December 19: Preschool Storytime: Hanukkah

(I was out of town on this date, so a co-worker used my lesson plan to lead the storytime. For this reason, the inclusion of Spanish phrases was omitted in all but the opening and closing songs. The books listed are the ones she read.)


Opening song:                                 (Tune: "The Farmer in the Dell")

                         We tap hola like this

                         We tap hola like this

                          Hi-ho cherry

                          We tap hola like this

                          Continue with other verses:

                          We drop hola like this...

                          We circle hola like this...

                          We spin hola like this...

                          We toss hola like this...

                           We roll hola like this...

Letter Hh and its sound
Found it on the Alphabet chart
Talked about things that start with Hh
Made lowercase h in the air

Explain that in December there are several holidays that some people celebrate. We learned about Christmas last week. Another one of these is Hanukkah. 
                     
Tell them that Hanukkah lasts for 8 days, and children typically receive gifts on all eight days. 

Show the children a paper menorah and candles. Talk about the shamash candle and how they use it to light a candle each night. Show the children a dreidel. Explain how the game is played.

Book: "Hannah's Hanukkah Hiccups" by Shanna Silva

Pass out copies of the words to the two songs. Tell the children to search for and show their parents an Hh on the page.

Shaker song with actions too: Have children take turns placing a candle on the menorah during the song.

"Candles Bright"
(Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Twinkle, twinkle,
Candle bright,
Burning on this
Special night.

Add another,
Tall and straight,
Every night ‘til
There are eight.

Twinkle, twinkle,
Candles eight,
Hanukkah we
Celebrate.

Book: "Hanukkah Hamster" by Michelle Markel

Shaker song: Before starting the first verse, display the menorah again. During the second verse, take turns spinning my three dreidels. Before starting the third verse, display the pan with clip art of five latkes in it.

“Light the Candles Bright”
(Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”)

Oh, light the candles bright
and dance around the light.
Heigh-ho the derry-oh
It's Hanukkah tonight!

Spin the dreidel round
And watch it fall down.
Heigh-ho the derry-oh,
It's Hanukkah tonight!

Latke treats to eat
And family to greet.
Heigh-ho the derry-oh,
It's Hanukkah tonight!

Action Song: Spin and pass my three dreidels during the song.

“I Have a Little Dreidel”

I have a little dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it's dry and ready
Then dreidel I shall play!

Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it's dry and ready
Then dreidel I shall play!

It has a lovely body
With legs so short and thin
And when my dreidel's tired
It drops and then I win!

Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it's dry and ready
Then dreidel I shall play!

Goodbye song:                               (Tune: "The Farmer in the Dell") 

                         We tap adios like this

                         We tap adios like this

                          Hi-ho cherry

                          We tap adios like this

                          Continue with other verses:

                          We drop adios like this...

                          We circle adios like this...

                          We spin adios like this...

                          We toss adios like this...

                           We roll adios like this...

Craft Time:  

I modeled the Hh dot page, the rainbow writing page for letter Hh and the craft before the children starting working on them. Before starting the craft, the children write the given letter using 3 different colors of crayons. I have attached a link to the free rainbow writing letters I used. Completing the dot page is now optional.

You can find the free rainbow writing letters here. Since they are free, they lack a dot for where to start. I print one off, add the dots with a black marker, and then make copies of that one. You can find the dot pages here. 

Click here for a link for letter formation prompts for capital and lowercase letters. Spend more time working on the lowercase letters than on the capital letters.

Craft:  Dreidel Paper Dolls
         Source of craft: https://bringingchesedhome.typepad.com

         Materials: 

1. Dreidel paper dolls template  
2. Glue
3. Scissors
4. Yarn
5. Felt
6. Googly eyes
7. Glitter glue
8. Beads
9. Buttons
10. Feathers

My example

Instructions: Print off one copy of the template, and use a ruler to draw a small bar or arm between each doll to connect them to each other. Then make additional copies of your original. When you cut out the dolls, be careful to avoid cutting off the arms hooking the dreidels together. Decorate each with a face and hair using whatever craft supplies you desire.

*All photos are with parent permission.

(I don't have any pictures of the finished crafts. If any parents, that attended this storytime, are willing to send me a picture of your child with the finished craft, I will add it to this page. I would appreciate it. Thank you.)

I always let the children pick which three books I read from the ones I bring with me. These are the other books that the children didn't pick:

1. "Little Red Ruthie" by Gloria Koster
2. "Is It Hanukkah Yet?" by Chris Barash
3. "Hanukkah Bear" by Eric A. Kimmel
4."Mrs. Greenberg's Messy Hanukkah" by Linda Glaser
5."Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift" by Dara Goldman
6. "The Dreidel that Wouldn't Spin" by Martha Seif Simpson
7. "Hanukkah Cookies with Sprinkles" by David A. Adler
8. "Sadie's Almost Marvelous Menorah" by Jamie Korngold