Marshmallow Dreidels and Chanukah Links

Thanks to a package of edible markers I picked up on a clearance sale last week, we were able to add a little learning to tonight's snack.

In honor of the start of Chanukah being tomorrow, we made marshmallow dreidels. I don't know where I originally saw the idea, but you can find versions of this snack all over the Internet.

We started by printing the Nun, Gimmel, Hay and Shin on jumbo marshmallows.

Then, we pushed pretzel sticks into the tops.

Finally, we attached Hershey Kisses to the bottoms, by wetting the marshmallows with water, to make them sticky, and then sticking them to the Kisses, so the pointy part was down.

I'm not sure if these would be acceptable Jewish fare. In fact, I saw concern expressed on some sites, as to the non-Kosher nature of the marshmallows. However, we were not pretending to be Jewish with this activity, but rather seeking to learn about the holiday.

To that end, we watched a Shalome Sesame clip on YouTube, while enjoying our snack. This particular clip, with Jeremy Miller, focuses in on the letters on the dreidel, explaining the words they stand for, and is followed by a brief cartoon history of Chanukah.

You can also find a number of interesting, and informative Chanukah videos for children at Chabad.org, as well as Chanukah crafts, activities, and explanations (including an explanation of what a dreidel is, and how to play with it).

It's great to be a homeschooler.