Hanukkah with kids

Make a menorah

Make a menorah for each member of the family by following these simple steps:

Take a piece of sanded wood to use as the base and paint it.
Take nuts from a hardware store and spray paint them.
Glue down eight nuts on your wooden base.
Create one spot that will be higher than the rest by doubling or tripling up on the nuts. This will be the shamash, or "leader" candle which you will use to light all of the others.

Related:

Toy triage

Before giving any new presents, have your child go through his/her old toys and donate several of them to those needy children. Depending on the age of your child, you may want to take him with you when dropping off these items.

Intangibles

Choose several nights and take the focus off of tangible gifts. Instead give intangible gifts such as "an afternoon at the beach as a family," "a chocolate chip cookie baking session," or "a Sunday filled with playing basketball and baseball."

Cook

Prepare delicious latkes or sufganiyot (doughnuts also traditionally eaten on Hannukah) and eat them together as a family. Try the recipe below:

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, unpeeled and grated
1/2 onion, grated
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients. Heat oil in skillet. Drop by tablespoons into hot skillet and fry on both sides until brown. You may choose to grate vegetables either by hand or you may place them in a food processor. If you use a food processor, blend remaining ingredients with vegetables but do not blend too finely.

Serve with applesauce or sour cream. Enjoy!