8 Days of Chanukah
Hi Moms!
Chanukah is here! I have the best memories from this time with my family growing up and lighting all the menorahs. I loved how my parents would put all of our crafts from school all over and we had fun adding to them every year!
Now that I have a daughter of my own, we get to decorate our home and start our own family Chanukah collection!
This year we had so much fun making these and I wanted to share with more moms!
Here are 8 easy Chanukah craft ideas you can do with your baby/toddler! They all provide great learning and development opportunities for your child and they are incredibly easy to do with everyday materials - most taking under 5 minutes to set up! I created videos to help you create the crafts easily so see the instructions and videos below!
Enjoy and let me know if you try any out! Tag our new account on Instagram @EasyBabyPlay
Best,
Kristin and H
Paper Plate Menorah (video)
Find: 2 Paper Plates, Scissors, Paint, Clothespins (or you can use paper clips) Make: I let my daughter paint the two paper plates with different blues. After they dried, I folded one of the paper places in half and cut two small lines on the bottom (the curved part which will be the base to help the menorah stand). I cut the second plate in two and folded each section in half and attached it to the cuts to become the base. You can add tape for extra security. Then each night, you can add a clothespin as a candle!
Popsicle Decorations (video)
Find: Paint, paintbrush (or your hands like we did!) glue, pipe cleaners (optional for adding to the frame) Make: I set up paint and let my child paint all the different pieces at once. We used our fingers and brushes and I played alongside my daughter. After the painting was over, and the popsicle sticks dried, I glued them together to form 1. A dreidel, 2. A menorah, 3. A jewish star and 5. A frame to hold a picture of us from Chanukah! The frame is my favourite and I can’t wait to add a new picture each year! We twisted the pipe cleaners around to create a menorah that went on top of the frame. This is optional but made it more fun. For the popsicle sticks, make sure they have dried and you can always use hot glue for extra security!
Giving Box (video)
Find: Empty container (we used a milk carton), cardboard, scissors. Make: Take any empty box or container and cut a hole in the top. Then cut circles out of cardboard that would fit when place in the hole. You can decorate the ‘coins’ or the container if you would like with markers, crayons or paint. Play: Encourage your child to place the coin into the tzedukah box. You can explain to your child about tzedukah and what it means and get them excited to put real money into it when they are older! I explain everything to my baby because they really are like sponges absorbing information all around! This activity is a form of ‘posting’- which is fitting an object into its container- it is a precise fine motor activity your baby may start enjoying around 11 months. I started with a wider opening while H was figuring it out and I have since experimented with different sizes for different levels of difficulty. I like to make sure she masters the first before moving onto a more difficult one.
Play Dough/ Menorah/ Sufganiyot (video)
Find: Flour, Oil, Boiling Water, Cream of Tartar, Mixing bowl, or egg carton, Popsicle Sticks, Yellow Pipe Cleaners (optional for flame), Tape, items to decorate- sequins, paper, paint, items of your choice! Make: 1 cup flour + ½ cup salt + 2 tbsp cream of tartar. Mix together then add 1 tbsp any oil with 1 cup boiling water and mix everything together. Knead the dough until it's a smooth consistency. If for any reason it’s a bit sticky, you can add a little more flour to help with this. Optional add blue food colouring if you’d like! Play: Play! Encourage your kid to break the dough and roll it into 9 small round sections and add popsicle sticks to make a menorah! Encourage them to create their own Sufganiyot (a round jelly doughnut typically eaten on Chanukah). If you have paint, sequins, paper, beads (anything you have around) let your kids decorate their doughnuts!
Handprint Menorah (video)
Find: Paint, Paper, Glue, Scissors, Your child's hand! Make: Take a paint brush and cover your child's hand with paint (I used blue). Press their left hand down and then repeat with the right hand by its side. My baby was little so I washed her hands immediately and I used my fingerprints to make the shamash and finish the menorah off. I added yellow finger prints for the flames!
Black and White Decorations (video)
Find: Black and white paper, cardboard, scissors, glue. Make: Cut out a dreidel, menorah and jewish star in black and white paper. Glue it down and then attach the pieces to cardboard for your baby to enjoy! Play: This is great for very little babies as the black and white contrast is great visual stimulation! Place it around them and encourage them to do tummy time while enjoying the Chanukah art!
Messy Play (video)
Find: Spaghetti, Water, Bowls, food colouring (optional) Wax Paper, Fridge/freezer. Make: Boil spaghetti, add food colouring if you want. Lay the spaghetti out in a bowl with some laying across the edges. Add water and anything else you would like and put it in the freezer! For early sensory development, it’s important for babies to be exposed to lots of different textures and sensations. Play: Pop the ice block on a tray or some sensory fun! You can add pipettes and a bowl of warm water for your baby to explore temperature. Add toy tools such as popsicle sticks, spoons and ask your kids if they can get the items out! You can also freeze ribbons, small toys, pipe cleaners for variety. I like to have a couple towels around to minimise the mess or you can set this activity up outside or in the bathtub to keep things simple.
Sensory Tray/Bottles/ Ribbon Pull (video)
Find: Ribbon (can recycle any ribbons used from gifts), Cardboard, A pen, Empty bottles, pom poms, feathers, paper, pipe cleaners- anything you can think of! Make: Household items may be common for you, but they can be fascinating to your baby. They can learn about gravity, cause and effect, transformation by watching as you manipulate and play with these items! Here are a few ideas of how to start! Sensory bottles are some of our favourite items to make! We like to add random items into an empty bottle, put the top on tightly (can hot glue it for extra security!) shake, roll, and enjoy exploring the objects inside! Ribbon Pull is easily made by poking holes (i use a pen for this) into cardboard and inserting the ribbon into the hole. I double knot each side so when the ribbon is pulled it does not come out. My baby has been enjoying this game for months now and it helps strengthen their hand eye coordination, grasp, and all around motor skill development! Take turns pulling the ribbon back and forth with your baby!
You know all the wrapping paper you have lying around- well you can crumble, tear and play with this with your baby/toddler! Hold pieces in your hand and blow on them letting the baby watch as the pieces float around and fall. Put them on a tray and let them explore different textures. Always supervise your child when playing and exploring smaller pieces especially if your baby is still putting things in their mouth frequently.