Favourite Craft Ideas - Hanukkah

What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah Candle Holder

You will need:

Self hardening clay
Paint
Small Candles (Birthday cake size)
Varnish (optional)

Roll out a hand sized ball of clay into a long thin strip about 3cm thick and cut a piece approximately 4cm x 20cm. 
Using the rim of a cup as a guide, cut out a small arch shape from the middle of one edge as shown.

Using the left over clay, roll out a long sausage shape 2cm in diameter. From this cut nine slices about 2cm long each. Make another slightly larger base to put one of the small slices on to form the centre candle holder. 
Wet the top edge of the strip of shaped clay and position the slices next to each other along the top, with the the larger slice in the middle, as shown. Press gently on the small pieces, to ensure they have stuck. And then, trying not to distort them, push either one of the candles, or something that is the same size as one, to make a hole in each slice deep enough to hold the candles so that they won't fall over when put in place in the finished holder.

Leave the candle holder to completely dry before painting and decorating it.
It can be varnished when the decoration is dry if you so wish.
Place the candles into the small holes that were made, ready to be lit

Dreidel

You will need:

Card

Paint or felt tips or crayons

A small pencil (about 10cm long is ideal)

Glue

To play the game some pennies,counters or raisins

Use the template provided to cut the shape of the dreidel out of the card. Make a hole in the top to fit the size of your chosen pencil.

Copy one of the four letters of the Hebrew alphabet one (shown on the right) on to each side, then decorate around the letters using paint, pens or crayons.

To make it easier to assemble the dreidel, fold along all the necessary lines before you start gluing the shape together.

All the tabs can be folded inward and the triangle shapes can be folded upwards on the inside to the square above, and creased along the edge and then opened out again. (This will help to form the triangular-shaped bottom). Finally fold along the dashed lines to form the main box shape.

Glue the shape together, starting with the triangular base. It is easier if you glue the second triangle with one tab to the triangle with no tabs first and then work your way along as this brings the box together. Leave gluing the top in place until last so that you can reach inside to make sure the base and sides are well glued. When the dreidel is complete and the glue dry, push the pencil through the hole and you're ready to play.

To Play the Game

To begin the game, each player should have 10-20 pennies(or counters or raisins). Each person puts one penny in the middle. Then each person takes a turn at spinning the dreidel. When the dreidel is finished spinning the letter that shows uppermost determines what each person must do.

or 'nun' stands for 'nicht', or nothing. If the dreidel lands on 'nun', you do nothing.

or 'gimel' stands for 'ganz', or all. If the dreidel lands on 'gimmel', take everything in the middle.

or 'hay' stands for 'halb', or half. If the dreidel lands on 'hay', take half of what's in the middle plus one if there's an odd number of pennies.

or 'shin' stands for 'shtel', or put in. If the dreidel lands on 'shin', put two pennies into the middle.

When only one penny or no pennies are left in the middle each player adds one. When a player has everything, he or she wins!

Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Together they form the acronym "נס גדול היה שם" (Nes Gadol Haya Sham – "a great miracle happened there").

Dreidel template
(PDF document)

Visit songs for festivals page and learn the songs to sing whilst playing the game

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

and Sevivon