One of my kids’ favorite Hanukkah activities is playing dreidel (of course!) so they were really excited to see and play with this Dreidel Sensory Tray! It’s easy to set up, you can add whatever additional Hanukkah or dreidel items that you want, then invite your kids to play and explore to their dreidel delight!
What You’ll Need
- Cardboard
- Glue gun
- Scissors
- Sharpie
- Sensory filler(s): we used blue dyed rice and silver chickpeas
- Sensory tray or cookie sheet
- Whatever sensory additions you want to add: scoops (we LOVE the ones from Woodpeckers Crafts), cookie cutters, dreidels, or gelt. We have these adorable alphabet letters from Woodpeckers Crafts so used those to spell “dreidel” and expose the kids to this spelled word as well.
Putting It Together
- Draw the dreidel on the cardboard base with a sharpie.
- Cut same size strips of cardboard, about 1-1.5 inches wide.
- Cut the strips to the shape of your dreidel.
- Glue the strips to the dreidel outline.
- Have your sensory filler(s) ready and add any additional Hanukkah or dreidel objects you want.
- Invite your kids to fill in the dreidel and play play play.
- Can easily pair with your favorite dreidel book or Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel song in the background!
Finished & Loving It!
The kids loved this Dreidel Sensory Tray! It was a little finicky to make, but not that bad. You just need a little patience. And seeing their smiling faces and hearing them sing the Dreidel Song while they played made it all worth it!
The dreidel is a really special symbol of Hanukkah. It reminds us of the Hanukkah story and how Jews had to hide their Jewishness and their study of Torah. Today, it is also a fun game played during Hanukkah and the kids like it because they love watching the dreidel spin and because they get gelt, chocolate coins, as part of the game. We usually play dreidel all week long, and especially during our Game Night which is always the second night of Hanukkah.
I set up the Dreidel Sensory Tray so they could add the fillers however they want. My oldest wanted to keep the colors separate and fill in the gimmel with just the silver chickpeas but the others didn’t care and that’s just fine. I made sure to take a pretty photo of it all set up before they put their creative spin on it 😉 Trying to fill the gimmel with the separate base was definitely a challenge and took lots of concentration and focus. I love setting up sensory experiences with invitations that include challenges like this and watching them figure it out.
My oldest also liked reading the dreidel info graphic from LeeLaaLou and reminded his siblings how to play dreidel. We will be so ready once Hanukkah starts! BimBam has a super short (15 seconds!) video on how to play dreidel if you’re curious or you need a tutorial!
Sensory play has so many great benefits. I could see the enjoyment and regulation as my kids went all hands in which has been necessary this week of Thanksgiving break plus the countdown to Hanukkah (just two more sleeps, eek!). The scooping and manipulating also practices fine motor skills which we always like to target in play when possible.
And it’s, of course, FUN! Have you started playing dreidel yet?
Don’t forget to kick off your Hanukkah learning with our Hanukkah Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards!
And find many many fun activities on our Hanukkah Hub page!
Check out some of our favorite Hanukkah resources:
For some of our favorite Hanukkah books, take a look at our Bookshop.org With Love, Ima Storefront (each purchase supports local bookstores!).
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