Your One Stop Chanukah Spot

The first candle is lit on Friday evening, December 4, 2026, and Chanukah ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12. Because the first night falls on Friday, light the menorah before Shabbos candles, with lights that will burn well into the night, and light again after Havdalah on Motzei Shabbos.

You need a menorah with nine places, candles or olive oil with wicks for each night, a shamash to light the others, and a drip tray or foil to catch the wax. Forty-four candles cover all eight nights, shamash included. Our Lighting Supplies page lists candles, oil cups, wicks and trays.

Start with who is lighting it. Children love a menorah of their own in a fun shape, like a train; grown-ups often choose classic silver or a modern design; and a compact travel menorah is handy for Chanukah away from home. Our Menorahs page shows the ones the Chagim family would put on their own windowsill.

Our Chanukah Gift Guide sorts every idea by age and by person: toddlers, preschool, elementary, tweens and teens, men and women, family gifts the whole house shares, gifts under $10 and bulk party prizes. Each page is a short list of gifts we would give ourselves, with links to Amazon.

For ages three to five, pick crafts with big pieces and short steps: a jumbo bead menorah, latkes in a pan, a menorah at a snowy window or dreidel spin art. Little hands do the rolling, painting and gluing while a grown-up handles the tricky parts, and everyone finishes the same afternoon.

Our Party Games page collects games for a Chanukah crowd, like Pin the Flame, Sticker Stalker and Find Your Partner, with the few supplies each one needs. For a quieter night in, Board & Tabletop Games ranks the family games that still work with latkes on the table.

Both spell the same Hebrew word, חנוכה, and both are correct; the only difference is how the first Hebrew letter is written in English. This site says Chanukah, the spelling most of our families grew up with, so that is the one you will see on every page here.

It's Yom Tov is a free curation and inspiration site for Jewish holidays, run by the fictional Chagim family: Ima, Abba, Mordy and Mindy. We gather useful products, crafts, table ideas and activities from around the web and link to the shops that carry them, sometimes through affiliate links.