8 Great Chanukah Activities: Day 5 Chanukah Playdough Invitation

 Playdough: fun for Chanukah and all year round! In fact, playdough is a favorite activity in this house by both of its shortest members. And if there's one thing that S loves pretending about with playdough more than anything else, it's making and lighting menorahs! He does this all throughout the year, frequently asking for candles or straws if we happen to be out of available candles. I know the familiar Chanukah song is all about making a dreidel out of clay, but making menorahs out of clay has definitely won over in this house! (Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, I know...)

When it comes to creating a Chanukah playdough invitation you can go simple or you can go grand. You can make your own playdough or you can use store bought. We had an unopened 4 pack of playdough from the dollar store that I think S bought with his Chanukah gelt last year! And with so many parties and celebrations happening and a kitchen busily devoted now to latke frying and baking, I didn't have the time or energy to make a batch of homemade. The boys are just as happy with either option and the bonus of the store bought stuff is access to multiple colors at once. (Anyone else cringing at the inevitable shade of preschool playdough brown?)

For this Chanukah Playdough Invitation I included cookie cutters in Chanukah shapes (I found these at a Home Goods last year for $2), rolling pins, plastic knives and toy spatulas. I also included a selection of Chanukah candles, plastic dreidels and plastic coins for gelt. The plastic dreidels and coins both make amazing prints in the dough. If you have Chanukah themed or aleph bet letter rubber stamps, these work in the same way. If you don't have candles or don't want to use them with playdough, S loves straws or pipe cleaners or craft sticks just as much. And the best thing about this activity that it's inclusive and enjoyable to multiple age groups. S and Y both had a blast and even a friend from S's preschool class had fun playing with us that afternoon.

An early glimpse into S's love of playdough menorahs....

a simple dish of plastic dreidels and playdough are more than enough to make for a lot of fun and exploration as dreidel shaped prints appear in the dough leaving behind the image of the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hay or shin

It's simple. It's sweet. It's a little messy and a lot of fun--just as Chanukah should be. We'll be back tomorrow evening, after Shabbat for our next great activity and until then...

Happy Chanukah and Happy Playing!