Celebrate Hanukkah with These Simple Crafts for Kids

These Hanukkah crafts celebrate the bright colors, beautiful lights, and ancient traditions of Hanukkah, yet they are simple enough for any age of child to make. Even the youngest crafters can produce spectacular results with these inexpensive and simple crafts.

Star of David Popsicle Stick Craft

Give each child six craft popsicle sticks (the wide kind) and allow him to paint the sticks any color he or she chooses. When the paint dries, glue three popsicle sticks into a triangle shape. Repeat with the other three sticks. Glue the two triangles together to form a Star of David. Decorate with glue and glitter and simple star shaped stickers. Attach a ribbon loop or a magnet to the back for hanging.

Gelt Bank

Select an empty container with smooth sides and a plastic lid, such as a frosting container. Cut a piece of paper to fit around the can and let your child decorate it with markers, stickers, glitter, and glue. Meanwhile, cut a slit in the plastic lid. Attach the paper to the outside of the container. During Hanukkah, let your child add spare change to the bank. When Hanukkah is over, let your child donate the money to the charity of his or her choice.

Handprint Menorah

Give each child a piece of large black construction paper. Paint the palm of each child's hand blue and each of the fingers white. Make a handprint with each hand, with fingers close together and facing upward. Overlap the thumb prints to form the Shamesh. Use yellow or gold paint to paint on the flames of each candle. Sprinkle clear glitter over the wet paint for a shimmery effect.

Simple Spinning Dreidel

Fold down the tops of small, clean milk cartons to form boxes. Mix acrylic paint with a little glue and allow kids to paint the boxes any color they choose. The glue will help the paint stick to the waxed surface of the milk cartons. Take a sharpened pencil and poke it through the box so the point comes out the bottom. Now you have a dreidel. Decorate the sides of the dreidel and add the four letters, SHIN, HEY, GIMEL, and NUN to the sides. When the dreidel is finished, play using pennies, chocolate coins, or small candies as tokens or chips. For instructions on how to play the dreidel game, and to see what the Hebrew letters look like, click here.