Sorry I've been away! Good news is, I'm back!

This center is great for reinforcing pre writing skills, and for older kids, it can combine math skills as well.

For this center, you will need:
Menorah cut from foam or cardboard- it should be durable
9 Clothespins
Paint or glitter glue to decorate

Simply decorate each clothespin to resemble a candle. For older kids- number 8 of the clothespins 1-8 leaving the shamash blank. For the older kids, number the candle holders on the Menorah as well.

The name of the game is to place the candles on the candleholders!

Chanukah is coming much faster than we think, so I'm going to post a few Menorah options today.

The basic supplies that you'll need for all of the Menorahs is:

3x12 plank of wood that is apps. an inch high
9-10 3/8" Hex Nuts
9 Pennies
1 Beer bottle Cap- optional, can be switched for the 10th hex-nut
Wood Glue
Sandpaper

Most supplies for Menorahs can be found here.

Prep the wood by sanding down the edges. For older kids, you can sand it most of the way, and then provide the kids with the sandpaper to complete the task.

Next, place a small amount of wood glue onto each penny, and immediately stick a hex-nut on top. These are your candle holders. For the shamash, glue the penny onto a beer bottle cap (see photo) or simply glue a second hex nut under the penny for the added height.

Paint your wood a base color. You can choose a metallic paint, or just the regular crayola washable variety. 

Now, depending on the Menorah, you will need to follow different instructions.

For the striped Menorah pictured below, you'll need painter's tape, and an additional color of paint. First, cut 4-6 inch strips of tape and have the kids tear the strips so that the lines are jagged and narrower. Stick the tape down any way you'd like onto already painted wood. Using a paintbrush, paint the entire piece of wood the second color. Either when the paint is dry, or right away, peel off the tape to reveal your two toned Menorah, Now you can stick the candle holders on in a straight line, with the shamash wherever you choose. As an additional option, you can stick on rhinestones to add some sparkle, or use some glitter spray that can be found here.


For the gravel Menorah, you will either need colored gravel, or you can color rice for the same effect. Coloring rice involves placing the rice in a bag with a little bit of paint and shaking it around so that the paint distributes. For this Menorah, you'll want to glue on the candle holders first. Once they've dried (anywhere from 1-24 hours) spread a nice amount of wood glue onto a small section of the wood, and cover it with the gravel. Shake off the excess, and repeat the process with another color. Keep doing this until the whole Menorah is full.

The next Menorah is simple. You only need some glitter glue to decorate the painted wood, and then stick down the candle holders.

Finally, for the CD Menorah, you'll want 3-5 cds per Menorah. Lay 3 cds out with the shiny part facing upward. Then place 2 more cds next to each other on top of the 3 (see photo). Attach the candle holders, careful to keep the 8 candles on the 2 cds so that they are all level, and place the raised shamash anywhere you'd like. You can add beads or rhinestones for a more sparkly effect. When lit (see photo) the flames create rainbows on the mirrored cds. 

Enjoy!

This is a great Chanukah craft that doubles as a recycling craft!

What you'll need:
Washed and de-labeled can- I prefer the pop top cans because they don't have any sharp edges.
Paint
Glitter
Paintbrushes
Droppers 
Paper Cut-outs

First, choose a base color paint and paint the entire can. Before setting it to dry, you can add glitter to the paint anklet it shimmer. Once it's dried, you can decorate the can either by gluing themed paper cut-outs like Chanukah pictures, or snowflakes for Winter, OR, you can water down a couple other colors of paint just enough for the paint to be able to be sucked into droppers, and have the kids use droppers to squeeze globs of paint onto the can, letting it run down the can. This will look like the colored candles are melting!

Fill with a box of Chanukah candles and send home!