Eight Activities for Eight Nights!

Hanukkah is here! Of course, reading a good book is one of our favorite holiday activities, but below we've put together a list of eight more for each of the eight nights of Hanukkah!

Make Your Own Menorah from Joyful Jewish

Let even the youngest children participate in the lighting of the menorah with this pretty homemade menorah with paper "flames" that kids can safely use!

You'll need: paint, construction paper, toilet paper or other cardboard tubes, and popsicle sticks

Follow the instructions here.

Milk Carton Dreidel from Spoonful

Make recycling a part of your Hanukkah season with this nifty dreidel made from a milk carton!

You'll need: empty 8oz milk carton, craft knife, unsharpened pencil, blue masking tape, and a paint pen


Follow the instructions here.

Hanukkah Gelt Cookies from More Quiche, Please

Now you have your homemade dreidel and so much Hanukkah gelt you're not sure what to do with it all. Turns out they're a perfect way to dress up some holiday cookies!

You'll need: peanut butter, margarine, eggs, sugar, flour, baking soda, vanilla, and 3 bags of Hanukkah gelt

Follow the instructions here.

Hanukkah Door Decoration from DLTK's Home

Decorate your door with this colorful Hanukkah wreath that needs just a few materials that you're sure to find around the house!

You'll need: wire coat hanger, toilet paper rolls, paint, paper, tape, glue, scissors

Instructions available here.

Learn about the Maccabees with these Activities

Help children learn and remember the story of Hanukkah with these fun coloring and maze activities from Kar-Ben!

You'll need: printed activity pages and colored pencils, crayons, or markers

Download the Maccabee color-by-number here, the Maccabee shield here, and the Torch Relay Maze here.


Homemade Hanukkah Cards from Scrumdilly-do

Help children learn the importance of showing they care with these sweet handmade Hanukkah cards, which are much more unique than store-bought cards.


You'll need: tinfoil, glue, cardboard, scissors, colored tissue paper, thread, and glitter

Follow the instructions here.

Decorate Your Home from Enchanted Learning and She Knows Parenting

Kids will love to help decorate with these unique tin and felt designs that they can make themselves!




Metal Star of David
You'll need: disposable pie plate or roasting pan, a marker, scissors, a nail, and string or yarn
Follow the instructions here.

Felt Dreidels
You'll need: assorted colors of felt, pen, scissors, glue, string, and tape
Follow the instructions here. The page also includes a popsicle stick Star of David craft.

Still looking for last-minute Hanukkah gifts? Check out the Kar-Ben website for great deals and new Hanukkah books like Latke, the Lucky Dog!

Our Favorite New Hanukkah Pup

This week's blog features a guest post from Ellen Fischer, author of Latke, the Lucky Dog, a sweet story about a fuzzy puppy named Latke who is rescued from an animal shelter on the first night of Hanukkah. Although he has trouble learning the house rules and gets into all sorts of hijinks, he is one Lucky Dog! Told from the pup’s point of view, this sweet Hanukkah story for little ones is a great addition to Kar-Ben’s Hanukkah collection and our December Book of the Month!

Latke, the Lucky Dog is available at your local Judaica store, or online here.

Read about where Ellen got her inspiration for Latke below:

“Where does your inspiration come from?”  It’s a frequent question I’m asked. And the easy answer is “life.”  The more satisfying answer is, “ family, students, friends, nature, books.  If you observe and listen, inspiration is everywhere.”

For Latke, the Lucky Dog, the inspiration was right at home.  Our own shaggy haired, medium sized, golden brown Jazzie gave us14 years of laughter, fun and challenges.

When Jazzie arrived at our home, she was an adorable, fluffy puppy.  Being the diligent “parent,” I enrolled the two of us in “Puppy Pre-school.”  Jazzie quickly became the star of the class.  “Wow!” I thought.  “This training will be a piece of cake.”  Of course, once we were home, it was a different story.  As I walked in the kitchen one morning, there on the floor was a book with all the corners chewed to bits.  I recognized the book immediately. How to Train Your Puppy. This was certainly my first sign as to just who was really in charge.

Our Jazzie, just like Latke, really did chew up one of the kids’s favorite dreidels.  Our Jazzie really did tear open Hanukkah presents.  (see photos below)  And our Jazzie, just like Latke, eventually learned the rules. (Well, most of them anyway)  Given the opportunity she would eat the sufganiyot, no matter what the rules were!  And like Latke, my children always came to Jazzie’s defense.  They loved her no matter what.

Anyone who’s had a pet, knows they are more than animals.  They are family members.   And of course, we all know exactly what they would be saying if they could talk. 

So when I got ready to write a story with a dog as “the star,” I had all the material I needed.  I thought it would be really fun to use voice of Latke. (Because they do talk, right?)  Mostly, Latke, the Lucky Dog is a story of unconditional love.  Just as Jazzie gave us, just as we gave her.

