra time to get organized, get ready, get the story straight, get the dreidel-spinning skills in shape ... and get excited! 

Here are our favorite Hanukkah books, toys and family activities -- enjoy! 

Chanukah Set by KidKraft

This darling little wooden play set lets the little ones (and theirdollies, animals and imaginary friends) get in on the candle lighting,without any matches in reach. Your preschooler can play along with thefamily, and if she decides to make up her own order to light hers,Grandma won't gasp! In addition to the wooden menorah and candles, theset also comes with pretend gold coins and a frying pan with two latkes(far less tasty than Grandma's, sadly). A full festival in a handystorage sack - what a miracle indeed!

Hanukkah: A Counting Book in English - Hebrew - Yiddish

The black background of this book makes the glow of the rainbow-huedcandles especially engaging for readers. What is especially cleverabout this book, though, is that it engages so many different readers,at so many different levels. It can be a simple counting book that goesthrough the eight nights of Hanukkah, even using some cut-outs for thecurious little hands of the youngest set. Or it can be a multilingualprimer with languages, alphabets and transliterations all lined up forcomparison, for an even more curious mind. Oh, and it also manages tofold in the entire story of the holiday along the way. Amazing!

I Have a Little Dreidel

Even when the dreidel song is stuck in our head for far more than theeight days we were promised, we still love this happy little book. Thelovely, vivid illustrations have our little ones reaching for it againand again. The sweetness of the way the simple tune skips through theentire recounting of a family's holiday celebration charms us. Andyou'll find the tune endlessly adaptable to making up funny stanzas ofyour family's own - and yes, that means you will still be humming thesong long after the last night of Hanukkah. If only the chocolate coinslasted that long....

Hanukkah Window Ornament

Activity for 2-6 year olds

This is a wonderful addition to your window display of your Menorah.Glue popsicle sticks (or the larger craft sticks) together in the shapeof the Star of David. (You can make this an educational activity byhaving your child count the number of sticks needed as well as thetriangle/inverted triangles to make the star). Paint the sticks withblue paint and glitter. You can affix the star to a window either bygluing a string loop and then hanging it from a tack affixed to the topof the window sill or using double sided tape to affix it to the window.

Materials Needed: Popsicle sticks (or craft sticks), paint, glue, glitter, string/thread

Hanukkah Cards

Activity for 4-6 year olds

Send your Hanukkah good wishes to friend and family by making cards.To make a pattern for the Star Of David star, first draw a triangle andthen draw a triangle upside down. Fold a piece of blue constructionpaper in half to make your card. Trace the star on the front of thecard. At this point, you can do several variations: trace the star withglitter glue, cut out the star so it makes a window into the inside ofthe card, or cut out a slightly smaller star out of foil (or whitepaper) and glue it onto the larger star then outline. Write a personalmessage inside and send to friends.

Materials Needed: Blue construction paper, foil (optional), glitter glue (optional), glue, scissors

Dreidel Mobile

Activity for 2-6 year olds

This is a cute Hanukkah project. Cut out one large dreidel fromconstruction paper and several smaller ones. Have your child decoratethe dreidel by painting or coloring it. You or your child can thenwrite the Hebrew letters (nun, gimel, etc.) on the various sizeddreidels either in black ink or you could do glitter. Hang the smallerones from the larger dreidel using yarn or string. Then hang the largeone from the ceiling and you've made a wonderful Hanukkah decoration!

Materials Needed: Construction paper; paint, markers or crayons; glitter (optional); yarn or string

Handprint Menorah

Activity for 3-6 year olds

Take a large square tile (12x12 or larger). Have your child paintthe tile. Allow to dry, and then trace your child's hands on the tilewith the thumbs overlapping. The 4 fingers of each hand will be thecandleholders with the two thumbs holding the center "shamash" (servantlight) candle. Glue nuts (as in nuts & bolts) on each of thefingers. Glue two nuts (one on top of the other) on the thumb toelevate the shamash. You may also write "Happy Hanukkah!" on the tileif there is space. Allow to dry. To light the candles, remember to usethe shamash candle to light all the others and you will need to meltthe bottoms of the candles to get them to stand on the nuts.

Materials Needed: Large tile, paint, permanent marker, 10 nuts, Hanukkah candles

Making a Small Menorah

Activity for 2-6 year olds

This is very cute and easy project for young kids to make atHanukkah. Buy a small rectangular piece of white tile (about 8"-12"long x 3" wide). Have your child paint the tile. Once the tile is dry,glue a small piece of tile in the center to elevate the shamash(servant light) which will be used to light all the other candles. Thenhelp your child glue 9 small nuts (as in nuts and bolts) to the tile.Glue 4 on the left side, one on the small tile for the shamash, and 4on the right. Your child can then decorate the base tile with othersmall pieces of tile or leave it as is. When lighting the candles,you'll need to melt the bottoms a little bit and then place them on thenuts. Don't forget to light the center candle first and use that tolight all the others.

Materials Needed: Rectangular piece of plain white tile, 9 small nuts, small pieces of decorative tile (like the kind to make mosaics), paint

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Our local Savvy editors in Charleston, Denver and Washington DC are also spinning their best ideas for Hanukkah fun -- don't miss them! 

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