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5-minute Hanukkah centerpiece

By Ellen Zimmerman, Jewish Holidays in a Box November 27, 2012
What if you only have 5 minutes to put together something that says “Hanukkah” to friends/family who are coming for dinner?

Don’t stress.  If you have kids who are old enough (depending on the interest of the child, 4 or 5 is old enough), turn the job over to them.  They’ll love it and take pride in their work.

If no one is around to help, just grab what you have and make a plate or platter of Hanukkah symbols.  In this case, I used wooden dreidels, plastic dreidels, Hanukkah candles of various kinds, and plenty of chocolate gelt.  

During meals, the platter will be in the center of the table, just for fun.  Then, when it’s time for games, folks can grab a dreidel (in my experience, people are drawn to a certain color, so I provide lots of choices!), a handful of nuts (as the “betting” pieces), and plenty of gelt to nosh on.

The goal: more fun, less stress.

Happy Hanukkah!

This great idea is from Ellen Zimmerman, President of Jewish Holidays in a Box.  Ellen Zimmerman created Jewish Holidays in a Box to support Jewish and interfaith families who want to lead more joyous home holiday celebrations. What makes her day? Someone saying, "What a great idea! That really helped me."