The Hebrew word for dreidel is sevivon, which, as in Yiddish, means “to turn around.” The classic dreidel is a four-sided spinning top made of wood, plastic, or the proverbial clay. On the four sides of the dreidel appear four letters from the Hebrew alphabet, and they stand for the saying, Nes gadol haya sham, meaning A great miracle occurred there. In Israel, instead of the fourth letter shin, there is a peh, which means the saying is Nes gadol haya po — A great miracle occurred here.

How to Play Dreidel

* Download, cut out and folded your dreidel.

* In addition to dreidels, you'll need the game pieces — nuts, coins, candy, or just about anything else...

* All players sit around the playing area.

* The game pieces are equally divided among all the players.

* To start a game, every player contributes one piece to the “pot.”

* In turn, each player spins the dreidel. The player’s action depends on which Hebrew letter lands face-up:



* After a player wins the whole pot, everyone must contribute one piece again to rebuild the pot.

* Players are eliminated when they have no more pieces.

* The game is over when a single player has won all the pieces.

The famous Hanukkah song goes, “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made you out of clay.” But you can download our printable dreidels right now and use them as a party activity.

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