This Hanukkah, get your child in the holiday spirit by making a homemade menorah! Since most of the materials for this project can be found around the house, it's simple and inexpensive, and is a good way to teach your child about recycling and reusing materials that we usually throw in the trash. Once Hanukkah is over, you can save the menorah for future celebrations, or simply make a new one each year.
This project gives your child practice using a ruler and helps develop his fine motor skills.
What You Need:
- Empty paper towel rolls
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Large, flat piece of cardboard, at least 6" wide and 20" long
- Acrylic paint in light blue
- Acrylic paint in a darker shade of blue, or another color of your child's choosing
- 9 votive candles
- 9 clear glass votive holders small enough to fit inside the paper towel rolls
What You Do:
- Help your child use the ruler to divide the paper towel roll into 2" segments, marking the segments with a pencil. Keep marking out 2" segments until you have 9 in total.
- Once you have all your segments marked out, have your child cut the paper towel roll(s) at the pencil markings, being careful not to smash the roll too much.
- Paint each cardboard ring with the light blue paint. Let them dry.
- Help your child measure and cut out a 2 1/2" square from the flat piece of cardboard. Help your child trim the corners of the square to create a circle.
- Help your child cut the remainder of the flat cardboard so it measures 3" x 20".
- Have your child paint the rectangular piece of cardboard and the circular cut-out with the light blue paint. Let both pieces dry.
- Once the paint has dried, help your child paint the bottom half of each cardboard ring with the dark blue or other color paint. This will provide contrast between the rings and the base of the menorah.
- Help your child arrange the rings in a row on the long piece of flat cardboard.
- Place the circular piece of cardboard under the middle ring to raise it slightly above the rest of the rings.
- Place the votive candles into the glass votive holders, one candle for each holder.
- Have your child slide one votive holder into each of the cardboard rings on the menorah. The glass holders will prevent the paper towels from catching fire when the candles are lit.
Now your menorah is ready for lighting! Happy Hanukkah!
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