Candle Light
This quiet table game is great for any holiday that includes candles. By selecting the appropriate free template below, you can play the Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas version. The best part of this game, is that when you're done playing, you'll have some pretty decorations to adorn your home!
- 1 blank candleholder template per player (or per team)
- 1 die per player or per team (a die is one of a pair of dice)
- Assorted crayons, markers, or colored pencils
- Stickers, trims, other embellishments, and glue (see variations for description) (optional)
1. Download the free candlestick template of your choice below and print one copy for each player (or if playing in teams, one for each team).
2. If you have more than four players, divide into even teams; groups shouldn't be larger than 4 players per team.
3. Give each group one die and coloring supplies.
1. The object of the game is to be the first person to color in all of their candles and flames. The players do so by rolling the die. Every time they roll an odd number (1, 3, or 5) they can color in a candle. Every time they roll an even number (2, 4, or 6) they may color in the flame.
2. The catch is that you may only color in a flame once a candle has been colored, meaning a player must roll an odd number to start.
3. If a player rolls and cannot color in the appropriate part, they lose that turn (meaning they don't get to color anything in). For example: the starting player rolls a 4. Since that is an even number they can't color in a candle, and since they don't have a candle already colored in, they can't color in the flame.
4. Play continues with players taking turns until one person has colored all of their candles and flames.
5. If you are playing in teams, the same rules apply except that each team works on one candleabra together. Each player fills in their choice of candle or flame as they roll the dice. Die are passed from one player to the next, with the goal being to be the first team to fill their candlestick.
1. Assign each candle a number on the die: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. When you get to 6, the next candle becomes 1 again. For Kwanzaa, the numbers would be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1. For Hanukkah they would be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3. Only when those numbers are rolled may a candle or flame be colored. Again, flames can not be colored until the candles are colored.
2. Put out a variety of decorating supplies (stickers, trims, sequins, puff balls, etc.) and let the kids decorate their candleabras after they've played the game.
3. Play solitaire. See how many rolls it takes you to complete your candleabra!
1. Remind players that they must have the candle colored before they can color the flame.
2. Players should pass the dice once they have rolled. They do not have to color the candle or flame before passing the dice to the next player.
1. Use two dice per roll and number the candles and flames in any way you like so that children must use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to come up with the numbers.
For example, for Hanukkah you could number the candles 1 - 9, and the flames could be a mixture of 3 - 12. If a child rolled a 5 and a 4, he could then color in candle number 1 (5 minus 4 = 1) or candle number 9 (4 + 5 = 9). If a child rolled a double 3 they could color in the 0 candle (3 - 3 = 0), or the 6 candle (3 + 3 = 6), or the 9 candle (3 x 3 = 9).