Below are activities, recipes, and crafts you can do with the ones you love this Hanukkah. Tzedakah is also important, so don’t forget to help those in need whether you donate your time, energy, or items. Get ready for eight great nights of celebration!    

Hanukkah Activities

The festival of lights is approaching! Here are some fun things you can do to celebrate.  

• Light the candles as a family. Each night set up a video call so you can celebrate with those near and far. Send out an invite, get dressed up, and share a virtual meal together. 
• Have a small and cozy Hanukkah party outside. If you have a heater, you can have an outside gathering and still be nice and toasty. Since Hanukkah is the festival of lights, set up candles and string lights and enjoy! If you don’t have a heater, have your gathering during the day so you can feel the warm sunshine. Lay a giant blanket or sheet in the grass and place pillows and blankets in a circle.  

• Create a new family tradition and do one unique thing each night. Maybe you can build something together and add one piece each night? Perhaps it’s a game where each night you get a new clue.  
• Click here for beautiful and unique ways to set the Hanukkah table. 
• After you light the candles have a dance party! Cue the happy music!  
• Play pin the candle on the menorah.  
• Spend time together as a family with a game night.
• Build a menorah out of Legos.  
• Put on a play about the story of Hanukkah. Another option would be to put on a puppet show. 

Hanukkah Gift Ideas

Give a gift that will put a smile on your loved ones faces. This year try giving personal gifts or even making your own gifts for friends and family. 

• Find a glass jar or cute bag and fill it with your loved one’s favorite things. Some items you can include are their favorite candy, something that will remind them of a moment you shared, your favorite photo of you together, and a list of your five favorite things about them. 
• Create a customized calendar using photos of their favorite things.  
• Discover personal and easy crafts with photos your friends and family will appreciate.  
• We could all use a little relaxation this holiday season. Create a relaxation kit with some of the following: bath salts, candles (with relaxing scents such as ylang ylang, lavender, or lemon), warm string lights, face masks, a soft blanket, tea, or coloring books. You could make your own coupons to include such as “two hours of YOU time” and “breakfast in bed” that they can cash in whenever they want.   
• Frame a map of somewhere you went on vacation together and pin photos from that trip around the map. 

• Photo transfers are personal, homemade, and something your loved one will treasure forever. Just pick the photo they would love and follow these photo transfer steps. Here is another how to photo transfer tutorial.  
• Buy someone an online learning class for something they love. You can find cooking classes, wine tastings, craft classes, acting classes, exercise courses and tons more.  
• Take drinking glasses up a few notches by etching something personal onto them. All you need is armor etch, an exacto knife, masking tape, and a set of plain beer glasses, cocktail glasses or whichever drinkware they use. One option would be to tape a stencil to the outside of the glass wherever you want the shape or letter to go. Put on gloves, dip a paint brush into the armor etch and apply a coat on the stencil carefully. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes and then wash off the etching cream and peel off the tape and stencil. You can also use the exacto knife to cut out a shape, sports logo, or anything you would like out of thick paper and tape that to the glass. Make sure the paper isn’t so thin the armor etch will go through it, otherwise just follow the same steps above.  
• Homemade gifts from the heart… and for the stomach. Baking shows you took the time to make your loved ones something tasty. Click here for delicious holiday baking recipes.  

Hanukkah Crafts 

Break out the scissors, popsicle sticks, and glue… it’s time to make some Hanukkah crafts.  

• Create a stained-glass Star of David using 6 popsicle sticks. Glue three popsicle sticks together to make a triangle and then repeat with the other three. Then place them on top of each other and glue them together in the shape of a star. Put some glue in a bowl and mix in water to thin it out. Lay different colored strips of tissue paper over the popsicle sticks and paint the glue mixture on. Let it dry and let the light shine through!  
• These traditional Hanukkah handcrafts are perfect for decorating. 
• Since Hannukah is the festival of lights, here is a classy way to shed some light on your eight nights. Take large glass vases and fill them with small string lights and place a few dreidels around it. It will light up and would make a beautiful centerpiece.  
• Buy air dry clay to shape and make your very own menorah. Mold the clay into any shape you want and before it dries use the bottom of candles and push them into the clay so when it dries you can pop the candles in easily.   
• Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel… make a paper dreidel garland.  
• Use fabric markers and paint to design your dog their very own Hanukkah bandana.  

Hanukkah Recipes

L’Chaim and to delicious food and drinks.  

• Get your Latke on! Click here for a recipe to make mouthwatering classic potato latkes. Don’t forget to dip them in sour cream and applesauce! 
• Check out these yummy side dish recipes.  
• For scrumptious sweets look into these Hanukkah desserts, including dreidel-shaped cakes and traditional treats.  
• Cheers to Hanukkah themed cocktails.  
• Marshmallow dreidels anyone? Dip the bottom of a chocolate kiss into melted chocolate and then press it onto a marshmallow. Place it into the fridge for 15 minutes. Then slowly press a pretzel stick into the other end of the marshmallow to serve as the handle. Dip the entire bottom of the dreidel into a bowl of melted chocolate. Fill a plastic bag with melted white chocolate or white icing and pipe the Hebrew letters onto each side. If you want to make it sparkle, before the chocolate fully melts sprinkle some blue sprinkles on the outside.

Ways to Give Back:  

This holiday season open your heart and discover several ways you can make a difference.   

• Since Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, gather one item of clothing or thing you can donate each night. Every night you can add to a donation box and after Hanukkah is over, take it to a donation center.  
• Tzedakah time! Teach your children the significance of charity. Do something generous. Donate your time or items, listen to someone in need, or reach out to those less fortunate.  
• Make or donate gifts to those in will not be able to afford their own this year.