Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights and is celebrated on different days every year. Based on the Hebrew lunar calendar, it usually falls in December.
In music, I like to take all celebrations, holidays, and observances and look at several factors that are common to all of them-food, colors, traditions, and music!
I then love to teach about them using a book, game, dance, and music. Wish we could add FOOD!
Exploring Cultural Traditions With Music
October through December is a perfect time to talk about traditions including Diwali, Halloween, Day of the Dead, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.
I always asked, “Does everybody in the world celebrate everything?” It was a way to say that we can learn about it all, even if we don’t personally celebrate it.
It’s a great way to honor each child, which is culturally responsive teaching, and expose them to new cultures.
It was especially wonderful if there were children who celebrated Hanukkah and would share about their traditions.
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Hanukkah Resources
Books About Hanukkah for the Classroom
Board books and simple rhyming texts work beautifully in the music room because students can absorb meaning visually while you highlight musical or cultural elements.
Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights
I love to use board books or ones with rhyming words. I want the learning to come mainly from the images.
Hanukkah Songs
I Have a Little Dreidel SONG
This classic song is an easy entry point for students. You can:
- Sing the traditional melody
- Add simple motions
- Let older students accompany on classroom instruments
- Connect the lyrics to the real dreidel game
HanukPop Demon Hunters Maccabeats Hanukkah Medley
What a combo! The Medley includes Latkes, My Idol, Spinning Top, Still Golden, and What It Sounds Like.
Hanukkah Games
The Dreidel Game
We always played the Dreidel game in class. Slides with the meaning for each side of the dreidel were projected so groups could refer to it. I played with K-5 and they always looked forward to this every year.
I found dreidels in bulk at Target (ages ago before Amazon) 🤣 and then bought pony beads for the “candy.”
Hanukkah Music Activities with Instruments
Easy Ukulele Chords C & G7 for The Dreidel Song
If your students play ukulele, Hanukkah is a great time to introduce or practice C and G7 chord changes using simple songs like “I Have a Little Dreidel.”
Hanukkah Google Slides Presentation
This Google Slide presentation was shared by Ms. Stern from the Facebook Music Teachers Idea Bank group. It has lots of different activities to learn about Hanukkah. She says to feel free to change the bitmoji and make it your own!
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