The members of Congregation Ohr Saadya got a head start on Chanukah last weekend with a Saturday night Chanukah Extravaganza.

The fun-filled evening began with Chanukah-themed arts and crafts. The children, from babies through teens (and some of their parents too), enjoyed decorating dreidels and menorahs to adorn their homes for the holiday, while Chanukah music played loudly all around.

The crafts, however, were soon forgotten, as the entertainment took to the stage. For the next hour, screams of happiness and excitement filled the room, as the aptly-named Party Maniacs led the children through a series of fast-paced, high-energy games. Although some of the children were familiar with the large rainbow colored parachute which waved wildly around the children as they sat on top or ventured underneath, as well as the traditional Simon Says and Limbo, nobody was prepared for what came next.

The children were filled with pure excitement as the Party Maniacs used their signature apparatus—the toilet paper blower—to blow streams of toilet paper and balloons of all colors all around them. As the children ran around in the web of paper, trying to catch the airborne balloons and find their friends in the ensuing tumult, their delight was apparent in their smiles and laughter.

Although the mess was quickly cleaned up by the children—so quickly that some called it a Chanukah miracle—the fun was not over. The children loved the bubble wrap pop game that came next, and then each was given a balloon in the shape of their choosing. Balloon hearts, swords, turtles, dogs and more soon filled the room.

At the end, the children had just enough time to add a few more glittery stickers to their Chanukah decorations and grab a jelly donut for the road before heading off to home and to bed— certainly with Chanukah in their dreams.

By Sara Weinberg