Skills-Focused Craft: Cut and Paste Menorah (Free Template!)
The Festival of Lights is a wonderful time for themed crafts that reinforce key academic skills! This Cut and Paste Menorah craft is a fantastic activity for your preschoolers and kindergarteners, specifically targeting fine motor control (cutting) and visual matching (assembly).
By providing a printable template, this craft makes prep time easy while giving students valuable practice with scissors and glue sticks. The finished result is a colorful, assembled Menorah that perfectly introduces counting up to nine.
Download Your FREE Menorah Craft Template Here!
What You’ll Need:
Gather these simple materials to create your Cut and Paste Menorah:
Base: The Free Printable Menorah Template (Printed on white cardstock or regular paper).
Color Pieces: The second page of the template with the color rectangles and flames (or colored construction paper).
Tools: Child-safe scissors, a glue stick.
Optional: Crayons or markers (if students color their own pieces).
Step 1: Prep and Cut the Pieces
This step focuses entirely on developing control and precision with scissors.
Print the Templates: Print the Menorah base (page 1) and the color pieces/flames (page 2). Tip: If you are short on colored ink, simply print page 2 on white paper and have the children color the rectangles with crayons before cutting!
Cut the Rectangles: Instruct the children to carefully cut out the nine rectangular candle pieces and the nine flame pieces. Focus on staying close to the lines to practice precision cutting.
Keep Pieces Organized: Encourage children to keep their cut pieces on the table to the side to prevent them from getting lost while gluing.
Step 2: Assemble the Menorah Candles
This step is a great exercise in visual matching and placement.
Prep the Base: Ensure the Menorah outline is face up.
Apply Glue: Apply a thin layer of glue to the back of the first colored rectangle (candle).
Place the Candles: Starting from one side, have the children glue the nine rectangles onto the corresponding blank candle shapes on the printed Menorah base.
Key Detail: Make sure they place the elevated candle (The Shamash) in the center spot!
Step 3: Top the Menorah with Flames
The final step for assembly is adding the light.
Apply Glue: Apply a small amount of glue to the top of each colored candle.
Place the Flames: Carefully glue the nine flame shapes onto the very top of each candle rectangle.
Display: Set the completed Menorah aside to dry fully before displaying.
Watch the full tutorial video below:
Learning Connections
Phonics: Practice the “Ss” sound with words like “Scissors,” “Shamash,” and “Shapes.”
Fine Motor Skills: This craft is phenomenal for developing two essential fine motor skills: Scissor Skills (cutting straight and curved lines) and Pincer Grasp (controlling the glue stick and placing small paper pieces precisely).
Math & Counting: Practice counting to nine and introduce the concept of one-to-one correspondence as they match one cut piece to one blank space. Discuss the number eight (days of Hanukkah) and the special number nine (Shamash).
Following Multi-Step Directions: Cutting, gluing, and assembling in a specific order helps children practice listening and executing multi-step instructions.
Final Thoughts
This Cut and Paste Menorah is a wonderful, low-mess craft that perfectly combines a fun holiday activity with crucial skill-building practice. It’s a great way to celebrate Hanukkah while setting your students up for academic success.
Don’t forget to grab your FREE template download!
For more fun and educational activities, recipes, and learning resources for your preschoolers and kindergarteners, visit us at www.missannasclass.com!
Helping Children Thrive
Miss Anna’s Class Video Course prepares your child for kindergarten success. We use exciting science and phonics to launch reading and build confidence, ensuring your child starts ahead of their peers and is guaranteed to be ready for school.
Save this idea on Pinterest so you’ll have this valuable holiday skill-building craft ready for the season!
NICE TO MEET YOU!
I’m AnnaJo Mason, and I love teaching! I used to be a kindergarten teacher, and now I teach pre-kindergarten and sell my accelerated reading course. I love helping parents achieve early literacy success, and I’m so glad you’re here.
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