Play the Dreidel Game

Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate! Today is the last day of Hanukkah, the Jewish “festival of lights” that is celebrated for eight days with menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods. Kids also play the dreidel game. In the December issue, we described how the dreidel game is played. Here are detailed instructions for the dreidel game, with help from Chickadee readers Naomi, 11, and Isaac, 8.

You’ll need:

• 2 or more players
• a dreidel: the four sides are Nun (נ), Gimmel (ג), Hey (ה), Shin (ש)
• gelt: You can use a few things as these tokens: small toys, counters, or even smaller dreidels.

The rules: Each player begins with the same number of tokens and places one token into the pot (the middle). On your turn, you spin the dreidel. If it lands on Gimmel, you take everything in the pot. Hey means you take half the pot (rounded down if it is uneven). Nun means nothing happens. Shin means you put one token into the pot. Once your turn is over, it moves to the next person. Whenever the pot is empty, each player puts one token back into the pot. The game ends when one player has all the tokens and wins.

Thanks for sharing, Naomi and Isaac!

– The Chickadee Team