Dr. Emily AronoffLooking for a fun family chanukah craft activity?
My family loves puzzles, Jewish holidays, and playing with ‘fire’- so this project wraps all those things together at once! This is a fun Hanukkah craft activity for kids (and grown ups) of all ages. Pleasantly, this PVC pipe Chanukiah has help up really well- we are now on year 3 of constructing (and deconstructing) it, each year it is heavily (and not gently) used. This clip is of my two year old and I co-constructing it- older kids can independently navigate it. In a classroom setting, I would likely put together multiple sets of the kit so students could experiment with different variations. I do NOT consider myself a particularly ‘handy’ human- so I was briefly intimidated by the use of the PVC- but if I can handle it, so can you!
This pleasantly checks many of the boxes I look for in a craft project: ‘STEM’ related, Jewishly relevant, relatively inexpensive, quiet, and can be an independent or a collaborative effort- so that makes it an awesome chanukah activity for kids in my book.
This isn’t my original idea- all credit for that goes to the Bible Belt Balabusta who has all sorts of wonderful and interesting ideas.
If you really enjoy this hanukkah craft activity- you can create extra ‘kits’ and give them as presents to other families that like to play and celebrate chanukah. Add paint, sparkle…I imagine you could even add an element of water play…so enjoy and let me know if you have any creative ideas and/or additions to share.
Puzzle” Pieces AKA Materials
(I used all 1/2 inch PVC)
8 two inch pieces
7 four inch pieces (for base)
4 caps for base’s ends
1 cross joint
2 elbow joints threaded on one side (for the ends)
6 threaded T joins
3 unthreaded T joints
9 Child Safe ‘Candles’
I ADORE these and use them all the time- when I’m leading Shabbat celebrations for large groups of littles, I like to hand them out and the kiddos can ‘light’ the candles by flipping the switch on and then placing it into my Shabbat tray- which is a platter I’ve topped with play-dough so that the kids can securely ‘plant’ their battery operated lights upright).
PS- Looking for more ideas of ways to celebrate Chanukah with kids? Check out the 8 Ways to Celebrate Chanukah That Don’t Involve Gifts!
