Kitah Daled Menorahs

Kitah Daled children have had many interests already this school year. Among those preoccupations two of the strongest have been writing and building. We wanted to include both of those passions in their menorah.

First, the children painted their tiles with bright shades of blue, purple, teal, gold, and silver acrylic paint. Some children mixed the colors into a marbleized pattern and others painted stripes across their tile. The children sprinkled brightly colored shell glitter atop the paint. We used this kind of glitter because it is fire-safe.

The children arranged smaller tiles across one long side of their painted tile. Some children stacked and others alternated shapes in a pattern. They glued these tiles using Weldbond glue, a strong, non-toxic, non-flammable glue. Morah helped place duct tape on the back of the Menorah so the sculptures would dry properly. Once this part dried, the children wrote “Happy Hanukkah” on the vertical tiles using brightly colored, acrylic paint markers. They had the option to either write it in English or Hebrew. Some children copied it free hand and others traced over Morah's writing.

Once dry, the children painted a thick stripe of Weldbond glue across the center of their tile and placed 10 hex nuts, two stacked for the shamesh in the center and four on either side. These will act as candle holders.

Once this part was dry, the last task was painting a thick layer of Modge Podge over the entire Menorah to protect the paint and add a glossy shine.