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Menorah Banner

Chanukah is celebrated by Jewish people around the world. Honor the Festival of Lights by hand-crafting a beautiful banner.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Hole Punch
  • Ribbon

Steps

  • Step 1

    Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight nights that commemorates a miraculous victory in 139 BCE when a small vial of oil that was only supposed to last for one day ended up burning for eight days. Have students learn about the story of Hanukkah. How is it celebrated? What are the traditional foods? What games are played? Explain that every night families light a menorah, Hebrew for "lamp," which is a candelabra that holds nine candles: eight representing each night the oil burned and one (always situated higher than the others) called the "shamash" which is Hebrew for "helper" and is used to light the other eight. One candle is lit on the first night, two on the second, and so on.

  • Step 2

    In Hebrew a menorah/lamp that is specifically for Hanukkah is called a "Chanukiah." The beginning of the word is not pronounced like the "ch" in "chain," but rather with a gutteral sound like the one you make when you clear your throat. As a fun phonetic exercise have students practice making this sound.

  • Step 3

    Ask students to create a banner featuring a menorah. They can design the various components (menorah base, candles, flames) on separate pieces of paper and then cut and glue them to a background. They can add a Hanukkah message if they choose. Have them make holes at the top of the banner, then thread and tie a string through it.

  • Step 4

    Display the banners during the holiday season. Have students discuss what they learned about the holiday and the ways it is celebrated.

Standards

SS: Culture: Create, learn, share, and adapt to culture. 

SS: Individual Development and Identity: Describe factors important to the development of personal identity and the context of identity within families, peer or affinity groups, schools, communities, and nationalities. 

Adaptations

It is typical to play a game of "dreidel" during Hanukkah. A dreidel is a spinning top bearing four Hebrew letters: nun, gimmel, hei, and shin, which stand for the Hebrew words that mean a Great Miracle Happened There. Ask a student or someone else in the school to bring in a dreidel. Look up the rules, which are very simple, and then play the game as a class. (Note: One letter is different on dreidels in Israel: instead of a shin which stands for "there," there is a peh which stands for "here," since it is where the original miracle occurred.)

Latkes (potato pancakes) and soufganiyot (jelly donuts) are traditional Hanukkah foods. Invite a student or someone else at the school to bring in samples of these foods. Sample them together and talk about the sweetness of celebrating holidays with friends and loved ones.