I had a busy and wonderful Chanuka, and before jumping into sharing about other things going on, I want to share about the idea of less being more and how that applies to children. It’s a useful concept and though the winter holidays are a particularly appropriate time to integrate these ideas, you’ll find other opportunities throughout the year to apply this.

There is so much we want to give and do for our children, and typically Chanuka is a time of gifts and family activities. We buy gifts we’re excited to give them, and plan trips that we’re enthusiastic about. Often we’re bursting to give it all to them as soon as the holiday begins, because we can’t wait for them to have whatever it is we bought.

I strongly suggest holding back on your excitement and dialing it down, since all of the stuff, experiences and emotions can easily become overwhelming for young child. If we’re not careful, a child will get and experience so much that he won’t be able to process and appreciate most of it. Then you’ll have what looks like a spoiled, whiny child asking, “What else did you get me?” instead of enjoying what he was already given.

I consciously stretch out the Chanuka activities, foods and gifts so that our children can enjoy and appreciate all of it. I’m a strong believer that less is more, and jokingly have said on a number of occasions that I’m a fan of deprivation. Though parents give and give and give with the intent to make a child happy, often it does just the opposite.

Recognizing what you’re given and appreciating it is critical to being a happy and content person. Kids don’t feel appreciative when they are saturated with stuff. How we give doesn’t just affect if we get an excited “Thank you!”, but if our children are happier people in the long run.

Here’s how we structured our Chanuka activities this year:

In our family, we begin Chanuka with my husband and the older boys lighting their menorahs outside. After the blessings, we all sing together, swaying in unison side by side with our arms around the shoulder or waist of the person next to us. Then we go inside, and the younger children light their own menorahs. After they finish, we all sing more and dance together in a circle. That’s our foundational activity that is consistent for every single night of Chanuka.

First night – When Chanuka arrives, there’s a lot of anticipation that has built up. The kids have learned about it, talked about it and have their own ideas about what will happen.

This is so much newness to experience, that on that first night I don’t add anything else. No presents, no additional activities – I want to fix the specialness of the menorah lighting and being together in their minds without any other distractions.

Second night – this year the second night was Friday night. Since there’s so much to do in a short time to get the Shabbos candles and Chanuka menorahs lit on time, that’s all we did.

Third night – after candle lighting, we gave the youngest three children a gift of matching Chanuka pajamas. This doesn’t sound exciting? It doesn’t have to be exciting for kids to love it! They all wanted to dress in their pajamas right then – which they did – and pranced around showing everyone what they were wearing. Once Chanuka ended, every single one of them has continued to wear them every night.

Fourth night – before candlelighting, I took the kids to a Chanuka activity with bouncy slides, art activities and face painting.

Fifth night – I took the kids to a Chanukah play followed by a public menorah lighting where doughnuts were distributed. Then we went home for our family lighting.

The next morning, I took the kids to a huge outdoor park we had never been to in a city thirty minutes away. The zipline was a huge favorite.

Sixth night – the feature this night was a special Chanuka dinner with homemade latkes, applesauce, tuna quiche and doughnuts.

The next morning I took the younger four children with their scooters to a park at a kibbutz.

Seventh night – family lighting, family dinner with all the teenage boys at home with us, followed by game night for the older kids.

The next morning, I took the four younger children horseback riding (ds17 accompanied them one by one) and then to a trip to a local park.

Eighth night – chocolate coins for everyone, gifts for the youngest four children. We kept these low key and activity based – a bouncy ball kit for ds11, and stencil books for the youngest three, all activities we did together with them the next morning, which was the last day of Chanuka.

About gifts – I personally don’t wait until Chanuka to give gifts, so don’t think that this is the big present they wait for all year! Not at all. For example, last week we bought a balance bike for ds7, which we gave him for his birthday. But if it wasn’t his birthday now, he would have gotten it anyway. I don’t have to get my children presents when it’s their birthdays, and they don’t have to wait for presents for their birthdays.

This approach of low key giving and putting more focus on family time and experiences has served us well. Our children are appreciative of what they get; recently two of our teenagers even told me how lucky they feel to have such a good life.

Avivah