H is for holidays! Hanukkah and Kwanzaa

This week we talked about how people celebrate holidays this time of year. We also discussed how not everyone celebrates the same holidays. This week we focused on Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. We learned that people who celebrate Hanukkah use a menorah that has 8 candles and one tall one in the middle that lights the other ones and each day one candle gets lit- when all 8 candles are lit Hanukkah is over. People who celebrate Hanukkah give gifts, eat potatoe pancakes (latkes), and play the dreidel game, which we also played! We then talked about how people celebrate Kwanzaa- they get together with family, have a feast, dress up, give gifts, light candles- the kinara has 7 candles- 3 red, 1 black, 3 green. We used fine motor skills to weave mats using the Kwanzaa colors (black, red, green).  Next week we will be doing Christmas activities and crafts.

Making Menorahs 

(the kids had to put the "candles" in number order)

Latke Math

Playing the Dreidel Game

Weaving Kwanzaa Mats