Whether you want to use these activities just for fun, or if you have lesson plans centered around the winter holidays, Storyboard That is an excellent resource. Check out some of the great things your students can do!
We're going to teach you how to play the dreidel game!
I love playing with chocolate gelt!
You can go first, Jimmy!
The dreidel is a top most often used during the Hanukkah season.
shin
he
Every player starts with the same number of game pieces. The game pieces can be candy, pennies, nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate coins referred to as "gelt".
= put in
Each player puts one game piece into the pot at the start of the round.
Aww ...
= nothing
The first player spins the dreidel. What he does next is based on the side of the dreidel facing up after it stops spinning.
= all
There are four sides to a dreidel and each has a Hebrew letter. The letters come from "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham" (a great miracle happened there), which refers to the miracle of the oil.
8
nun
gimel
3
Jimmy spins and the dreidel lands with the "shin" letter facing up. Jimmy has to put one of his game pieces into the pot in the middle.
= half
Shin, shin, put it in!
For Jakob's turn, the dreidel lands on "nun". "Nun" stands for "nothing", so Jakob doesn't give or get any gelt.
Nice work, Jimmy!
Becky gets "gimel", which stands for all. Becky gets to take everything in the middle!
YES!
Whenever the pot is empty, everyone needs to put one piece in again. If a player cannot put a piece in when they need to, that player is "out".
7
12
It's Jimmy's turn again, and he spins to "he", for half. He takes half of the pieces in the pot. Since there is an odd number, he takes half of the amount rounded up: two pieces.
Yeah!
The game is over when there is only one player left!
Enjoy your winnings! (It would probably be nice to share.)