Hanukkah Hoop-La!!

The Bible tells us that Jesus participated in Hanukkah(also called the Feast of Rededication or the Festival of Lights).  The temple had been defiled and destroyed, and this holiday reminds us how God has made it new again.  Just like us, we were once defiled in sin, and we rededicated our lives to Yeshua and were made new again.  It’s also called the Festival of Lights, because in order to cleanse the temple, the Jews had to light the menorah, however they only had enough pure oil to light it for 1 day, and it miraculously remained lit for 8 days.  Therefore, we light the Hanukkah candles for 8 days, 1 candle per night, and let our lights shine.

Hanukkah Hoopla ideas:

1.       Encourage your church to have a Hanukkah Party!  Encourage your community to participate. Have a bouncy house, food, crafts and carnival games such as: 

a.       Dreidel Dig: Have a kiddie pool filled with packing peanuts and hide 30 mini-dreidels inside. Give the kids 1 minute to dig for dreidels and whoever finds the most is the winner.

b.      Spin the GIANT dreidel:  Make and form a dreidel with a large packing box. Close one side accordingly and form the opposite sided flaps to a point.  Place a large dowel stick thru the middle and secure with duck tape at both ends.  Draw one Hebrew letter on each side: Hey, Gimel, Nun and Shin.

c.       Hanukkah Hair Salon or Face Painting: Get white and blue colored hair spray and make festival hair do’s

d.      Menorah Bean bag toss:  Draw a large menorah on a firm posterboard or wood. Cut holes in 4 of the candles including the Shamash(the center candle).  Toss the bean bags thru holes for prizes, extra prize if can get thru the Shamash!

e.      Hanukkah Plinko:  Plinko is a very popular game on the Price of Right.  Make a large plinko board. Had child go to the top, place a large gelt(a large chip wrapped in foil) flat against the board. It will hit pegs all the way down and land in a marked lane at the bottom. Child gets different prize for lanes: Hey, Gimel, Nun and Shin.

2.       Cookies!!!  Kids LOVE to be busy in the kitchen.  Give them the opportunity this holiday.  Make dreidel and stars of David cookies.  These cookie cutters are easy to find, but also easy to do by hand.  Let the kids cut out the cookies, and when cooked and cooled, they will enjoy frosting and eating these special treats.

                                                             Making dreidel cookies

3.       Decorate, Decorate, Decorate!  There are a lot of fun craft ideas for kids to decorate the house for Hanukkah. 

a.       Use window markers to write special holiday greetings, stars of David, dreidels and menorahs!

b.      Make stars of David with craft sticks, and paint/color them blue.  Secure with ribbon/ yarn and hang thru out the house.

c.       Hang blue and white lights in windows.

d.      Print off Hanukkah pictures from online and have the kids color and hang up.

e.      Hang Hanukkah garland or make your own with blue and white paper chain.

4.       Eight Days of Fun!  Hanukkah lasts for 8 days, so make it a point to do something fun each day!

a.       Night 1: Read the Hanukkah Story, play Dreidel game, Light Candle #1 and open 1 gift.

b.      Night 2: Scavenger Hunt: Hide chocolate gelt throughout a designated area of the house for the kids to find.  Light candles #1-2 and open 1 gift.

c.       Night 3: Family Movie Night(popcorn and all!), Light candles #1-3 and open 1 gift.

d.      Night 4: Drama Night- form 2 groups and perform the story of the Macabees, Light candles #1- 4, and open 1 gift.

e.      Night 5: Game night-see who’s dreidel can spin the longest; gelt toss-who can toss the gelt into a Tupperware bowl; draw a dreidel/menorah on posterboard and cut into puzzle pieces and race who can put it back together the quickest. Light candles #1-5 and open 1 gift.

f.        Night 6: Pizza Night.  Make mini pizzas and have kids make menorahs, stars of David or dreidels out of toppings. Light candles #1-6 and open 1 gift.

g.       Night 7: Family bowling night-Bring along a bag of chocolate gelt and whoever gets a strike=3 gelt, a spare=2 gelt, any pin=1 gelt, gutter= 1 gelt taken away.

h.      Night 8: Have a party! Invite family and friends over to celebrate. Open 1 gift, light candes #1-8 and shine bright for Jesus.

5.       Hanukkah Snow building contest:  Have teams of at least 2 construct a menorah, dreidel or star of David out of snow.  For fun effects, have spray bottles full of water with different drops of food coloring in each to spray snow for color!

6.       Make a Chanukiah-  have 8 toilet paper rolls and 1 papertowel roll cut down to be slightly bigger than the toilet paper rolls.  Decorate the rolls either by painting, markers, stickers or gluing on glitter. Secure together with tape or glue first and then wrap in festive ribbons. Stuff yellow tissue paper into tubes for candle-light.