How to Play the Dreidl Game

Divide tokens equally between players. Chocolate coins, called gelt, are traditionally used. Anything small, such as chocolate chips or paper clips, can substitute for gelt.

Teach all players to read the sides of the dreidl. In Yiddish, "nun" means "nothing," "gimmel" means "everything," "hey" means half and "shin" means "put in."

Ask each player to place a token in the center of the table. This is the pot. Repeat each time the pot is empty or only one token remains. Some players end the game when the pot is empty, decide this in advance.

Determine which player will spin first. Usually the youngest player starts, but in some families the oldest does.

Spin the dreidl. The side facing up when the dreidl falls indicates what the player must do. If it lands on "nun" then the player does nothing, on "gimmel" the player takes all the tokens, on "hey" the player takes half of the pot or on "shin" the player adds one token to the pot. Play continues clockwise.

End the game when one player has all of the tokens, or when the pot is empty. If more than two people are playing, the first person to run out of tokens is either "out" or may borrow tokens from the other player.