Chanukah Activities for Preschoolers

Written By Rochelle Eisenberg
Photographed By Justin Tsucalas

Chanukah arrives next month and there are a number of activities to do with the family to make the experience more meaningful. One of the most important components in planning projects, says Michelle Gold, director of Goldsmith Early Childhood Center at Chizuk Amuno Congregation, is to focus on the senses.

“It is very beneficial for young children to have experiences where they are able to touch, taste, hear, smell and see. It is not necessarily about the final product; it is about the experience,” she says.

Check out these ideas from Goldsmith:

> Make an edible menorah (taste). Put pretzel sticks into a marshmallow and use dried cranberries as the flame .

> Play human dreidel with your child(ren). Have them spin like a dreidel and land.

> Let children experience the feel of different types of Chanukah candles and see the different colors. Compare different types of candles; Chanukah, Shabbat, Havdalah. See the candles burn. How do they smell?

> Make a menorah out of blocks or Legos.

December 2011