[JewishHolidaysInABox.com update: we are going out of business at the end of 2018.To buy Passover Seder Steps Follow-Along games, Hanukkah Blessings Tutorials, Hanukkah Thank You Notes, or How-to info sheets (Hanukkah Blessings / Hanukkah Candle-Lighting Tips, Hanukkah Songs, Making Edible Dreidels) in bulk at discount pricing, email ellen@jewishholidaysinabox.com for details.] Want ideas for quick-to-make, kid-friendly Hanukkah food that is not fried in oil? Here are three of my favorites: #1 Hanukkah pancakes If you have large Hanukkah cookie cutters, you can make your usual pancake … [Read more...]
3+ Weeks Till Hanukkah
[JewishHolidaysInABox update: we are going out of business at the end of 2018. The business and URL are for sale. Passover Seder Steps Follow-Along games are available in bulk at a big discount. Email ellen@jewishholidaysinabox.com for details.] I am devoting the last few blog posts until Hanukkah to a few of my favorite super easy things to do with the kiddoes. #1 Make edible dreidels It’s an activity and a dessert! Ingredients: small pretzel sticks, marshmallows, Hershey’s ® Kisses, and some kind of frosting (like tubes of blue frosting). Break off a piece of pretzel stick for … [Read more...]
Early Hanukkah But Not Quite Thanksgivvukah
[JewishHolidaysInABox.com update: we are going out of business at the end of 2018. The business and URL are for sale. Passover Seder Steps Follow-Along games are available in bulk at significant discount. Email ellen@jewishholidaysinabox.com for details.] Remember a few years back when Thanksgiving and Hanukkah actually overlapped? This year, we have a *whole* week between. But it’s worth imagining how we can use the long Thanksgiving weekend to get a head start on planning and decorating to celebrate Hanukkah. For our family, as sad as I am to acknowledge this, we probably … [Read more...]
New Hanukkah Books For Your Home
So what new (and newish) Hanukkah books are out that might need to find a place in your home library? I previewed these three and recommend them all. Grover’s Eight Nights of Light Written by Jodie Shepherd, illustrated by Joe Mathieu, this paperback was published in September 2017. (It’s also available as a Kindle, but then you wouldn't get all the goodies inside.) According to Amazon, it’s for ages 3-7. I was prepared to be skeptical. But they had me from the beginning. Before I even looked at the story, I discovered two pages of stickers (I love stickers!), Hanukkah gift cards, … [Read more...]
Hanukkah Lights, Lights, Lights!
One of the core concepts of Hanukkah is light – the miracle of the lights lasting for eight days, the light in the gloom of winter, the menorah in your window to share the miracle with the world. So do you have a menorah and candles that bring you joy? If not, you can remedy that right now! (Admission: we don't have a menorah that uses oil. Yet. But I'm looking.) Choosing the right menorah* When our girls were young, I searched and searched for a menorah that reminded me of the one I’d grown up with – a traditional brass menorah with Lions of Judah flanking the sides. Then we got another … [Read more...]