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!

Up until now, I've been providing you with Chanukah ideas, but no Menorahs! Thus starts the Menorah parade. I will break up the Menorah ideas with other Winter or 5 Senses related crafts.

For this Menorah you will need:
1 foot square Tile
Mod Podge
9 Pennies
12 Bottle Caps
9 Nuts- 3/8 inch
Strong Glue- either Wood Glue or Tacky Glue would work well.
The menorah Brachos printed on a 3x5 piece of paper, or smaller
Magazines for cutting


Most Menorah supplies can be found by clicking here.

1. Distribute recycled magazines that have a lot of color to them- think clothing magazines, oriental Trading Co. magazines, food magazines, gossip, or anything that's not a boring business magazine. Have the kids cut out spots of color- not necessarily a whole picture just what will become paper mosaic scraps.

2. Paint the entire tile with Mod Podge, then stick as many pictures as you can on the glue- overlap them!- and repaint with more mod podge. This will seal in the pictures and give the Menorah a high gloss.

3. When the tile is dry, Glue 8 bottle caps across the diagonal of the Menorah, with a 9th cap lying upside down. You'll build that last one taller for the shamash. If you would prefer, lay out the 8 caps across a horizontal line on the tile and place the shamash either in front of, or behind the 8.

4. A teacher should stack 3 more bottle caps (see photo for technique) on the upside down shamash.

5. Once all caps are dry, glue a single penny onto each cap, followed by a nut. These are your candle holders.

6. Finish off by gluing or mod-podging the card with the brachos!

We all make those same Menorahs that hold colorful wax candles- each with hour own unique twist of course, and now, here's a way to prevent the table from getting some gorgeous colorful wax stains on it!

What you'll need:
One sheet of construction paper per child
Scissors
Contact paper
1" x 1" pictures of menorahs
1" x 1" pictures of the kids preparing for Chanukah
a single 2" x 2" picture of each child

Fold a sheet of paper in half and draw half a menorah so that when you cut it out and unfold it you have a full menorah. Half the menorah would be 4 branches and a half of the shamash. cut out the menorah, making sure that you now have a complete menorah frame, and the actual paper menorah. Following the preparations for stained glass, cover one side of the menorah frame with contact paper. Set the menorah cut out aside for later. Then, give each child his/her larger photo to place face down in the center of the menorah. Once every child has his/her photo down, show the kids to stick on the various menorah pictures as well as the pictures of themselves getting ready for Chanukah. Once they've filled the menorah, cover it with a second sheet of contact paper. Now you have a fantastic menorah mat that's sure to be saved and cherished of years to come!

As a separate craft, you can take the menorah cut out and have the kids decorate it either by painting, doting, coloring, etc. Then, provide the kids with the Brachos (Blessings) printed in Hebrew and transliterated/translated depending on the community you are catering to. Laminate these with contact paper too!

Now that the ceiling's covered, let's move onto the walls.

For this giant Menorah you will need:

2-3 similar colored or painted poster boards for the base
9 sheets of card stock for the flames in either white or yellow
2-3 White or other colored poster boards for the candles
Collage materials
Glue
glitter or glitter glue
scissors

First, cut 9 equal and long vertical strips for the candles- they can be as large as you'd like them to be. Divide your class into groups with either a mix of collage materials and paints or separating them so that each candle reflects its group. With older kids I like to use all white materials (ideas are packing peanuts, cotton balls, white tissue paper, shaving cream and white paint mixed together, scraps of paper, cut border strips, foam, felt, painted macaroni, rice). Next come the flames. If your kids are already cutting basic shapes, or practicing cutting, you can provide them with drawn flames to cut out. If you have more than 9 kids, don't worry- you don't have to use every one, and if you have less, then just do this for more than one day until you have enough flames. But if you teach younger kids, you'll want to be the one to cut out the flames. I like to add a little nick to my flames instead of the classic raindrop shape to give the fire some life. (you can see the difference below in a photo). Use the glitter or glitter glue to decorate the flames. Finally, line up all 9 flames with a couple inches space between them and measure the base length that you need. Cut out a base from the remaining poster boards. I like to just make the base flat without individual candle spaces to make my life easier when hanging the Menorah.

Hang up the menorah and light up the classroom!

ps, you may want to number the flames or candles 1-8 to include a counting lesson in the  bulletin board, though this year most schools will be on Winter break for the actual Chag.