Dreidel Day

If you’re looking to add some special fun for a Hanukkah day, check out our Dreidel Day! We had such a great time making dreidel art, playing with dreidels, becoming a dreidel!, and even practicing some counting and sorting. And we can’t forget the sweet ending: edible dreidels of course!

What You’ll Need

What supplies you’ll need depends on which dreidel activities you choose to do:

• Dreidel Day Book Reading
  • Dreidel Day Book
• Spinning Dreidel Art
  • Paper
  • Scissors
  • Paint
  • Cardboard box, plastic bin or a disposable baking tray
  • Plastic dreidels
• Wash the dreidels sensory bin
  • Plastic bin
  • Dish soap
  • Sponge
  • Plastic dreidels
• Count and sort the dreidels
  • 100s chart
  • Colored paper
  • Dreidels
• Poke a Dot Dreidel
  • Poke a Dreidel Free Printable
  • Cardboard
  • Push pin
• Do a Dot Dreidel
  • Do a Dot Dreidel free printable or purchase and print from our Hanukkah Activities Packet for Early Learners
  • Dot markers or dot stickers
• Be the Dreidel (Human Cardboard Dreidel)
  • Cardboard box
  • Paint
  • Scissors
• Edible dreidels
  • Big marshmallows
  • Pretzel sticks
  • Hershey kisses
  • Chocolate chips

Putting It Together

Dreidel Day Book Reading

1. Read the book Dreidel Day (or any other favorite dreidel-related book).

Spinning Dreidel Art 

1. Cut paper into dreidel shapes.
2. Put the dreidel cut outs into a cardboard box, plastic bin or a disposable baking tray.
3. Squirt some paint dots on the cut out.
4. Grab a (plastic) dreidel and start spinning it in the paint!
5. If desired, let dry then hang with yarn to make a dreidel garland.

Wash the Dreidels Sensory Bin

1. Pour water (or have your kiddos do this task!) into a plastic bin.
2. Add dish soap.
3. Toss in some plastic dreidels and use a sponge to wash them.

Count and Sort the Dreidels

1. If you have a 100s chart, invite your child to grab and place the dreidels one by one onto each number, counting as they go. If you don’t have a 100s chart, you can still count the individual dreidels, placing them in rows of five or ten to reinforce those groupings. You could also use egg cartons as a simple (and reusable) counter frame.
2. For sorting, we used a divided tray with colored paper indicating each section. You could use paper on the floor or table without a tray, or individual bowls or baskets to identify the different colors.
3. Invite your child to match each dreidel one by one to the corresponding color.

Poke a Dot Dreidel

1. Print out our Poke a Dreidel free printable.
2. Place it on a piece of cardboard.
3. Invite your child to poke a hole with the push pin on each blue dot.

Do a Dot Dreidel

1. Print out our Do a Dot Dreidel free printable or purchase and print from our Hanukkah Activities Packet for Early Learners.
2. Invite your child to mark each circle with a dot marker or dot sticker.

Be the Dreidel (Human Cardboard Dreidel)

1. Cut the top and bottom off a cardboard box big enough for your child to step into.
2. Paint or otherwise decorate the box.
3. Paint or write the four dreidel letters, one on each side.
4. Once everything is dry, invite your child to step into the dreidel box and start spinning like a dreidel. We of course played I Have a Little Dreidel song (Maccabeats version!) in the background as we sung and spun.

Edible Dreidels

1. Melt a little bit of chocolate and dab it on the flat bottom of the Hershey kiss, then attach to the big marshmallow.
2. Stick a pretzel stick into the top of the marshmallow.
3. If you’re talented, use chocolate or icing to draw the dreidel letters on each side.
4. Eat and enjoy!

Finished & Loving It!

All of these activities were super fun and the kids were laughing and singing the dreidel song and totally enjoying themselves. So much joy!

Most of these activities we’ve tried before but repeating didn’t diminish the kids’ joy. One of the new activities we tried was the Wash the Dreidels Sensory Bin. It was a huge hit! The kids spent so much time completely engaged with washing and squeezing the sponges, much longer than I had expected. And yes, it was long enough for me to work on dinner while they played! SCORE!

We made the cardboard box dreidels years ago and the kids absolutely love them. It’s so much fun for kids to spin anytime, but is especially amazing when you have such a beloved and catchy song in the background. This is a great regulating opportunity and a wonderful way to practice the I Have a Little Dreidel song.

We have explored all things dreidel in so many ways in the last few years. Get inspired by some of our spin-tastic dreidel experiences:

• Dreidel Ooblek
• Dreidel Stamping
• Roll and Count the Dreidels
• Dreidel Sensory Tray
• Dreidel Rescue Sensory Bin
• I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel Retelling Craft
• Dreidel Color Sort and Match
• Waxed Paper Dreidel Lantern
• Dreidel Chunkies (use code WithLoveIma5 at Woodpeckers Crafts for a discount!)
• Dreidel Letter Tally Chart
• DIY Dreidel Puzzle
• Dreidel Glitter Suncatchers
• Dreidel Creation Light Table Invitation
• Dreidel Drop
• Dreidel Graphing
• Dreidel Ten (or Twenty) Frame
• Dreidel Math Facts

This was such a fun day. Not only did I love watching the kids explore and enjoy engaging with dreidels in different ways, their happiness was just so contagious. They have so much Jewish joy and pride, that it just fills me up. May we all spin and laugh and create and sing and play and enjoy and love and spread more LIGHT this Hanukkah!

Chag Hanukkah Sameach!

We have a whole page dedicated to Hanukkah, our Hanukkah Hub. Check it out! It includes some of the Hanukkah activities we plan to do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.

And don’t forget our Hanukkah Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, a wonderful way to introduce Hanukkah! And, now we also have all 13 Jewish holidays bundled together in A Year of Jewish Holidays 3 Part Cards.

If you want to go full-on Hanukkah with your littles, you must try our Hanukkah Activities Packet for Early Learners! I am so excited about all the Hanukkah-themed literacy, fine motor skills, math, and play fun!

The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:

PJ Library: Hanukkah

Reform Judaism: Hanukkah

BimBam: Chanukkah

Chag Sameach!

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