Kids today have it pretty good in the toy department--electronic gizmos and digital gadgets and virtual whoziwhatsits and… you get the point. But no matter what's thrown at them, many children still have the wonderful ability to be entertained by the simplest things: a stick, a bouncy ball, a spinning top.

Along with the eight days of presents and chocolate gelt, dreidels are a great way to get your kids into the Hanukkah spirit. And since there's no Wii Dreidel (yet), learning the rules of the game can be some good old-fashioned fun for your family.

The Equipment

The dreidel, or sevivon, which means "to turn around" in Hebrew, has a Hebrew letter on each of its four sides. The nun, gimmel, hay and shin stand for the saying, "Nes Gadol Haya Sham," which translates to "a great miracle occurred there." "There" referring to Israel, and "the great miracle" referring to the miracle of Hanukkah, of course.

All you need besides the dreidel itself is some sort of game piece. You can use pennies, nuts, jelly beans, or to stick within the Hanukkah vein, chocolate gelt. Whatever you choose, you'll need about 10-15 pieces per player. Oh, and did we mention that any number of people can play in a game of dreidel? So inclusive!

The Rules

Here a few simple rules of the games taken from A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration



Nun for Dreidel  

Nun means "nisht" or "nothing" in Yiddish. The player does nothing.

Gimmel for Dreidel  

Gimmel means "gantz" or "everything" in Yiddish. The player gets everything in the pot.

Hay for Dreidel  

Hay means "halb" or "half" in Yiddish. The player gets half of the pot. (If there is an odd number of pieces in the pot, the player takes half of the total plus one.)

Shin for Dreidel  

Shin means "shtel" or "put in" in Yiddish. The player adds a game piece to the pot.


4.   When one person has won everything, that round of the game is over!

Hanukkah Party

It's as easy at that. Since little plastic or wooden dreidels tend to show up by the dozens around Hanukkah time, why not give the game a spin at your next Hanukkah celebration? Besides for the Jewish tradition involved, it's also a fun way to test out some early math skills. Giving your kids their first taste of gambling has never been so educational!

Molly Tolsky

Molly Tolsky is the Associate Editor of Kveller.