Frugal fun for kids on Chanukah

DVOM

Wed, Dec 21 2016, 11:43 am

I like to do something fun with my boys each night of chanukah, and I'm looking for new ideas. Our budget is very cheap to free. Our activities aren't nessisarly all chanukah related, we just like to make each night special. What fun stuff do you guys do with your kids?

Here are some stuff we've done in the past:
- bundle up with coats and gloves, give each kid a flashlight, make each kid a thermos of hot cocoa, and go on a 'menorah hunt' walk.
- Get oven or fridge boxes and some paint, markers and strong scissiors for cutting windows and doors, and let the kids make indoor 'cities'. So fun!
- Print out a child friendly script or use the story of chanukah and make a family play.
-bake something very special together. My kids like to decorate chanukah shaped sugar cookies or make candy and caramel apples.

mha3484

Wed, Dec 21 2016, 4:03 pm

I get a CD on Itunes and play it during dinner. Also, this year I told DS that we can make the donuts in a bag that are going around facebook. My extended family sends the kids gifts so I try to make channukah fun that does not involve presents since how many can a 6 and 2 year old really need?

queenert

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 7:57 am

DVOM wrote:

rolling chanukah candles in paint would prob'ly also make some cool designs!

Oooh, you're right!
Enjoy!

There are also some fun ideas here (more crafts than activities, but still fun): http://handsonaswegrow.com/han.....kids/

You can also play Hot Potato Latke and wrap coupons (favorite dinner, extra bedtime story, etc.) instead of items so it's a flat latke instead of a potato.

SuperWify

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 11:01 am

My mom always did something special with us every night. The first night would be a treasure hunt to our presents. One night we'd decorate homemade donuts (yum!), another we'd have a potato-peeling contest and then fry and eat latkes, play dreidel another night, play family fued/trivia with chanuka and personal family history questions... play board games...
It's funny you mentioned the menorah hunt. It's our family tradition- the last night of chanukah we do the same!

DVOM

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 3:11 pm

All great ideas guys-- thanks! Superwify, I'm laughing-- Our family tradition growing up was to take a ride to vote for the best x-mas decorations. We changed it to a menorah hunt. Queenert, I love the idea of tickets for fun extras (my guys always beg for more bedtimes stories, backrubs, 'tickle torture' from my husband... this could be so fun). How do you play hot potato?

SuperWify

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 3:35 pm

DVOM wrote:

Wow that's too funny! in a serious note tho it's pretty cool u changed something essentially non-Jewsih into a very Jewsih thing. Pretty impressive.

queenert

Mon, Dec 26 2016, 7:54 am

DVOM wrote:

How do you play hot potato?

Wrap a coupon/gift in wrapping paper/newspaper, then wrap another layer with a coupon/gift on top and another and another. If you want to be tricky, make some layers with nothing inside.
Everyone sits in a circle and you pass around the "potato/latke" quickly (it's hot!) with music in the background. You can have someone in charge of music who is not watching (so it's fair) to pause the music from time to time or you can use a youtube clip (I just searched 'hot potato') which automatically pauses the music. When the music stops, whoever is holding the "potato/latke" gets to unwrap a layer and keep the gift/coupon.
Repeat until it's all "eaten"!

Roots

Mon, Dec 26 2016, 12:10 pm

in the childrens yated magazine I got last week there were some נגהפ or ש in your case games:
1)sit around the table. go clockwise around the table. every participant asks the next in line a question. the answer needs to be with a sentance that none of the words begin with a nun gimmel hei or shin (n,g,h,sh sounds I guess) and you go atound the table
2) for a drop older kids lets say11 up
make small peices of paper with the letters נ ג ה ש . according to the turn, the child will pick up a card with a letter. the person next to him askes him a question and he needs to answer (in a sentance)without using that letter at all
3)for younger children 3+
the children stand in a circle. one kid, the draidel, stands in the middle, he spins like a dreidel with his hand outstreched and pointing. the dreidel boy stops and whoever he is pointing to becomes the next dreidel and goes to the middle of the circle
4)from like age 9+
guess who?
one of the players picks a person. everyone else asks him questions about the person. he needs to answer with answers beginiing with the letters נגהש
5)also 9+
need pens papers draidel and quick thinking
one of the players spins the draidel
during the time he is spinning everyone else needs to write as many words they can think of that relate to 'light' (everytime a different topic, example write all the names of the people at the party last night, how many girls names begining with an 's', all the parshiot from bereshit till vesot habracha, how many animals can you think of,, words that relate to 'shul' etc)

DVOM

Mon, Dec 26 2016, 12:19 pm

Thanks for all the responces everyone! Queenert, we're playing hot potatoe tonight!

Roots, my kids are all under 8 so some of those games sound too sophisticated for my crew, but thank you for the ideas! I love the idea of human draidle, but I wonder if it might be asking for disaster... we're wild enough already!

A'fraylichan Chanukah everyone!!!