How to Make a Hanukkah Menorah, a Great Craft for Children

Children will love helping you make their very own Hanukkah Menorah out of felt. While you light the Hanukkah candles and say prayers every night, your little one can “light” their felt Menorah and say prayers, too. Don't let the number of steps fool you, this is a very easy project to make.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pen
• One piece of felt, approximately 8 ½ by 11 inches in size that will be the background
• A piece of felt for the Menorah
• Glue
• Glitter
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pen
• Colored felt for the candles and the Shamash candle
• Yellow felt to cut the “flames” on the candles out of
• Glue
• Glitter
• Glue
• One small dowel, approximately 15 inches long
• String, approximately 2 feet long
• All of the pieces that you've cut out in Steps 1 and 2 above

Making the Hanukkah Menorah Itself

1. This will form the main part of the Hanukkiah Take the piece of felt that will be used for the Menorah itself. Draw a rectangle that is 2 inches high by 10 inches wide on this piece of felt. Cut, or let your children cut, the basics of the Menorah shape from the felt.
2. This will form the base of the Hanukkiah Draw another piece that will serve as the base of the Menorah. This should be shaped like a box. It’s should be approximately 2 inch square.
3. This will hold the Shamash Cut out a small rectangle that will be the Shamash holder. This rectangle should be 1 inch by ½ inch in size. Cut it out of the same felt that you’re using for the Menorah.
4. We need to know where the middle of the main piece of the Menorah is. To find out, fold the rectangle shape in half lengthwise. Using a pen, make a small mark on the back to indicate the middle of the Menorah, which is where the Shamash holder will be located.
5. The candle holders are indicated in yellow. Decorate or use felt to mark them. Now mark four spaces to the left and four spaces to the right of the center to indicate where the Hanukkah candles should be placed. Draw small rectangles that are 1/4 inch long by 1/2 inch wide. Decorate or color these spaces in special colors to indicate that they are the candle holders. You can also cut these out of felt and glue them to the Menorah.
6. Let your child decorate the Menorah as they wish. Glitter, embellishments, even markers can make beautiful decorations.
7. While the Hanukkah Menorah is drying, let's make the candles.

Making the Candles for Your Hanukkah Menorah

8. You can use one or several different colors of felt for the candles for your Hanukkah Menorah. Using your ruler and pen, draw 8 rectangles that are 3 inches by 1/2 inch in size. Cut out the candles for your Menorah.
9. The Shamash candle is larger than the other candles. Draw a rectangle that measures 3 1/2 inches by 1 inch in size and cut it out.
10. To make the flames, draw and cut nine ovals from the yellow felt. The ovals should be 1 inch high and 1/2 inch wide.
11. Let your child decorate his or her Hanukkah candles. Glitter glued to the candles looks wonderful.
12. Let the candles dry completely.

Assembling Your Hanukkah Menorah

13. Attach the base of the Hanukkiah Now it’s time to attach the pieces of the Menorah. Let’s add the base to the Menorah. Put a small amount of glue on the top 1-inch of the base. Using the middle as a guide, center the main piece of the Menorah over the base and glue it to the base.
14. Attach the Shamash holder To add the Shamash holder, put glue on half of the widest side of the Shamash holder. Glue this to the back of the Hanukkah Menorah.
15. To add the dowel, fold over 1 inch of the piece of felt that is the background. Pour glue in the crease and put the dowel in the glue on the felt.
16. Glue the dowel to the back Try to center the dowel so that both sides stick out about the same distance from the main piece of felt. Fold the felt over the dowel and let it dry.
17. Wrap the ends of the string around, and glue them to the dowel Wrap the ends of the string around the ends of the dowel five times. Dab glue where the string and dowels meet to secure the string.
18. The final step is gluing the Hanukkah Menorah onto the felt piece that is the background. Position the base of the Menorah near the bottom of this piece of felt. Apply glue liberally and let it dry.
19. Your Hanukkah Menorah is ready to be used and enjoyed year after year. When it's Hanukkah, let your child "add" a candle to their Hanukkah Menorah by placing the felt candle and flame on the felt. It will hold it's own.

Tips & Warnings

• Let the glue dry thoroughly between each step in the process of making your own Hanukkah Menorah.
• Instead of having the candles be different colors, you can use one color to indicate each night of Hanukkah.
• Let the glue and decorations dry between each step.
• Want a bigger Hanukkah Menorah? Just double the size of everything used and you'll have a much larger Hanukkah Menorah.
• Store the candles and flames in a plastic bag when not being used.