Happy Hanukkah!!! While it’s nice to have Hanukkah games on hand – like Hanukkah Bingo – you can plan a Hanukkah party for your family, for a few families, or for your kids and their friends without spending tons of time or money. Think music. Think food. Think activities/crafts. Hanukkah songs to set the mood While we’re cooking and cleaning and wrapping and coloring, I like to listen to lively Hanukkah music. One of my faves is always “Candlelight” by the Maccabeats. It just makes me happy, happy, happy! And our little guys love watching this video. And I just discovered their … [Read more...]
5 Hanukkah Gifts from the Kitchen
What makes a house smell inviting? Cookies and bread fresh from the oven. Aromatic spices. A stew in the crockpot. Since we can’t always make and take these gifts to friends and family, I’ve culled some ideas for Hanukkah gifts that will carry with them the warmth and love you feel toward them. If your kids are four and up, they can help with the recipes. Or have them make gift cards and decorations for the jars. They’ll be proud and feel a part of the project. Pumpkin pie spice I already know who is getting my first jar of Pumpkin Pie Spice! Bring the kids into this project, too. They … [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...]
Hanukkah Fun Food
In previous Hanukkah blogs, we introduced the idea of edible dreidels and edible menorahs. Easy. Great for any age. And can serve as a great canvas to learn how to write the Hebrew letters that are on the dreidel. We also talked about using Hanukkah cookie cutters for pancakes. Although I still love the small Hanukkah cookie cutters from my youth, and that I used to make cookies with our girls as they grew up, I bought a set of larger ones – perfect for pancakes. And then . . . In scouting around in cookbooks, I saw the idea for Hanukkah Dreidel Sandwiches in … [Read more...]