How to Play Dreidel

As Chanukkah is rapidly approaching, the time honored game of dreidel is something that everyone young child should learn.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A driedel
• Coins
• Chanukkah gelt

1. Driedels can be fashioned out of just about any material you can think of. Wooden ones that are cheap will do just fine. You only need one to play the game.

2. 
   Kids gathered around the driedel pot.

   Gather the kids together or adults if they want to play too. Evenly distribute the coins or Chanukkah gelt (chocolate wrapped coins) among the players. A total of 10 coins would be a good start.

3. All driedels made for use outside of Israel have 4 Hebrew letters. Nun, Gimel, Hey, Shin. These stand for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, which means "a great miracle happened there". In Israel they have one letter that is different, the Shin in replaced by a Peh because they say "a great miracle happened here". That miracle is that the oil that was supposed to last for a day lasted for 8. But I digress.

4. Everyone puts one or more coins in the middle. Then someone starts and spins the driedel. If it lands on the nun they get nothing, the gimmel they take the pot, the hay they get half the pot, and if they are unlucky enough to land on the shin they contribute to the pot.

5. Play continues around the circle until someone takes the entire pot through their sheer luck.

Tips & Warnings

• Spinning shouldn't take too much effort but practice does make perfect.
• The rules aren't hard and fast in terms of contributions, so make up your own.