by Alanna Rose

Created on: November 27, 2010   Last Updated: December 08, 2010

Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights and is celebrated with many different traditions.  The most important of these traditions is the lighting of the menorah.  This will be done each of the eight nights of the holiday. 

A menorah is essentially a candelabrum that has places for nine candles.  One candle will be different from all of the rest and it is called the Shamash.  The job of this important candle is to light all of the other candles.  On the first night of Hanukkah, the Shamash will be used to light one candle, on the second night the Shamash will be used to light two candles, and so on for the eight nights of this holiday.  One great project for kids or even adults is to make their own menorah.  When using self-hardening clay, this is not a daunting craft at all.

Simple Cylinders

One easy way to make a menorah is to make it out of clay cylinders.  The first step is to roll a piece of clay into a long rope.  This cylinder should be about 20 inches long with a diameter of about 1.5 inches.  It will need to be cut into 10 different pieces of equal length.  Eight of these pieces should be set aside with the last two being combined to make one long cylinder.  You will now have nine cylinders that should be stood up and reshaped into symmetrical cylinders if they had become flattened a little while being cut. 

The next step is to gently press these cylinders together so that they are stuck to one another.  You may need to add a little water to help them adhere to each other.  Glue may be used for extra stability.  The tallest cylinder, your Shamash, should be placed either in the middle or at one end. 

Lastly, a Hanukkah candle should be inserted into each of the cylinders and then removed to make a hole for the candle to be placed in when finished.  You will only want to press the candle in far enough so that it will be the right depth to hold a Hanukkah candle.  The hole should not go all of the way through to the bottom. 

Your menorah is now ready to dry.  The drying process will typically take about two or three days.  One fully dry, you may paint your menorah a symbolic blue or any other color you desire. A variation of this menorah would be to shape the clay into balls instead of cylinders for each of the candle holders of your menorah.

Hands Down, the Best Menorah

For a truly personalized menorah, your child can make the menorah

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