Hanukkah Gifts on a Budget
Inexpensive But Creative Gifts Can Keep the Holiday Bright
Many of us are looking for a Hanukkah miracle of our own: enough gifts for eight nights, with a budget for only one night.
— Jennie Rivlin Roberts, owner and CEO of ModernTribe.com
Eight days of Hanukkah, or Chanukah, equals eight days of presents. The challenge of shopping for children for whom Hanukkah is all about the latest and greatest toys could significantly reduce the balance of your checking account and eclipse the joy of the season. Plenty of meaningful yet inexpensive gifts, however, are available to help you brighten your children's holidays with cool and cute treats while sticking to a budget -- ensuring sufficient green for other holiday essentials, such as food, drink and maybe even a gift or two for yourself.
Assorted Gifts
Jennie Rivlin Roberts, the owner and CEO of the online Judaica store ModernTribe.com, thinks there are plenty of reasonably priced Hanukkah presents that won’t drive you into debt.
“Many of us are looking for a Hanukkah miracle of our own: enough gifts for eight nights, with a budget for only one night,” Roberts said. “With dreidels – the special four-sided spinning top used in a popular Hanukkah gambling game – and chocolate coins as your anchors, I can definitely recommend eight small gifts ... that are fun, functional and won't break the bank. All gifts are under $20.”
She recommends $5.50 boxes of six blue-and-white-striped Hanukkah candy canes “made for all of us who feel left out of the candy cane craze," she said. "They come in a (Hanukkah) gift box that no one will mistake for Christmas canes.”
Softer options include plush pillows in the shape of your kids’ favorite food items, such as cupcakes, pizza, sushi and ice cream sandwiches.
“It’s a gift that is sure to guarantee sweet dreams,” Roberts said. Those pillows cost around $18.
Roberts’ other top choices for under $20 include a portable small menorah, a bag of chocolate gelt, the gourmet chocolate in the shape of coins.
"(One) that may be too much for (adults) to handle but 5- to 8-year-olds will love is a bouncing, singing light up dreidel that you can buy for $4,” she said.
Other on-trend and inexpensive gifts sure to please wee people are Matryoshkas (Russian nesting dolls) for the girls, fake mustaches for the boys, and a latke-themed bingo game for the entire family. It's a twist on the old-fashioned classic that requires players to cover Hanukkah icons — menorahs, donuts and, of course, latkes (fried potato pancakes eaten during Hanukkah) — with miniature dreidel chips.
“It’s great fun for two to six players and for kids 4 years old and older,” Roberts said. “When you get five in a row call out ‘Latke’!”
Let the Music Play
CDs and DVDs filled with popular children’s music are also making a lot of noise this Hanukkah season, according to Rachel Leah Cohen of Craig 'n Co., the Los Angeles-based boutique record company of Jewish recording artist Craig Taubman.
“Children really relate to music and especially love listening to Hanukkah songs,” Cohen said. “Buying kids CDs and DVDs with music that brings to life the holiday makes for amazing gifts. If (you're throwing) a Hanukkah party, or just enjoying a quiet night at home with the family, have a great Jewish music CD playing in the background so the kids can sing and play along.”
And while the old traditional tunes of your parents’ youth -- “I had a Little Dreidel,” “Oh, Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah!” -- are always go-to favorites, Cohen suggests exposing your children to a wide array of Jewish musical styles -- from folk to bluegrass to rock ‘n roll.
“We produced an amazing CD and DVD called ‘Lights Celebrate Hanukkah Live in Concert’ that kids will love,” Cohen said. “ 'Lights’ is an experience that blends colorful Jewish traditions of yesterday, while creating new traditions for today and tomorrow. It’s got songs from artists like Craig Taubman, Alberto Mizrahi, Josh Nelson and the Klezmatics.”
Cohen also suggests checking out Hanukkah recordings from talented Jewish artists, including Peter Yarrow, Debbie Friedman, Dave Koz and Jon Simon. One CD that features all three -- along with Taubman, the producer, and nine other artists — is "Celebrate Hanukkah." Smooth jazz saxophonist Koz's "Raisins and Almonds" is among 13 songs included on "Jewish Songbook: The Heart and Humor of a People," which also features songs by Neil Sedaka, Rob Schneider, Marvin Hamlisch and Barbra Streisand.
“In my opinion 'Hanukkah Rocks’ by the band the LeeVees is still the best Hanukkah album out there,” Roberts said. “It’s so much fun!”
To keep your children from getting too wrapped up in the getting, get them a gift to teach them an ongoing lesson in the value of giving to others.
“I love the idea of a themed tzedakah box for kids so they can save money for a good cause,” said Roberts. A tzedakah box is a container used in Jewish homes to collect charitable donations.
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