Hanukkah Paint By Number Mural

We have been slow to decorate for Hanukkah this year which is why today’s activity, Hanukkah Paint by Number Mural, is so perfect—it combines one of my kids’ favorite ways to explore art (painting) and becomes a fabulous Hanukkah decoration after it dries!

What You’ll Need

Kraft paper
Tape
Sharpie
Six colors of washable paint: yellow, blue, silver, white, red and brown
Paintbrushes

Putting It Together

Tape your Kraft paper to the wall.
Draw Hanukkah symbols. I drew dreidel and gelt, a Hanukkiah, a plate of latkes, suffaniyot (doughnuts), a Maccabees shield and a jug of oil.
Number the sections of these images according to the colors you want them painted.
Make a key that lists numbers 1-6 and their corresponding color.
Invite your children to paint according to the color and number key!

Finished & Loving It!

Wow, this was such a fun Hanukkah art exploration and a lovely decoration! We are kinda obsessed with making murals for the holidays. Last year we loved making tape resist murals. I saved mine from last year (of course!) and have it up as a decoration this year too! I know this Hanukkah Paint by Number Mural will have a similar fate.

Normally I’m all about letting the kids color and paint whichever colors they want. I like them to explore art with their own imaginations and creativity, not bound by certain rules. But when I saw Days With Grey post her Room on the Broom Paint by Number for Halloween, I knew I wanted to do something similar for Hanukkah and I’m so glad I did!

Having them paint by number adds an additional challenge to the activity. They must check the number they want to paint with its color before painting. This was a great way for all of them to practice number recognition but of course this is a target skill we are working on with my preschooler. And he nailed it! He loved looking at the key and finding the numbers he wanted to paint.

This activity has lots of other benefits too. It’s vertical on the wall so it strengthens muscles and develops bilateral coordination and crossing the midline movement. Holding a paintbrush is a great fine motor skill and helps prepare my guy for pre-writing. Using Hanukkah symbols helps connect it to the holiday (of course!) but is also a super simple way of reviewing their importance. Why is there a shield on this mural? To represent the Maccabees whose bravery we honor during Hanukkah. Love simple ways to incorporate learning in fun activities!