Hanukkah - jkidphilly

Whether you are looking for videos, crafts, explanations, or more, jkidphilly is your one-stop-shop for all things Hanukkah.

Come for the latke recipes;

stay for the endless array of ways to celebrate with your jkids!

About Hanukkah

Children love Hanukkah, and why not? There are eight days of candle lighting, with candles increasing in number each night, there are lots of fried yummy foods, and did someone say presents?

Also known as the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Dedication, the holiday celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Maccabean revolt against the Syrian-Greek army. The holiday takes place for eight nights and days, commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple. Here is a simplified version of the Hanukkah Story for kids.

Hanukkah takes place during the darkest part of the year. It’s at the end of the Hebrew month of Kislev, and the beginning of Tevet, so the moon is waning and then barely visible. It makes sky-watching really fun – especially with flashlights and glow sticks.

Everything you wanted to know about Hanukkah — and more!

A woman holding up 8 fingers for Hannukah, teaching ASL!

A guide to lighting the candles on the Menorah: first, we light the Shamash, the helper candle, then we say two blessings, one for lighting candles and one for miracles: Blessed are you God, Ruler of the Universe, who sanctifies us with you mitzvot, and commands us to light the Hannukah candles. Now we light hte candles, starting from the newest one, from left to right: Blessed are you, God, Ruler of the Universe, who performed miracles for our ancestors in these days, at this time. If it's the first night of Hannukah, we add a third special blessing: Blessed are you God, Ruler of the universe, who has granted us with Life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.

Celebrating Hannukah: A jkidAccess Social Story. With a picture of dreidels and a wooden menorah.

Hebrew words with a corresponding picture for each. For example, ha olam has a picture of the earth beneath it, asher has a picture of a storm cloud, and shel hannukah has a picture of a menorah.

Download our Hanukkah Guide, featuring the story, dreidel instructions, and candle blessings on one easy sheet!
Read our jkidACCESS Hanukkah Social Story
Learn some Hanukkah sign language!
Use these visual blessings to help teach the ritual.
Try this BimBam blessings postcard.
Try to do a mitzvah each night using our “8 Nights, 8 Mitzvot” guide.
Learn the best way to share Hanukkah at your jkid’s school.
Check out PJ Library’s Hanukkah Hub.

Crafts and games for a super fun Hanukkah

A Hannukah bingo game with: shin, oil lamp, latkes, temple, gelt, dove, lighting the menorah, olives, star of david, kislev, potatoes, candle, nun, maoz tzur, and a free space for jkidphilly!

A menorah with the words Happy Hannukah above, a print out to color in.

A screenshot of a Hannukah pinterest board including: menorahs, dreidels, and the star of david.

Dreidel: the quintessential Hanukkah game!
Try a rousing game of Hanukkah Bingo; download and print.
Print and color our Hanukkah cards and send them to friends and family.
Explore all different kinds of Hanukkah activities!
Fill out some Hanukkah mad libs!
The jkidphilly Hanukkah Pinterest board is chock-full of fun ideas!
Check out the jkidphilly calendar to see what we have going on for Hanukkah.

Nothing says Hanukkah like the smell of latkes! Learn how to make them — and more!

Dreidels made from pretzels, marshmallows and a hersheys kiss for the tip! Some are also dipped in chocolate with sprinkles covering them.

An edible menorah made with carrots for the base, green beans for the candles and radish as the light of the candle.

Five easy latke recipes to make with kids.
Try making your own sufganiyot or bimuelos!
Create an edible menorah or try your hand at making a s’menorah!
Everyone’s a winner with a marshmallow dreidel.
Make and decorate your own stained glass cookies.

Videos for all ages

Lisa Litman helping a child put candles in the menorah.

Lisa Litman excitedly holding a book that she will be reading, a huge smile across her face. She is wearing glasses and has short hair.

A screenshot of sesame street playing: Baby bear and Telly play dreidel.

A screenshot of a youtube video: The hannukah story for kids: maccabees, miracles, and dreidels.

The book cover for the book: Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins by Eric Kimmel. On the cover, he is holding up a light to the goblins.

Our very own Lisa Litman tells the Hanukkah story on Facebook!
Light the Hanukkah candles with Lisa and a special guest!
Baby Bear and Telly talk about Hanukkah in this Shalom Sesame clip.
Older kids will like this animated Hanukkah story.
Watch this reading of Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.

Get into the spirit of Hanukkah with this playlist

Spice up your Hanukkah with the jkidphilly Spotify playlist.
Sing through the lyrics of these traditional Hanukkah songs or these Hanukkah song parodies.

There’s nothing like curling up with a good book as the candles glow

PJ Library is full of wonderful Hanukkah stories to share. These are some of our favorites:

Sign up for PJ Library and PJ Our Way, free, award-winning books that celebrate Jewish values and culture to families with children from birth through 12 years old.

Newborn through age 8:

PJ Library sends your child the gift of free, award-winning, Jewish children’s storybooks in the mail every month — a different one for each age group!
Sign up for PJ Library today!

Ages 9–12:

PJ Our Way is the next chapter of PJ Library for kids ages 9–12. PJ Our Way are chapter books or graphic novels, and kids get to choose which books they want to receive — for free! Check out the PJ Our Way website designed for kids, by kids.
Sign up for PJ Our Way today!