Hanukkah Sensory Activities

We’ve covered Hanukkah learning activities and Hanukkah crafts, so let’s add some Hanukkah sensory activities to the mix! After all, you’ve got eight days to fill with fun so you’re going to need lots of ideas.

Slime is a classic sensory recipe for any occasion, and this Hanukkah slime from Little Bins for Little Hands is blue and white, so it would be fun to use throughout the winter for various sensory themes. I like the addition of sequins into the slime for a different textural experience and a bit of extra shine.

Play dough is another classic for little kids to play with, and of course you can use purchased Play-Doh or make your own. If you already have a favorite play dough recipe you can make it with blue food coloring or Kool-Aid to make it blue. Use the free printable Hanukkah themed play dough mats from With Love, Ima to bring more holiday fun. Welcome to Mommyhood also has a printbale menorah play dough mat kids will enjoy (and they can use different colors for the candles and “flames”).

With Love, Ima also has a Hanukkah I-spy bottle that’s fun and easy to make. She used colored rocks as the filler and various Hanukkah symbols for kids to find inside the bottle.

Fantastic Fun and Learning has a few fun sensory activities to try with littles. I love the dreidel spin art and the salt tray for practicing writing the Hebrew letters that can be found on the dreidel.

And don’t forget a sensory bin while you’re at it. Jewish Moms and Crafters has a Hanukkah sensory bin that uses sensory foam as the base, but you could use crinkle paper, or dye rice or pasta blue, just to give a few ideas. The bins is filled with Hanukkah candles, cookie cutters, little dreidels and gelt.

Are you looking for the best sensory toys and activities for your child? Explore our comprehensive resources to enhance your child’s sensory play and development. Check out our curated Amazon Idea List featuring top-rated sensory toys and items, and don’t miss our expertly written articles on sensory activities. Start creating fun and educational sensory experiences today!

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Have you read?

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