Hanukkah (Candle)stick in Shaker

Today while all the bigs were at school, the toddler and I had so much fun playing with the Hanukkah (Candle)stick in Shaker activity I made for him. This is a Hanukkah twist on the Montessori stick in shaker activity. It’s such a simple set up and activity, but the benefits are huge! It helps practice fine motor skills, pincer grasp, hand-eye coordination, extending concentration, control of movements and coordination. And while you don’t need to use sticks that look like Hanukkah candles, it makes it that more special for this holiday season.

What You’ll Need

Empty spice jar. If you don’t have one, make your own using an empty container and poking holes in the top.
Tooth picks or skinny craft sticks
Blue paint
Yellow paint
Paintbrushes

Putting It Together

Paint the bottom 3/4 of each stick blue.
Paint the top 1/4 of each stick yellow.
Once dry, gather sticks and your empty spice jar or container and show your child how to put one stick in a hole in the shaker lid at a time.
Next invite your child to do the same.
As they work, you can point out that the sticks like like the candles we use during Hanukkah.

Finished & Loving It

This Hanukkah (Candle)stick in Shaker activity is such an incredibly easy activity but it was so amazing to watch the joy and focus on my little guy. He thought it was so cool when he got a stick in. His smile was huge at these successes.

And of course not every time will be a success. And that’s perfect! It’s good for the kids to feel challenged and to have to work to put the stick in the hole. Or, in our case, the spice lid would often fall down. He learned how to open the lid and that sometimes it worked better to hold it open with a finger while the other hand put the stick in. This problem solving is HUGE! And it’s extra fine motor skill and coordination practice as well.

You also don’t have to use toothpicks. Any craft sticks or q-tips, cut straws, would work.

I didn’t want to interrupt my guys concentration too much so I just briefly pointed out that the sticks we used looked like the candles we use during Hanukkah. An easy, age appropriate Hanukkah discussion with an age appropriate activity = perfect!

And definitely know it’s also fun to have to dump out all the sticks and start over!

When the preschooler came home from school he was also excited to jump in and enjoy his own Hanukkah (Candle)stick in Shaker. He moved much more quickly and effortlessly through the activity; it’s really amazing to see these different developmental stages.