Celebrate Hanukkah by creating a beautiful handprint menorah craft. You can even ‘light’ a candle each night, too!
Why Make a Hanukkah Menorah Craft
There are thousands of Christmas tree ideas out there, but there are significantly fewer Hanukkah menorah crafts.
People who celebrate Hanukkah should have adorable handprint crafts, too!
This menorah craft may be enjoyable even if you don’t celebrate Hanukkah.
Many people choose to do a unit study on various holidays in December.
Creating a Hanukkah menorah craft is an excellent way for little ones to remember Hanukkah.
By teaching your little one about a holiday she may not be familiar with, you are helping her to see other people’s ideas and beliefs so she can be understanding and empathic.
This way, when she sees or hears something related to Hanukkah or the menorah when you are out in public, she already knows something about it.
Allow her to ask any questions she may have while making the menorah craft.
This craft can be interactive more than just the day the menorah craft is made.
Due to the nature of a menorah, each night (or day) of Hanukkah, another candle can be ‘lit.’
Add a yellow dot above the correct candle to show what night of Hanukkah it is.
This article may contain affiliate links to products that may help you when homeschooling preschool.
What You Will Need
- Paper
- Paint (blue and yellow)
- Baby wipes, a damp towel, or a sink close by (to clean paint-covered hands)
- Yellow glitter; optional
How to Make a Hanukkah Menorah Craft
1. Clear off a space to paint.
It’s always nice to have a step that can be checked off before the craft actually begins 😉
2. Set a piece of paper down horizontally.
3. Paint your little one’s fingers on the left hand and palm blue.
4. Have her spread out her fingers and gently place her left hand on the left side of the paper. Try to get the thumb pointed up towards the top of the paper like the other fingers.
5. Clean the paint off her hand (or you risk paint getting on everything).
6. Paint her right hand blue.
7. Have her spread her fingers out.
When placing her hand down this time, be sure to overlap the thumbs (that are both pointed up) to make one candle.
8. Gently push on her hand, then slowly pull her hand up.
9. Wash her hand.
10. If lighting the candles right away, paint one of the fingertips yellow.
11. Dab a dot of yellow above each blue finger ‘candle.’
If Adding Glitter…
If you choose to add glitter to make the lit candles twinkle, may the odds be ever in your favor.
(Ha! Just kidding…sort of…but we definitely applaud your willingness to go with glitter!)
You’ll want to wait for the blue paint to try before placing the yellow on the menorah craft.
After placing the yellow paint, immediately sprinkle it with glitter.
Dump off excess glitter. It’s easiest to do this on another sheet of paper, then slightly fold the paper and dump the glitter back into the jar.
Hanukkah Menorah Painting
Bring the joy of Hanukkah to your little one by making a menorah craft.
Even if you don’t celebrate, teaching your little one how others celebrate this holiday season is a lovely way to show empathy and understanding for others.