 

Eight Activities for Eight Nights!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and this year, that means Hanukkah is too! Here are eight fun and informative activities for you and your little ones to do together (for both holidays!) this year:

"Thankful Thoughts" Turkeys

For Thanksgiving and the first night of Hanukkah, take a moment to appreciate what you have.

You'll need: construction paper, scissors, and colored pencils, crayons, or markers

 Draw and decorate a hand turkey (made by simply tracing your hand), and then write one thing you are thankful for on each of its feathers. Or you can make more colorful turkeys like these.


Make Your Own Menorah from Joyful Jewish

Let even the youngest children participate in the lighting of the menorah with this pretty homemade menorah with paper "flames" that kids can safely use!

You'll need: paint, construction paper, toilet paper or other cardboard tubes, and popsicle sticks

Follow the instructions here.


Learn about the Maccabees with these Activities

Help children learn and remember the story of Hanukkah with these fun coloring and maze activities from Kar-Ben!

You'll need: printed activity pages and colored pencils, crayons, or markers

Download the Maccabee color-by-number here, the Maccabee shield here, and the Torch Relay Maze here.


Homemade Hanukkah Cards from Scrumdilly-do

Help children learn the importance of showing they care with these sweet handmade Hanukkah cards, which are much more unique than store-bought cards.


You'll need: tinfoil, glue, cardboard, scissors, colored tissue paper, thread, and glitter

Follow the instructions here.

Decorate Your Home from Enchanted Learning and She Knows Parenting

Kids will love to help decorate with these unique tin and felt designs that they can make themselves!




Metal Star of David
You'll need: disposable pie plate or roasting pan, a marker, scissors, a nail, and string or yarn
Follow the instructions here.

Felt Dreidels
You'll need: assorted colors of felt, pen, scissors, glue, string, and tape
Follow the instructions here. The page also includes a popsicle stick Star of David craft.

Milk Carton Dreidel from Spoonful

Make recycling a part of your Hanukkah season with this nifty dreidel made from a milk carton!

You'll need: empty 8oz milk carton, craft knife, unsharpened pencil, blue masking tape, and a paint pen


Follow the instructions here.


Hanukkah Gelt Cookies from More Quiche, Please

Now you have your homemade dreidel and so much Hanukkah gelt you're not sure what to do with it all. Turns out they're a perfect way to dress up some holiday cookies!

You'll need: peanut butter, margarine, eggs, sugar, flour, baking soda, vanilla, and 3 bags of Hanukkah gelt

Follow the instructions here.


Still looking for Hanukkah gifts? Check out the Kar-Ben website for great deals and new Hanukkah books, or get a great deal on a Kar-Ben audio eBook for your favorite device!

Hannukah: Free to Be Who You Are

There is an interesting piece today over at Raising Kvell by Jordana Horn. The gist of the piece is that a family cannot celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas in deeply meaningful ways simultaneously. Horn prefaces the piece with a disclaimer that she knows that the piece might elicit strong feelings in readers. She underscores a really interesting point: "The Maccabees would rather die than observe any religion other than their own – they recognized that they would and could not be anything other than who they were, Jews. And it is that determination to be who we are and no one else that is what we are celebrating when we celebrate Hanukkah."

In the Kar-Ben book All About Hanukkah, there is a section called Free to Be that gives questions and ideas for families to think about and discuss while the Hanukkah candles are burning:

• Trace you family's geography. Were there times when they emigrated in search of freedom?
• Hanukkah was a struggle for spiritual freedom; Purim was a struggle for physical survival. How are they different?
• Some families light an extra menorah to recall Jews living in poverty, and hunger who cannot celebrate Hanukkah.

by Judyth Groner and Madeline Wikler
illustrated by Kinny Kreiswirth

The story of Hanukkah complete with candle blessings, rules for playing dreidel and other games, recipes, songs, and thoughts on miracles, giving, and more.

“…recommended not only for students beginning to learn about the holidays, but also for teachers and parents to use as guidelines for teaching children who have not yet been exposed to the holidays in depth. Any synagogue or day-school will benefit from adding these titles to their collections.” –Association of Jewish Libraries  Buy your copy today

Dreidel Variation for Little Ones

Have little ones who don't have the patience to sit and play dreidel but still want to be involved?

Try this variation called Dreidel Hunt from the book All About Hanukkah ($7.95, paperback) by Judyth Groner and Madeline Wikler:

One player (the little one) leave the room while the others hide a dreidel. When the player returns to hunto for the hidden dreidel, the rest of the players sing a Hanukkah song. As the searcher comes closer, the singing should get louder. See how long it takes each player to find the dreidel. As an alternative, use a CD of Hanukkah music and turn up the volume to note when the player is closer. Have prizes like gelt and trinkets for everyone!