Thousands of Children Enjoy ‘Chanukah Experience’

Over 2,000 people visited the Chanukah Experience run by Chabad of Eastern Queens, enjoying game shows, olive oil demos, crafts and more.

The Chanukah Experience was open to the public on Sunday and Monday and open for school trips on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yeshiva of Central queens, Yeshiava har Torah, Yeshiva Sharei Tzion and Bnos Malka were some of the schools who enjoyed a trip to the Queens Chanukah Experience this year.

The event featured live game shows, olive oil demos, Chanukah crafts, a glow in the dark oil hunt, making latkes, doughnuts and Chanukah candles, a creative activity center where children played giant Chanukah board games, jumped in a holiday moon bounce, built a six foot tall lego menorah, played a giant Chanukah connect four, and Chanukah bowling. A hands-on Puppet Theater where children made their puppet shows, and a book nook filled with Chanukah books was set up for the younger children. Children were able to climb inside a huge dreidel and stick their heads out the gimmel for a unique photo shoot. A unique Chanukah buzzer game and photo booth added to the excitement!

The Friendship Circle of Queens – a unique program that pairs special-needs children with local Queens teens for weekly home visits – also visited the Chanukah Experience on Sunday morning for an exclusive group trip, before the Chanukah Experience opened to the public.

Rabbi Yerachmiel Zalmanov, director of Chabad of Eastern Queens, was pleased with the large turnout. “We are so pleased we were able to provide the Queens Jewish Community with this opportunity to celebrate Chanukah in such a creative way. We owe a special thank you to the incredible volunteers who gave up their Chanukah vacation to make this event the success that it was,” he said.

The event was co-sponsored by Anshe Shalom Chabad JCC of Kew Gardens, TD Bank and The Queens Friendship Circle.