Materials:
·
Lasagna noodle
·
(10) Rigatoni noodles (straight pieces with open, flat ends)
·
Other small pasta shapes or even Hanukkah pasta
·
Glue (we used Elmer's glitter glue and it worked well)
·
Spray paint (optional)
When deciding on a Hanukkah
project to do with the kids, I decided I really wanted to make menorahs with
them. I came across this idea
for
pasta menorahs on Pinterest and thought this would be fun and inexpensive. I
wasn't sure how they would turn out, but wow was I surprised! These look amazing! I found Hanukkah pasta at Bed, bath &
Beyond that we used to decorate the menorahs giving it that extra fun touch and
to make them look extra special I spray painted them with silver spray paint!
These were fun and the
perfect craft for my 4.5 year olds to make. Alternatively, if you didn't want
to spray paint your menorah you could always dye some of the pasta pieces blue
ahead of time and use blue or silver glitter glue to make them more
"hanukkah-ish". You could also alternate blue and the natural yellow
of the pasta to create patterns.
 |
| Emma was excited to get started! |
Start by handing out 1
lasagna noodle flat side down, 10 rigatoni pieces (make sure these stand up
straight) and a bottle of glue. We did this activity on our craft tray to
minimize mess. We started by making the Shamash candle (the helper candle) and
to do this we glued two pieces of rigatoni together and then glued that to our
lasagna noodle. We talked about the placement of the Shamash candle, which
could be placed in the middle or at one end. They each had their own opinion on
where there's should go.
After trial and error, we
found out that the best way to glue the rigatoni onto the lasagna noodle was by
making dots of glue and then sticking the noodles on. Dylan decided to make an entire line of glue
which also worked. Using either the dot
method or the line of glue, glue the eight candle holders, aka rigatoni
noodles, onto your lasagna sheet. Once all the rigatoni pieces are glued on
allow 15 minutes for them to dry before gluing on the decorative pasta pieces.
Definitely wait those few minutes or else the rigatoni pieces will get knocked
over while decorating. Alternatively,
you could stop now, but it is fun and festive to decorate it!
After the 15 minutes are up,
hand out your smaller pieces of pasta. I found these great Hanukkah pasta
shapes at Bed, Bath & Beyond that had dreidels and Stars of David (I found
some online at cost plus). I handed out a bunch of these and let them go
to work. They amazed me when they each decided to create repeating patterns all
on their own! Math and art all in one activity! They were having so much fun they even wanted
to continue the pattern on the back of the menorahs!
Once they were finished
decorating we let them sit overnight to dry completely. As I said before you can leave them as is at
this point or continue on to spray paint them as we did.
The next day, I brought them
out into the garage, with the garage door open so I didn't suffocate from the
fumes (NEVER spray paint inside!), and placed them onto old newspaper. I then
sprayed them with silver spray paint until they were fully coated. They came
out beautifully!
 |
| I set close together so I could spray them all at the same time. |
 |
| Jake's Menorah Masterpiece |
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| Emma's Menorah Masterpiece |
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| Dylan's Menorah Masterpiece |
These pasta menorahs are going to be a gorgeous addition to our Hanukkah décor this year! We will proudly light them each night of Hanukkah as well.
 |
| The final product |
I hope you enjoyed this craft and I hope you try it with your little ones!
Happy Hanukkah!