Hanukkah Table Activities For Children

Children's Hanukkah table activities are a very welcomed addition to any Hanukkah party or family celebration. As most people know, Hanukkah is a time when Jewish families get together and celebrate this Jewish holiday. Since this is a very important Jewish holiday, all members of the family need to be included. Therefore, finding the best activities for children as well as adults is very important.

We all know that children love to pay games and stay active all hours of the day mostly. Some children's Hanukkah table activities include: playing Dreidel, making Menorah's and/or a Star of David, greeting cards, and various coloring and sticker book activities. These activities all will take very little time to prepare and the children will have an opportunity to learn about Hanukkah while participating in various activities. The Dreidel game has been around for many years and many Jewish families have Dreidels that have been passed down for generations. Therefore, most of the children know the rules and how to play the game. Every player receives small items such as pennies, candies, or nuts to use as chips. Most often the players take turns going clockwise and spinning the Dreidel. Once everyone have equal amount of chips, the players put them in the middle of the table (or the pot) and then the Dreidel is spun.

There are four sides to a Dreidel. Each side has different Hebrew letters on it and means something different. For instance, one side is, "nun," when spinning if it lands on this, then the player gets nothing. The next Hebrew letter is, "gimel," and when landing on the this symbol the player gets everything in the middle (when this happens, everyone needs to add another chip to the middle of the pot). "Hay" is another Hebrew letter that means that the player gets half of the pot . The game itself is a lot of fun and the children at your party will more than likely enjoy themselves.

Making paper Stars of David and Menorahs are also interesting table activities for children. The children will enjoy cutting, gluing and pasting these together. Avoid having the children use scissors by purchasing precut materials or cut the materials beforehand when making Star of David and Menorhas. Having a variety of crayons, glue sticks and glitter will add to this decorating activity. Since the Star of David and the Menorah are very special to this Jewish holiday, most of the children will enjoy this activity.

In addition to these children's Hanukkah table activities, have a variety of coloring books, crayons and stickers books available for your younger guests. More than likely, they will enjoy the activities and learn a great deal about this special Jewish holiday.


------

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino gives her two cents worth on entertaining at the holidays with a Hanukkah party. Plus, she generously provides information on free party games activities, and party supplies.