Sukkot Crafts for Kids + Free Printables

Okay, so, Sukkot. If you’ve never done it, picture this. You build a little hut in the garden (or on the balcony, or honestly the living room if the weather’s being British about it), you cover the roof with leaves, and then you eat your dinner in there for a week. Kids think this is the single greatest idea anyone has ever had. Can’t really argue with them.

That’s exactly why it’s such a good festival to craft around. These sukkot crafts for kids aren’t busywork. Every one of them hooks onto something real that happens during the week, so while they’re gluing and colouring, the meaning quietly goes in. You build a sukkah, you make a lulav and etrog, you decorate, you welcome guests, and you colour in the gaps. There’s a free printable pack at the bottom, and it all works at home, in preschool, or for Sunday school.

I’ve sorted everything by what you’d actually do across the week. And there’s a two-minute explainer first, because the crafts land so much better when the kids know why they’re making them.

When Is Sukkot 2026?

Right, the date, since it hops around every year and it’s the thing everyone Googles. Sukkot 2026 kicks off at sundown on Friday, September 25, and wraps up at nightfall on Friday, October 2. Seven days. It’s a harvest festival (you’ll see it called the Feast of Tabernacles here and there), and it’s a cheerful one. Want to say something nice to someone marking it? “Chag Sameach.” Happy festival.

What Is Sukkot? (In Kid Terms)

Here’s the version that fits in a small brain. Ages ago, the Jewish people spent a long time crossing the desert, living in little temporary shelters as they went. Sukkot remembers that. It’s also a great big thank-you for the autumn harvest. So families build a sukkah, which is basically a hut with a leafy roof, and they eat in it all week (some brave souls sleep in it too). They wave four special plants about, and each night they welcome a guest in. That’s the whole thing. And every craft below hangs off one of those pieces.

Build a Sukkah

You have to start with the sukkah. It’s the whole point of the week.

The fastest route is a paper one. Print it, colour it, fold it, glue it, done, and our paper sukkah craft template gets you there in about ten minutes. The kids pile their own leafy roof and decorations on top, and no two ever come out the same.

Want something with a bit more backbone? Make a craft-stick sukkah. Lolly sticks glued into a little three-walled hut, real leaves or green paper for the roof, and it genuinely stands up on the table. My youngest was astonished hers didn’t topple over. Low bar for a thrill, but I’ll take what I can get in October.

And then there’s the edible sukkah, which is the one they’ll pester you about from roughly mid-September. Graham crackers or biscuits for the walls, icing doing the job of glue, a few pretzel sticks propped up, green sprinkles chucked over the top for the roof. Half craft, half snack. I’ll be straight with you: in our house the roof almost never makes it on, because by then somebody’s quietly demolished a wall. I stopped policing it years ago.

Make a Lulav and Etrog (the Four Species)

One of the big Sukkot things is waving the four species, and it turns into a really nice craft. The four are the lulav, which is a palm branch, the etrog, which is a bumpy yellow fruit a bit like a lemon (it’s called a citron), plus myrtle and willow.

Grab our lulav and etrog craft template and the kids can colour, cut and build their own set. It’s the best way I know to get them to actually remember which plant is which, and the tiny ones are more than happy just to hold the paper version and wave it around like a wand. If you need something calmer, the etrog and sukkot coloring pages are gentle enough for preschoolers and toddlers.

Say the setup out loud while they work. Three myrtle on the right, two willow on the left, palm in the middle, etrog next to it. Do that, and a bit of colouring-in sneaks in a proper little lesson.

Decorate the Sukkah

If I’m honest, the decorating is the best part, and it’s where every kid can muck in no matter how small.

Paper chains first, of course. Loops of coloured paper strung up along the roof, and they’ll cheerfully make about ten metres of the stuff while you get on with something else. Then hanging fruit. Paper apples, grapes and pomegranates, or real dried ones if you’ve got them, all nodding at the harvest. Suncatchers are gorgeous in a sukkah too, because the light drops down through the leaves and sets them glowing. Tissue-paper shapes pressed between two bits of sticky contact paper and that’s it. And if you can’t face the mess today, there are colour-in posters you laminate and hang instead. Those live in our sukkah decorations pack.

Welcome Guests: Ushpizin Puppets

There’s a lovely tradition of welcoming symbolic guests, the ushpizin, into the sukkah each evening. Kids get a real kick out of making little ushpizin puppets (figures on lolly sticks, nothing fancy) and “inviting them in” to act out a story after dinner. It’s a sweet way to make the tradition stick, and it fills that restless half hour when everyone’s full and nobody’s ready for bed.

Colour & Play

The quiet stuff now. For early finishers, a Sunday-school table, or a wet afternoon when nobody can face the garden.

You get sukkot coloring pages (sukkahs, the four species, harvest scenes), a sukkot word search, a few simple worksheets for the older ones, and a sukkot placemat they colour and then actually use at the festive meal. That last one goes down a treat, mostly because they love spotting their own drawing on the dinner table. It’s all in the free pack, so one go on the printer sorts the whole crowd.

Download the Free Sukkot Printables (PDF)

Paper sukkah template, lulav and etrog craft, decoration templates, ushpizin puppets, coloring pages, a word search and a placemat, all in one free PDF. No email, no sign-up, none of that. Print what you need and off you go.

Perfect for Preschool & Sunday School

Because they’re gentle and there’s next to no prep, these work a treat for preschoolers and toddlers, and just as well for Sunday school groups. Big shapes, nothing precious about the results, and a bit of meaning behind each one. Print a class set, build the paper sukkahs together, then let the coloring pages run while you talk about the harvest. Anything you’re hanging or keeping, put it on slightly heavier paper. There’s a note on the best cardstock and paper for printables if you want it.

Learn More (from Jewish Sources)

If you want to go further, and to get the traditions from people who actually live them, two good starting points are Chabad.org’s Sukkot for Kids section and My Jewish Learning. A quick read-aloud about the festival makes every one of these crafts land a little deeper.

Quick Questions

What are easy Sukkot crafts for kids?

 Honestly, start with a paper or craft-stick sukkah, then a lulav and etrog set, some paper-chain decorations, and a few coloring pages. All simple, all low-mess. The edible graham-cracker sukkah wins every time, though good luck keeping it in one piece.

When is Sukkot in 2026?

Sundown on Friday, September 25 through nightfall on Friday, October 2. Seven days.

What are the four species?

 Lulav (palm), etrog (citron), myrtle and willow, waved together during the festival. The lulav and etrog craft is the easiest way to teach them.

Are these good for preschool or Sunday school?

Really good. Big shapes, forgiving results, a simple meaning behind each craft, and free printables so one print run covers the group.

Are the printables free?

Yep. One free PDF, no sign-up, for home or classroom. Just don’t resell it, please.