This blog is filled with ideas to turn everyday moments into Jewish moments, especially for families with young children.
All tagged Hanukkah
On this last day of Hanukkah, we are making intention word bracelets with alphabet beads as a personal promise to ourselves to shine bright like the Hanukkah lights. You can choose any word that is meaningful for you. We chose the Hebrew words “or ve ahavah” which translates to “light and love” in English. See the steps to make your own bracelets.
During this time of year, it’s so wonderful when children have the opportunity to be the light for someone else by participating in an act of kindness. Today we’re sharing a wonderful family mitzvah - children making stuffed animals for other children in the hospital. Your invited to join us at our family mitzvah day and create your own tradition of an acts of kindness day too!
We’re celebrating Hanukkah in the most delicious way - with a donut decorating party! We made a batch of chocolate and vanilla donuts in a newly gifted donut baking pan and decorated them with homemade icings and delicious toppings! This is a wonderful party to set up for adults and children alike. Let the decorating begin!
We’re deep diving into Hanukkah celebrations with some wonderful new DIYs, like this speckled clay menorah in a simple design. I make a lot of projects with littles in mind, but this menorah is a wonderful project for adults (it involves coffee and wine)! So let’s go make a menorah for the Festival of Lights.
To spread smiles and happiness this Hanukkah, we’re making colorful dreidel necklaces to share with some of our favorite friends. We use paint chips from our local home improvement store to make these cuties, and string the necklaces with beads in different shapes and sizes. This is the happiest (and easiest) dreidel necklace for littles, so let’s go make one!
One of our favorite traditions is to decorate our home as a family for Hanukkah! My most-loved decorations are handmade, like these festive dreidel garlands and mobiles - all from a collection of paint chips. This is a wonderful collaborative project to do with littles, and we show you all the steps to make your own!
We’re in the kitchen today making “apple donuts,” a healthy twist on the traditional Hanukkah sufganiyot (donut)! These adorable donuts are apple slices, spread with yogurt “frosting” and topped with colorful sprinkles! They’re so yummy and refreshing that you’ll feel good about snacking on them for all eight days of Hanukkah!
We’re starting to get a little topsy turvy around here! On Hanukkah, we spin tops called dreidels, and they’re just so many fun and creative ways to include them in our Hanukkah celebrations - like with this cute puffy dreidel necklace. You only need a few materials to make your own, and they’re the perfect accessory for littles to wear while singing the dreidel song! So let’s go make a puffy dreidel necklace!
I think it’s wonderful throughout the year to give children and pre-teens the opportunity to do something kind for someone else! Since we are still basking in the glow from Hanukkah, we wanted to spread the light and make DIY “Seeds of Happiness” and share these happy smiles with friends and family.
One of our favorite Hanukkah traditions is to not only play the dreidel game, but to also make yummy edible dreidels! These sweet treats are extra special because they’re the first food craft I ever did with my girls. You only need four ingredients to make your own. So let’s go make some edible dreidels!
Right now, it’s the Hebrew month of Kislev. Two wonderful things about Kislev are, we celebrate Hanukkah, and it is also known as the month of dreams -
A cute children’s menorah, made extra special, with happy and smiley candle friends.
We are counting our blessing with children. You only need a few supplies and a heart full of gratitude. So let’s make a 100 Blessings Necklace for kids!
I think something that is really beautiful about Judaism, is that everyday, we have an opportunity to pause and be grateful. It’s even written in the Talmud that a person should say 100 blessings every day.
Have you ever noticed just how many Jewish holiday traditions revolve around food - challah and chicken soup on Shabbat, hamantaschen cookies for Purim, and potato latkes and sufganiyot (jelly donuts) for Hanukkah (just to name a few).
When I was 14 years old, I visited Israel with my parents and younger brother. It extra special because it was at the beginning of Hanukkah and we were visiting my older brother who was living at the time on Kibbutz Tzora in central Israel,
Hanukkah celebrations wouldn’t be complete without lighting the Hanukkah menorah (also called Hanukiyah). We light the menorah in the evening at sunset when the stars first appear in the sky.
It’s wonderful when children have the opportunity to participate in an act of kindness for someone else. Yesterday, we made mini challahs, and today, we are going to package up them up into little loaves of love for a special challah delivery.
It’s almost the official start of winter! If you find your family spending more time indoors as the weather gets chiller (or looking for meaningful activities to do while your children are on winter break from school), it might be fun on your next Shabbat to take a break from your normal routine and do something special, like bake mini challahs for Shabbat with your children!
