Fun Chanukkah Activities for the Family!

Some of my greatest childhood Jewish memories occured during Chanukkah.  I remember sitting in the SJCC on Mercer Island, playing dreidel with friends (wagering for peanuts…something that could never happen at Schechter!), I remember spending hours in the weeks leading up to Chanukkah trying to find my presents, making not-so-subtle hints to my parents so I got Cyclops from X-Men rather than Wolverine.  But I also remember lighting candles, learning about the Chanukkah story, singing songs, having family gatherings…all the things I plan to do with my kids (someday).

 I know parents are often looking for activities for the holidays, so I figured as a Jewish educator I would throw out some suggestions from Camp!

• • If you are anything like me, every year you forget the rules about lighting candles.  Here’s a refresher guide.  It’s a bit long, but skip through, there are some cool things (like the prayers for candle lighting in American Sign Language).
  • Find out what Chanukkah events are going on in Seattle, thanks to the JTNews.
  • The Foundation for Jewish Camp just released a great Chanukkah Activity Guide, which you can get here.  The guide includes stories,  games, a make-your-own “Fortune Teller,” origami dreidel directions and more.
  • Here is a great info booklet titled “Light This” that I used to hand out to college students when I worked for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.  It has great information and some fun facts.
  • Another really fun thing to do for Chanukkah is to send out e-cards.  Hillel also has free Chanukkah e-cards here.  Fun fact: they also have cards for basically everything Jewish.  A great way to say Happy Holidays!
  • Top 20 Chanukkah recipies here!
  • Did you know:  A Jewish entrepreneur from Atlanta got really into poker, and created a new game: Texas Dreidel Holdem.  It even has a Major League Tournament (in it’s third year!).
  • There is a movement in the Jewish world seeking to encourage people to buy “Fair Trade Gelt.”  You can buy some yourself and learn more about the fair trade movement here.

I hope you have an opportunity to use some of these resources, and if you want other ideas, email me here…I tried to list the top 8 resources but I have so many more!

Chag Sameach!

David Furman

Assistant Director

Camp Solomon Schechter