Traditional Hanukkah Games

The weather has turned chilly, and the calendar on your desk is whittling away! These are all clues that the end of another year is upon us and that the holiday season has arrived in full force. It’s a time for special gatherings with friends and family. Regardless of beliefs, these traditional Hanukkah games are fun to play with the little ones.


The Dreidel Game:


To play this game, each player starts with ten pennies, nuts or chocolates. Each player puts a penny in the pot. The dreidel is spun, one player at a time. If the dreidel lands on nun, nothing happens. If the dreidel lands on gimmel, the player wins the pot. If the dreidel lands on heh, the player takes half the pot. If the player lands on shin, the player adds two pennies to the pot. When no pennies are left in the pot, each player adds one. When one player has won everything, the game is over.




The Dreidel "Spin Off":


In addition to playing the traditional dreidel game, you can also have a dreidel "spin off." In order to play this game, each person usually has their own dreidel (nothing fancy, small plastic dreidels will do) then they compete against each other to see whose dreidel spins the longest. Have people pair up and spin their dreidels, with the winner from each pair going to compete against another champion. Continue until you have only two spinners left. These two spinners will compete against each other, with the person whose dreidel spins the longest being declared the dreidel-spinning champion.


From our family to yours –
Kathryn