It’s time to celebrate with dreidels and menorahs – with our list of fun and colorful Hanukkah crafts for kids and the kid at heart!
What is Hanukkah and why is it celebrated?
Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that’s become an integral part of the culture in many countries. It’s an eight-day festival, starting on the 25th of Kislev, a month of the Hebrew calendar that often coincides with November or December.
When is Hanukkah?
This year, Hanukkah is from the 11th to the 18th of December, and it’s a great opportunity to learn more about this wonderful festival!
How is Hanukkah Celebrated?
Often called the Festival of Lights, the holiday is celebrated with the lighting of the menorah, traditional foods, games, and gifts.
What is the story behind Hanukkah?
Today, we’ve got some colorful and simple Hanukkah crafts for kids, celebrating icons of the festival, like menorahs and dreidels. There are crafts for every age group out there, so get ready to have fun crafting!
20 Heartwarming Hanukkah Crafts for Kids
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1. Paper Plate Menorah Craft
One of the main highlights of a Hanukkah celebration is the lighting of the menorah, which is a candelabra with nine candles. This is done one candle at a time, for as long as the celebration lasts. Nurture Store has an easy paper plate menorah crafts that even little kids can make.
2. Watercolor Dreidels
Another fun Hanukkah tradition is playing with the dreidel. The dreidel is also called the sevivon, and it is a special kind of top, with four sides. Creative Jewish Mom has a fun craft to celebrate the dreidel, with watercolors to create a special kind of art.
3. Sand Art Menorah
This sand art menorah from Parents is just too gorgeous for words! Kids will be amazed at how something so simple as sand can create such a stunning work of art!
4. Free Printable Dreidel Boxes
Dreidels are a very interesting part of the Hanukkah celebrations. Each Dreidel has four sides, with a Hebrew letter on each side. The letters represent the message “Nes Gadol Haya Sham,” which means “A great miracle happened there”. Jewish Moms & Crafters brings alive this lovely message with a printable craft for kids.
5. Felt Menorah Toy
The menorah has nine candles, and one of them is placed higher than the others, and it’s called the shamash. This shamash is used to light the remaining eight candles, one on every day of Hanukkah. Gonnabe40 shows us how to make a cute felt toy menorah that kids will enjoy playing with.
6. Popsicle Stick Hanukkah Decorations
We love Popsicle sticks for the simple reason that they’re so versatile and easy to craft with! Creative Jewish Mom makes use of this versatility in making a full set of Hanukkah stick crafts using sticks of different colors.
7. Star of David Sun Catcher
Kids Craft Room has a bright and colorful paper plate craft that celebrates the Star of David, which is also called the Shield of David. The Star of David is actually a hexagram, consisting of two triangles placed opposite to each other and is an icon featured in many cultures.
8. DIY Kids Hanukkah Menorah
Michaels brings us a craft that’s super easy to make and is fun to play with as well! All you need is cardboard, craft paper and wooden pegs. Kids can use these peg candles to ‘light’ a candle every day!
9. Handprint Menorah
Here’s a fun craft for the littles! Alpha Mom shows us how to make a menorah with handprints, using pom poms as the candle lights! Use ready made foam letters and your project is ready!
10. 3-D Hanukkah Craft
We love the 3-D effect in this menorah craft from Kids Craft Room! The colors pop nicely, and you can use any contrasting colors of your choice, although we love the blue and yellow together!
11. Dreidel and Sufganiyah Folding Paper Craft
Ask me what the best part of any festival is and I’m sure to say: food! A special Hanukkah delicacy is the Sufganiyah which is a deep fried doughnut stuffed with jelly. 10 Minutes of Quality Time has a fun craft that features a little dreidel gobbling up a sufganiyah!
12. Quilled Hanukkah Craft
If you’d like to really get down with crafting this Hanukkah, Houzz has the perfect craft for you! Take out your quilling strips to create some gorgeous works of art that feature the menorah, dreidel and others.
13. Cardboard Tube Menorah
Got cardboard tubes at home? If you do, then you have everything you need to make this fun craft from Hallmark! We like the painted detailing on the tubes – each one is different!
14. Felt Dreidel Banner
Whatever the festival, you only get a feel for it once you start decorating, which is why we love switching out our decor for festivals and seasons! She Knows does this too, and gives us a simple felt garland that’s quite easy to make.
15. DIY Paper Dreidels
Want to add a burst of color to your room while also celebrating the Hanukkah spirit? Parents has a craft that checks both these boxes and is quite easy to make as well!
16. DIY Hanukkah Wall Hanging
We’ve seen advent calendars, but this Hanukkah calendar is a little different. Busy in Brooklyn shows us how to make a felt wall hanging with little pockets for every day of Hanukkah, with little gifts in them.
17. Colorful Tape Menorah Craft
Washi tapes or decorative tapes are a big deal nowadays and they can be used in a variety of projects. Creekside Learning uses beautifully patterned tape to create an easy menorah representation.
18. Paper Dreidel Garland
If you’ve got strips and bits of patterned craft paper on hand, Paging Super Mom has just the project for you! Use them to create paper dreidel shapes which you can then string together to form a garland.
19. Hanukkah Door Decor
This door hanging from Design Megillah looks so festive! We love the use of different shades of blue to make these, and the lovely ribbon on the top just adds to the overall effect!
20. Spinning Star Mobile Craft
Nurture Store has a fun project that’ll delight kids who’re learning to cut shapes. Make patterns on plain paper and then cut out star shapes and then string them together – so many techniques in one craft!
If you’ve never celebrated Hanukkah before, we hope these crafts will give you some inspiration to learn about the festival and give it your family’s special touch. Here is some more information about the festival
What is an appropriate greeting for Hanukkah?
To wish someone a Happy Hanukkah, say “Hanukkah Sameach!” (Happy Hanukkah) or simply “Chag Sameach!” (Happy Holiday). Or if you want to show off your Hebrew skills, say “Chag Urim Sameach!” (urim means “lights”).
What do the 8 days of Hanukkah stand for?
The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt.
Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?
The answer is that both are considered correct, though Hanukkah is the most widely used spelling, while Chanukah is more traditional.
What are the main colors of Hanukkah?
For Jewish Americans, this time of year is celebrated with the blue and white (and sometimes silver) of Hanukkah.
About the Hanukkah Menorah
A Menorah is a candelabra with nine candles. Four on either side and a candle in the center intended to light all the others. This is known as the shamash and it sits higher than (or somehow apart from) the other candles.
The candles should be placed from right to left. On the first night, there should be one candle on the far right of the chanukiah, plus the shamash. On the second night, there should be two candles on the right, plus the shamash, and so on.
About the Dreidel
A dreidel or dreidl (/ˈdreɪdəl/ DRAY-dəl; Yiddish: דרײדל, romanized: dreydl, plural: dreydlekh; Hebrew: סביבון, romanized: sevivon) is a four-sided spinning top, played during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet: נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hei), ש (shin).
About the Star of David
Star of David is a Jewish symbol composed of two overlaid equilateral triangles that form a six-pointed star. It appears on synagogues, Jewish tombstones, and the flag of the State of Israel.
Ever since Halloween started, we’ve all been in a festive mood, with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas coming up. Yes, we can’t celebrate with all our friends as earlier, but these crafts will ensure our time at home is well spent!
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