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