13 Festive Hanukkah Crafts for All Ages
These fun projects include ideas for creating unique menorahs, dreidels, and more.
If you’ve ever scoured supermarkets for that one remaining box of Hanukkah candles, you know that store-bought merchandise for the Jewish holiday isn't exactly as easy to come by as other wintertime inventory. Solution: Make your own! (It’s not only more personal, but more fun that way, too.) These whimsical projects from bloggers around the web include ideas for creating unique menorahs, dreidels, the Star of David, and more festive Hanukkah crafts to brighten up your Festival of Lights. Some are easy enough for preschoolers to make (after all, what’s a holiday without a kids' handprint craft?), and others are stunning artworks for more advanced crafters. Choose one (or more!) and gather your supplies: Here are a few of our favorite cheerful Hanukkah crafts to try this season.
Paper Flower Menorah
Start with a store-bought menorah and transform it into a museum-worthy work of art with this advanced project. Paint the menorah gold and wrap it with handmade paper flowers for a striking result.
Paper Candle Menorah
Make your own paper candles for use in this menorah project. Light them up with LED tealights for a flame-free and worry-free result. Fill the hollow candles with treats like foil-covered chocolates for even more festive fun.
Popsicle Stick Hanukkah Decorations
Popsicle sticks and glue are all you need to whip up a batch of menorahs and dreidels for your Hanukkah decor. Use white glue — with some patience — or help out kids with a hot glue gun for faster results.
Paper Plate Menorah Craft
Kids can make their own wallhanging menorahs using an ordinary paper plate. Combine with a free printable, paint, and ribbon for hanging — and voila!
Mint Tin Menorah
Make a teeny tiny menorah perfect for travel using the tin from Altoids mints. Super glue nuts from the hardware store to hold the candles inside.
Star of David Suncatcher
This pretty sun catcher craft looks festive and fancy with gold glitter detailing and a translucent blue middle for the light to shine through. Even preschoolers can make it with popsicle sticks, tissue paper, and a paper plate.
Hanukkah Needlepoint Ornaments
Make charming dreidels, menorahs, and stars of David with this Hanukkah craft. Bonus: The very act of embroidering on plastic canvas can be extremely relaxing and therapeutic. (And who couldn’t use a dose of that during the holidays?)
Tealight Menorah
Try this modern take on the menorah. Use tealights in blue holders to represent each of the eight days and one larger holder to serve as the shamash candle.
Painted Paper Menorah
Paint your unique, colorful design on paper; then cut it out and add blue painted candles. Paste onto a painted background to complete your layered paper menorah craft.
Clay Dreidel
Every Jewish kid learns the tune early: “I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay…” Well, you can actually make that happen with this clay dreidel project that really spins.
Hardware Store Menorah
Start with an unfinished wood block and nine nuts from the hardware store, and create endless unique menorah possibilities. Finish with paint, Mod Podge, and decorations of your choice.
Hanukkah Handprint Craft
Memorialize those tiny hands with this keepsake Hanukkah project, in which their painted handprints combine to make a menorah shape.
Homemade Hanukkah Wrapping Paper
Make the wrapping just as special as the gift inside with this DIY wrapping paper project. Crafters of any age can use a potato stamp and acrylic paint to stamp an allover design in a Hanukkah motif.
Alesandra is a digital travel and lifestyle journalist based in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Prevention, Insider, Glamour, Shondaland, AFAR, Parents, TODAY and countless other online and print outlets. Alesandra has a masters degree in journalism with an emphasis on cultural reporting and criticism from NYU, and a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. An avid traveler, she trots the globe with her husband and their twins.
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