Popsicle Stick Menorah

Creative Wednesdays

The religious celebration of Hanukkah begins Sunday at sundown.

The center of the celebration is the candelabra called a menorah. Hanukkah celebrates a miracle. After the Seleucid desecration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, there was only enough sealed consecrated olive oil left to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days which was enough time to make new pure oil.

Therefore, the Hanukkah menorah has eight main branches, plus the middle ninth lamp set apart as the shamash (the helper candle) light which is used to kindle the other lights.

This is how we made this simple, inexpensive, craft menorah:

You Will Need:

13 Popsicle Sticks
Acrylic Paint
Paint Brushes
Glue
Yellow Construction Paper
Safety Scissors

What to Do:

1. Help the child lay out the design they want to make their crafty menorah to determine what colors to paint their Popscicle sticks.

2. Have the child paint their Popsicle sticks and allow them to dry.

3. Glue four of the sticks together to make a menorah. Then glue nine Popsicles sticks to the menorah to look like candles (the 9th candle is the helper candle that lights the other candles).

4. Draw a flame on the construction paper and allow the child to cut out nine flames.

5. Once the glue holding the Popsicle sticks together is dry, glue one flame to the back of each candle.

Reference: Photo and project by Stephanie Felzenberg