Hanukkah Party Ideas for Kids
Latkes, Dreidels, Gelt, and the Hanukkah Story
Planning a festive Hanukkah party for children? Here are some ideas to get you started.
A Hanukkah party is a fun way to teach children about the Festival of Lights. It's also a great way to give Jewish children a little something special during the holiday season, when it's easy to feel left out and different if you don't celebrate Christmas. Here's some ideas for throwing an unforgettable Hanukkah party for children at your home, a local synagogue, or other location.
Decorations
If you're looking for a color scheme, try blue and white, which are the colors of the Israeli flag. Decorate with blue and white table cloths, plates, balloons, streamers, and other creative accessories. Since this is the Festival of Lights, you might want to include candles and lanterns in your celebration, but of course you should be careful to keep these out of reach of children.
Lighting the Menorah
If you party is during one of the eight nights of Hanukkah, you'll probably want to incorporate the candle lighting ceremony into your festivities and get the children involved. If the kids are old enough, they can participate in the lighting. If not, they can say the blessings together with the adults and sing Hanukkah songs. The kids may not be familiar with these (especially if some of them are not Jewish), so be sure to print out handouts with the translated blessings and songs, and go slowly to make sure no one feels lost or left out.
The Hanukkah Story
Spend a little time telling kids the Hanukkah story. If they're old enough, you might print out a version of the story and ask each of them to read a section. Hanukkah is about religious freedom, so you might ask the kids to think of examples of how the story is similar to contemporary situations around the world where religious liberty is compromised. You might also consider acting out the story of Hanukkah in a way that gets the children involved, but do keep in mind that parts of the Hanukkah story are violent.
The Dreidel
Hanukkah has a built-in party activity: the dreidel. Children spin this small four-sided top, which has a Hebrew letter on each side. Traditionally, the game goes like this: the letter nun means "do nothing," the letter he means "take half the kitty", the letter gimel means "take the kitty", and the letter shin means "lose what you bet". Often the "kitty" is composed of Hanukkah gelt, or the chocolate coins that have come to be associated with the holiday. Of course, if you'd rather take the gambling element out of this children's game, you could simply award each child a piece of gelt or small gift based on the letter they spin.
Other Gelt Games
Be creative with the gelt. You might have a "gelt hunt," a variation on the Passover Afikommen search that has kids searching for the pieces of candy hidden throughout the room. Of course, you'll want to choose an area that's child or teenager safe! Or break tradition a bit and fill a Hanukkah themed piñata with the gelt. Use your imagination!
Food
Of course, the traditional Hanukkah food is the latke, or potato pancake, which is often served with sour cream, applesauce, or jam. They're kid-friendly and are not terribly difficult to make. (Here's a handy latke guide to help you out). You might also serve sufganiyah, a jelly donut that is enjoyed in Israel during Hanukkah. Since Hanukkah is a celebration of the burning of oil, just about anything deep fried in oil can be "Hanukkah food" (as long as it's kosher). Another simple treat you can include are sugar cookies in the shape of dreidels, menorahs, or the Star of David. Kids can get involved by frosting the cookies with blue and white icing.
Good yontif and Happy Hanukkah to all!
