How to make a paper dreidel and play the dreidel game

A dreidel is the spinning top of Hanukkah, with a letter on each of its four sides, and a paper one is a craft that ends in a game. Print a dreidel template on card stock, cut it out, fold the four sides into a box, close the top and the point, and push a short pencil through the top as the handle: it spins like a wooden one. The template above prints at true size with each child’s name on the top, and a rules page with a gelt score sheet.

What you need

• The template, printed at 100 % (actual size) on card stock: a 4.5 cm cube on one page, or two 3 cm cubes on a page.
• Scissors, a ruler and a glue stick.
• A short pencil, a lollipop stick or a straw as the handle.
• For the game: coins, nuts, raisins or chocolate gelt, about ten for each player.

How to fold a paper dreidel

1. Cut along the solid lines. Cut the whole shape out in one piece, tabs and triangles included. Do not cut along the dashed lines.
2. Fold every dashed line. Lay a ruler along each dashed line and fold over it, so the edges come out sharp. Fold the tabs too.
3. Make the box. Fold the four sides with the letters into a square tube and glue the grey tab on the fourth side under the first side.
4. Close the top. Fold the top down and tuck its three grey tabs inside the box, gluing them to the sides.
5. Close the point. Fold the four triangles in toward each other and glue each triangle’s tab under the triangle beside it. Press them together while the glue sets: a point in the middle is what makes it spin.
6. Add the handle. Push a short pencil or a stick through the dot on the top, straight down until it touches the point.

Give the glue a few minutes before the first spin. A dreidel that wobbles has its point a little off centre; squeeze the triangles together once more.

How to play dreidel

Everyone sits in a circle with the same number of pieces and puts one in the middle: that is the pot. Players take turns to spin, and the letter on top when the dreidel falls says what to do:

Whenever the pot is empty or holds one piece, everyone puts one in. A player who runs out is out of the game, unless the bank is kind. The game ends when one player has everything, or when the latkes are ready.

What the letters mean

The four letters are the first letters of Nes Gadol Haya Sham, “a great miracle happened there”, the miracle Hanukkah remembers. Dreidels made in Israel carry pe in place of shin, for Nes Gadol Haya Po, “a great miracle happened here”. The template prints either set, with the letter’s name small under it for children who are learning the alphabet.

One for every child

Type every child’s name and each gets a dreidel with their name on the top, so the right dreidel goes home with the right child. The last page lists everyone on a gelt score sheet. For the eight nights themselves, the paper menorah counts them down: a candle for every night with its date, and a flame to glue on each evening.