Materials

• There are two main routes to go when making your Hanukkah handprint craft. You can create painted handprints on a variety of different base or backing materials or you can make handprint impressions into a clay or other similar surface. Choose your specific materials based on your craft selection and the age of the crafters. For example, if you are making a handprint painted menorah with your four-year-old, you will need either washable finger or tempera paints and paper. Handprint impression projects will require different, or more, materials such as a modeling medium and potentially craft paint and a sealant. Additional decorative materials may include tissue papers, sequins, beads or glitter. All craft materials that children will use must be labeled as non-toxic and safe for the child's specific age.
  
  

Painted Menorahs

• Making a painted handprint menorah is a basic craft that kids of almost any age can try. Remind your child that the menorah has nine candles, eight for each night of Hanukkah and the ninth shamash or lighter candle. Pour a hand sized puddle of tempera or finger paint onto a tray or palette. Help the child to dip her hands into the paint, coating all of the fingers. Show her how to overlap her thumbs, and press her hands directly onto light colored paper. Make sure that she spreads out her fingers to get the image of eight separate candles, with the overlapping thumbs making the shamash in the middle. Add candle flickers with yellow paint fingerprints or glitter glue. For a more permanent option try this craft using a t-shirt and non-toxic fabric paints.
  
  

Impression Crafts

• Create a lasting impression of your little one’s hands with a holiday themed menorah craft. Roll out a thin, approximately two-inch thick, layer of air hardening clay. Have your child overlap his thumbs to form one candle, spread the other eight fingers out and then press into the clay making an impression. Use a clay tool or simple craft stick to add flame flickers to the tops of the candles. Carve your child’s initials and the date on the side to make a lasting memory. After the clay hardens coat the image with non-toxic craft paint. Another option for older kids or teens is to use a craft concrete compound. These impression-making kits are easily found at craft or art supply stores. Turn your child’s concrete handprint menorah into a fanciful garden stepping stone or in-home display.
  
  

Dreidel Crafts

• Menorahs may be a popular Hanukkah handprint craft, but they aren’t the only one. Try making another symbol of the holiday and create a dreidel themed art project. The dreidel is a small play top with four sides, each containing one Hebrew letter (shin, hey, gimel, nun). Pre-print a dreidel worksheet from a site such as ABC Teach or Apples 4 the Teacher, or draw your own by making a square with an upside down triangle at the bottom. Pour a hand-sized puddle of paint onto to a washable tray and have your child press all five fingers into the color. Press the painted hand into the middle of the dreidel shape, adding a new vibrant hue. After the paint dries, have her create one of the four symbolic letters directly onto the handprint by making smaller fingerprints in a row.