The Kids’ Guide to a Cruelty-Free Hanukkah

What’s not to love about Hanukkah? You get to spend time with your family, open gifts for eight nights in a row, and eat lots of yummy traditional Jewish foods. But Hanukkah isn’t fun for the animals who have to die for things like food, candles, and clothing.

Don’t worry—you can make the holiday fun for everyone by following this guide to a cruelty-free Hanukkah!

1. Eat lots of latkes.

Just ask your parents to make them without eggs. You can tell them that it’s super-easy—just use an egg replacer and then serve them with applesauce and nondairy sour cream on top!

2. Kugel, kugel, and more kugel!

Speaking of delicious traditional Hanukkah foods—is there anything better than kugel? And you can enjoy it without hurting any animals. Just ask your parents to check out this recipe for vegan kugel!

3. Bagels and “cream cheese,” anyone?

Bagels and cream cheese are a staple for many families during Hanukkah (and pretty much all the time, if yours is anything like ours). This year, give a Hanukkah gift to cows everywhere by choosing dairy-free cream cheese. We recommend Daiya Cream Cheese Style Spread because, well, it’s completely droolworthy.

4. Ask your fam to order takeout.

One of our great holiday traditions is to order food from our favorite Chinese restaurant. The best part? Chinese food is really easy to make vegan! Just be sure to order dishes without meat (including fish) or eggs. Veggie spring rolls, here we come!

5. Get gelt!

Would a dreidel tournament even be any fun without the dark chocolate vegan gelt coins? Probably not, so be sure to have some around.

6. Presents, please.

Of course, Hanukkah is about much more than just the presents, but we’d be lying if we said gift giving (and getting!) wasn’t a fun part of it. This year, let your family know that you want to make the holiday joyful for everyone (including animals) by only exchanging gifts that aren’t made out of animal skins—or any other animal parts!

7. Pledge to save lives.

In the spirit of giving and as a celebration of freedom this Hanukkah, let’s help animals. The absolute best way is by choosing to keep them off your plate. So, if you’re not already vegan, take the 30-day vegan pledge!

8. Help your parents light the menorah!

Just be sure to ask them to use cruelty-free candles. You can easily find candles made out of vegetable wax (instead of beeswax) at tons of different stores near you!