Category Archives: Hanukkah

Printable Dreidel Rules (gift tags)

Posted on 12/06/2012 | 13 comments

Two-sided tags: dreidel rules and a 2 sentence explanation of Hanukkah

I usually give out dreidels when I’m the Hanukkah Parent on a classroom visit. Dreidels are fun to spin, they (sort of) tell the story of Hanukkah in 4 letters, and they distract the children from the fact that I’m not giving them any gelt at all (long story).

Most of the kids aren’t Jewish, so they haven’t grown up playing dreidel. They don’t know from dreidel rules, AT ALL. Granted, nowadays mum and dad can Google the rules on an iPhone right there in the school parking lot the minute the kid gets into the minivan, BUT… Continue reading →

13 Comments

Posted in Hanukkah, Jewish kids in nonJewish school

Tagged dreidel

Hanukkah Carnival Stations

Posted on 12/06/2012 | 7 comments

Sufganiyah on a String (the doughnuts aren’t here yet)

We set up for the big ol’ Chanukah Carnival today (my synagogue’s spelling, not mine), and I’m posting the pics below so you can see a few of the stations. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Activity, Edible Craft, Hanukkah

Tagged Hanukkah Carnival

Glow in the Dark Dreidel and Glow Arena

Posted on 12/02/2012 | 3 comments

Instant DIY Glow Dreidel Arena

Of course a glow-in-the-dark Dreidel Arena needs a glow-in-the-dark dreidel. Why didn’t I think of it before? My friend Kathryn (at Joyful Jewish) put me up to it after she read about my arena idea last week. And that’s when the stealth crafting began… Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah, Jewish Toys

Tagged dreidel

Printable how-to for simple LEGO dreidel

Posted on 11/29/2012 | 9 comments

print it, show it to your kid.

Beloved LEGO nerds and LEGO enablers: print this pdf, show it to your kid and let her rummage through the LEGO bins to find the seven, particular pieces. (Rummaging is part of the fun. Match the part to the pic: how many studs across and down? Brick or plate?) She can assemble the seven pieces as per the illustration. She can then add the letters. Voila: a LEGO dreidel.

Should your bins not produce all these parts, just substitute. Four 2×2 bricks are Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged DIY, dreidel, kit, Lego

Dreidel Arenas: easy, instant

Posted on 11/28/2012 | 7 comments

giant Hot Wheels track dreidel arena

If you get crabby when dreidels fall off the table or roll under the sofa, a dreidel arena is key to a happy Hanukkah. An arena corrals the dreidels and defines the play space. And, if your dreidel play includes battles, an arena is a must: the sides keep dreidels in action longer and coax them back toward each other. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged dreidel, Lego

LEGO dreidel kit: giveaway

Posted on 11/24/2012 | 23 comments

LEGO dreidel kit giveaway

Would you like to win a LEGO dreidel kit? Ideally, you’ve all got enough parts at home to make a whole battalion of unique, custom dreidel models, but in case you don’t, take some of mine. The more LEGO dreidels in the world, the better. Continue reading →

23 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah, Jewish Toys

Tagged chanukah, dreidel, Lego

DIY LEGO dreidel kits

Posted on 11/20/2012 | 13 comments

DIY LEGO dreidels in progress

I am in search of the perfect LEGO dreidel. In this case, perfection means cheap, easy and fun. The model will need to attract Chanukah carnival go-ers between the ages of four and eleven, each of whom will be offered a chance to make and take said ideal dreidel. Thus, above all, it’s going to have to spin. Really spin.

My search might benefit you, too: you, the grownup with a LEGO lover at home or in the classroom. The act of building a LEGO dreidel is chock full o’ educational benefits. So many elements to consider: you’ve got to have four balanced sides; a low center of gravity; a minimum of friction; a smooth, wide contact point and a design that doesn’t fling itself to bits when it bashes into another dreidel. Figuring all this out with your kid is more than half the fun. Continue reading →

13 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged chanukah, dreidel, Lego

Swim Noodle Dreidel

Posted on 11/16/2012 | 2 comments

spinning Swim Noodle Dreidel

I couldn’t resist. What better accompaniment to a Swim Noodle Menorah than a Swim Noodle Dreidel? Besides, I had noodle waste.

When one trims a swim noodle to the appropriate Menorah candle length, one generates noodle waste.

How I made it:
As a complete afterthought, believe me. It ain’t pretty, but it SPINS. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged chanukah, dreidel

Swim Noodle Menorah

Posted on 11/13/2012 | 26 comments

Swim Noodle Menorah

The Swim Noodle Menorah. Google all you want, but it won’t be there unless it’s here, because I’ve just invented it. Continue reading →

26 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged menorah

Distributor Cap Menorah

Posted on 01/03/2012 | 10 comments

I should’ve had a V8. Oh wait, I did.

A hanukkah menorah made out of a repurposed V8 distributor cap might not be kosher, I’ll admit. But it sure is cute, and if you live with a car freak, satisfyingly thematic. The function of a distributor cap is all about fire—or at least sparks: it’s part of the ignition system and it helps distribute or control the path of the current.

And Hanukkah is all about fire, right? The miraculous distribution of that wee bit of fuel? Continue reading →

10 Comments

Posted in Hanukkah, Kitsch

Tagged menorah

8 Nights, 8 LEGO minifig flames

Posted on 12/27/2011 | 6 comments

LEGO minifig menorah

Couldn’t help myself.

Happy 8th night, y’all.

