Dreidel Garland

When I was a teacher the most requested Hanukkah book from the kids was, “I Have a Little Dreidel” by Maxine Baum that has the song (along with the accompanying music).  The kids enjoyed singing along to this in the classroom and in the school’s Holiday Sing Alongs.  My own children now enjoy this book and playing dreidel games with both play money and chocolate coins too!  This garland is great for young children to make in that you could use any process art technique that you like on the dreidels that you like.  My son opted for scrape painting, but you could paint them with bath poofs, sponges, pom poms, marble painting etc.  Lacing garlands is a great fine motor workout especially for kids!  Make this garland to hang up in your home, your classroom or to give to a friend! 

Materials

• Wooden dreidel cut out  (https://woodpeckerscrafts.com/search.php?search_query=dreidel%20&section=product)
• OR use this template on thick paper such as cardstock or re-use cardboard: dreidel dreidel2
• Beads
• Cord
• Child safe needle (you can find these in plastic or metal with a dull end and a large eye)
• Old gift card
• Paint
• Glue (we used a glue gun, but white craft glue or wood glue could work too)

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Read the book,  “I Have a Little Dreidel” by Maxine Baum.  One of my favourite book suggestion site is Happily Ever Elephants.  I find Lauren’s suggestions to be thoughtful and ones that allow you to dig deep into the text.  Many of them we have at our home and others I have bought since.  Here is her Hanukkah list if you want to further expand your library: https://happilyeverelephants.com/home/2018/11/27/favorite-hanukkah-books-1

• Put your wooden dreidel cut out (or paper one) in your tray.  Add a few squirts of paint to your dreidel and pull the paint to the edge with your old gift card, covering the surface. (Ad mentioned above, you could use any process art technique that your child enjoys or that you want to expose them to.  Process art allows children to use different tools etc. without the specific expectation or creating something at the end.  We found that the children’s Play School and Pre-K teachers often did this on a paper shape and liked the idea.  These wooden dreidel cut outs are nice and sturdy, which I like as then you can use the garland year to year!  All your painting to dry overnight.  We put ours on a cooling rack to do so.

• Glue two beads at the top of your dreidel.  This is a trick we learned from our friend Shelly of Creating Creatives. (http://creatingcreatives.com/tips/)  This makes it easy to lace your items.  You could also use a paper straw in the same way, snipped up.  Allow this to throughly dry.

• Add an end bead to your garland.  One trick that we used to hold our beads in a specific place is to lace them and then to go back and lace them again.  You can see this clearly in this splatter painted egg video that our son made when he was little:

• This is a great time to explore patterning as you are lacing the beads and creates a beautiful effect.

• Hang up your garland or give it to a friend!

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Purpose

• Recognizing symbols of various holidays.
• Connecting creating to Children’s Literature.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.