Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, which usually occurs sometime in December on the secular calendar, when the days are the shortest and the nights are the darkest.

In Hebrew, the word “Hanukkah” means “dedication;” the Hanukkah holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.

The Hanukkah Holiday Acknowledges Two Miracles.

• First, the miracle of oil; when the Maccabees cleaned the Temple and were ready to kindle the eternal light, they found enough oil to last one day. To everyone’s surprise, the oil burned for eight days.
• And second, the miraculous military victory; the small band of Jewish soldiers known as the Maccabees defeated the much larger Greek army.

The Holiday Rituals

Lighting Candles

• The most prominent Hanukkah ritual is the lighting of the “hanukkiyah;” the eight-branched candelabra with a ninth holder for the shamesh or “helper” candle, used to light the other candles.
• Jewish people are encouraged to place their hanukkiyahs in a highly visible location where people are likely to view them and learn about the miracle.

Holiday Crafts and Activities

• Collect a variety of Hanukkah menorahs. Allow children to compare and contrast the different hanukkiyahs.
• Encourage children to create patterns with the candles that get placed into the candle holders.
• Make a cardboard template of a Hanukkah menorah; allow older preschoolers to trace and cut out the stencil (younger children will need more assistance). Use colored paper to make rectangular candles. Have children glue candles to their paper menorahs and then hang them in the window.
• Use paint sticks as the base for a Hanukkah menorah; have children paint and decorate the stick. Find bolts that securely hold a Hanukkah candle. Glue the bolts onto the paint stick. Make the shamesh (“helper candle”) by placing two bolts onto each other.

*Instead of a paint stick use a ceramic tile as the menorah base. Have children decorate the tile with permanent markers. Gem tack works best for adhering bolts to the tile.

• Purchase air drying modeling material at your local craft store; have children mold and form their very own hanukkiyah. Use a candle to poke holes in the menorah. Let the modeling clay dry and then paint and decorate.

Eating Foods Fried in Oil – which symbolizes the story of the miracle of oil. 

• There are two traditional Hanukkah foods:
  1)     Potato pancakes, otherwise known as “latkes.”
  2)     Fried, round jelly-filled donuts referred to as “sufganiyot.”

Crafts and Activities

• Have children assist in peeling and grating potatoes to make latkes; talk about how the house smells as the latkes are cooking and the lingering aroma a day after!
• Create a latke game! Cut out 10 yellow circles that resemble latkes. Put one dot on the first “latke,” two dots on the second latke, and so forth until you come to the last latke which would have 10 dots to represent the numeral 10. Place the latkes in a plastic frying pan. Then take 10 paper plates and write the numerals 1-10, one numeral on each plate. Place the plates around the plastic frying pan. Hand your child a pair of tongs, have him/her place each dotted latke onto its corresponding plate.

Playing with a Dreidel (“spinning top”) –

• Each dreidel has four Hebrew letters, one on each side, which represent the phrase “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham,” (“a great miracle happened there” – referring to Israel).
• To play dreidel, everyone is given 6-10 items, (candy, raisins, pennies, etc.)
• Each player puts one item in the center to begin.
• The first person spins the dreidel; each Hebrew letter on the dreidel indicates what a player can do:
• Nun – Receives none
• Gimmel – Takes everything
• Hey – Takes half
• Shin – Add one to the center
  • As players lose all their items they are “out.” The person who ends up with all the items in his/her possession wins.

Hanukkah Crafts, Activities and Giving Ideas
Below are some crafts and activities you can play with your kids to celebrate Hanukkah.

• Playing the dreidel game teaches children to take turns, follow directions, practice counting and experience the joy of winning or the disappointment of losing.
• Dreidel paintings – place a piece of paper inside a gift box; dip dreidels into different colored paint. Then, spin the paint-dipped dreidels on the paper. Each picture will take on its own unique design.
• Make a four-column chart with your child. Put the letters found on the dreidel at the top of the chart (nun, gimmel, hey and shin.) Have your child spin the dreidel and graph the number of times each letter appears when the dreidel stops spinning.
• Take a piece of construction paper and cut a dreidel shape out from the middle of the paper; the paper now has a “negative” dreidel shape in its center. Place a piece of clear contact paper over the dreidel shape. Have children place colored tissue paper and sparkly confetti onto the contact paper. Hang these pictures in the window and let the light reflect on them.
• Fill your sensory tables with sand, colored rice or another sensory material. Hide dreidels in the table and then let children dig for them with scoops and shovels.

Giving Tz’dakah – (donating money to those in need)

Tz’dakah Activities and Experiences

• Encourage children to identify an organization they find meaningful.  Instead of receiving a gift each night of the holiday, choose one night to donate a gift (monetary or other) to that particular organization.
• For every gift received at Hanukkah encourage your children to donate a toy they currently have to a child in need.
• Clean your children’s closets together and sort through clothing that is too small or clothing they will no longer wear. Then, together, drop the clothing off to a needy organization.

Gift Giving –

• Hanukkah has turned into a holiday of gift exchanges. In particular, children frequently receive presents from their family and relatives.

Hanukkah Gift Giving Activities and Experiences:

• Encourage children to make Hanukkah cards for family members and teachers too! Nothing is more meaningful than heartfelt sentiments expressed by a child. Make sure to personalize the cards with your child’s dictated message.
• Help children think of loving and kind actions they can offer others in lieu of purchased gifts.
• Explore the craft store with your child and discover gifts your children can make and give to others.