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Hanukkah

Tagged Hanukkah, Lego, menorah

Gelt S’mores (and a Hanukkah miracle)

Posted on 12/25/2011 | 5 comments

Dark chocolate Hanukkah Gelt S’more

Hanukkah lasts eight days, eight looooong days. Gelt S’mores help keep things lively. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Edible Craft, Hanukkah

Tagged gelt, Hanukkah, marshmallows

Dreidel Challah, Menorah Challah

Posted on 12/23/2011 | 9 comments

When Hanukkah and Shabbat coincide, the challah deserves a thematic tweak. The preschooler and I made a big Menorah Challah and a few little Dreidels.

We learned that using food dye to color the “flames” orange is not worth the trouble. After the challah is baked, the food color merges with the golden egg wash. But it was fun to try, and now we have orange palms for the rest of the day. Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Edible Craft, Hanukkah

Tagged challah, dreidel, menorah

LEGO Menorahs: flameless versions

Posted on 12/20/2011 | 13 comments

Lego menorah

Ok, ok, I knew posting about a LEGO menorah that holds real Hanukkah candles might cause trouble. It did. I now present a few ultra-safe models that use LEGO bits as flames. Thus, nobody gets hurt, LEGO doesn’t melt, and nothing will trigger the smoke alarm.

Continue reading →

13 Comments

Posted in Crafts, Hanukkah

Tagged Duplo, Lego

LEGO Menorah for Hanukkah

Posted on 12/18/2011 | 8 comments

Duplo and LEGO menorahs: upside-down construction

The intersection of Jewish holidays and LEGO again, but this time, with fire. Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Hanukkah

Tagged Duplo, Lego, menorah

Squirt the Menorah: Hanukkah game

Posted on 12/16/2011 | 3 comments

Squirt the Menorah

I live in Nashville, so I’m not so much in touch with the rest of the Hanukkah carnivalling world. Is “Squirt the Menorah” a popular Hanukkah game? The only Google hits seem to be my own.

I should say “Squirt the Hanukkiyah,” but it doesn’t have the right ring to it. Menorah works fine in this case.

Now, usually, when we light Hanukkah candles, they stay lit until they go out by themselves. It’s a no-no to blow them out or extinguish them in any way. Squirt the Menorah involves shooting water pistols at a lit menorah, which sounds pretty treyf to me. But we don’t play it during Hanukkah on the really real candles, the candles upon which we’ve said the commanded blessings and all. No, we play Squirt the Menorah ahead of time, when it’s okay to extinquish the candles with a squirt gun. Odd, but okay. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged Hanukkah, menorah

LEGO Dreidels, DIY

Posted on 12/15/2011 | 12 comments

LEGO dreidels

The intersection of Lego and Jewish holidays is always fun. Especially if the constructions actually do stuff. Like spin.

Here are a few Lego dreidels we created with oddments at home. They all spin, some better than others. Ideally, they’d all have the proper letter on each side: nun, gimmel, hey and shin, but I only added letters to the dreidels we figured on Continue reading →

12 Comments

Posted in Hanukkah, Jewish Toys

Tagged dreidel, Lego

PVC Menorah kit for kids, revised

Posted on 12/14/2011 | 4 comments

PVC Menorah, ready to disassemble and reassemble

The finished PVC menorah worked beautifully at the Chanukah Carnival. The volunteer who staffed that station devised a great ploy to generate interest: he left it half-assembled and then asked kids if they would like to “help finish it.” They sure did. Boys and girls, I am pleased to report, in seemingly even numbers. Leaving it half-built was a wise move. This left just enough of the structure up to entice would-be builders, yet not enough to look finished (and therefore not as alluring). If he had disassembled the whole thing between turns, the kids would have seen nothing to draw them to the table.

Setup: I put everything on a huge baking tray on a card table. The tray was the working surface, and the raised sides (like a jellyroll pan) kept pieces from Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Activity, Crafts, Hanukkah

Tagged hardware, menorah, pvc

Hanukkah Connect-4: the Gelt Edition

Posted on 12/11/2011 | 5 comments

“Real Gelt” Connect-4

Games and crafts should say, “touch me.” Whether in a whisper or a scream, they should entice. And what screams “touch me” like chocolate?

Here’s a variation on a classic board game perfect for Hanukkah parties, carnivals or just fun at home:

Connect 4 with real chocolate gelt.

Simple, yes? You’d think. But size matters. We all know gelt brands vary in palatability, but they also vary in diameter and width. And successive generations of Connect Four frames vary in inner dimensions. The old yellow and blue frames—some with tab and slot assembly, some with pin and hole assembly—are not created equal, and the snazzy new dark blue versions are totally different. (Any of these will do, but not the new Launchers incarnation or the travel size game.)

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Activity, Hanukkah

Tagged chanukah, gelt, Hanukkah

Edible Dreidels

Posted on 12/01/2011 | 15 comments

The classic Marshmallow Dreidel, with my mini version for older kids.

Marshmallow dreidels, regular and mini

Bump up the educatainment value with a food-safe marker and a printable guide to writing the 4 Hebrew letters (name of letter, what it stands for in Hebrew and English). Bump it up even more and make an Israeli dreidel for contrast: in Israel they use a Pey instead of a Shin. See below.)

Don’t you dare make these yourself and hand them out to kids. The whole point of edible Jewish crafts is that the kids do the making. You can be there, preferably, since another whole point of edible Jewish crafts is spending time together making Jewish things. Continue reading →