Hanukkah games for family night give the candles a second act. The menorah is lit, the latkes are gone, and everyone is still at the table. That's the moment. Eight nights is a lot of evenings to fill, so here is one game for each, from the classic spin to a few new ones your family could claim as tradition by next winter.
Each game takes ten to thirty minutes, needs little or no setup, and works with a four-year-old and a grandparent at the same table. Mix and match. Skip a night. Play dreidel all eight times if that's what your crowd wants.
Planning Hanukkah games for family night
A little planning goes a long way. Pick the game before the candles, so nobody spends the glow debating. Keep a bag of supplies near the menorah. Then follow three simple rules.
- Short beats long. Twenty minutes is plenty on a school night. End while people still want one more round.
- Gelt is the currency. Chocolate coins work as points, prizes and bets. Nobody minds losing when the losers still get chocolate.
- Mixed teams. Pair the youngest with the oldest. Grandma reads the rules, the five-year-old spins.
Write the eight games on slips of paper and let a different person pull one each night. The surprise is half the fun, and it stops the same kid from choosing every single time.
Nights one to three: the warm-up
Night 1: Dreidel, the classic
Start where everyone starts. Each player puts a coin in the pot. Spin the dreidel. Nun means nothing happens, gimel takes the pot, hei takes half and shin means you put one in. Little kids learn it in a single round. Grown-ups get oddly competitive about spin technique.
Night 2: The latke taste test
Make three small batches with one change each. Plain, sweet potato and extra onion. Blindfold the tasters and ask them to name each one. Points for right answers, bonus points for the funniest wrong guess. Applesauce versus sour cream is a separate debate, and it never gets settled.
Night 3: Spin and tell
Bring the dreidel back with a twist. Each letter is a prompt. Nun: name a favorite food. Gimel: tell a funny family story. Hei: share something you're proud of. Shin: sing one line of any song. It's a talking game dressed up as a spinning game, and the shy cousin usually ends up with the best story.
Nights four to six: the table gets louder
Night 4: A memory game made of your family
Memory, the flip-two-cards game, suits a crowded table. Everyone learns the rules in a minute. Swap the usual pictures for your own people and the game changes. A match becomes a story. Who took this photo? Is that Uncle Avi with hair?
That's the game we make. Matchy Matchy Memory prints your real photos as a matching game, from $19.99, in 12, 24 or 48 cards. Put in a few faces from past candle lightings and watch Grandpa stop every time one turns over.
Night 5: Hanukkah charades
Write prompts on slips: frying latkes, lighting the shamash, spinning a dreidel, opening a present that turns out to be socks. Act them out with no words. Kids are brilliant at this. Adults are brilliant at being terrible at it.
Night 6: Gelt toss
Set out a few bowls at different distances. Give everyone ten coins. The closest bowl is worth one point, the farthest is worth five. Play on the floor so the coins don't roll under the stove. The winner keeps whatever lands. Toddlers can stand halfway, and nobody needs to mention it.
Nights seven and eight: the big finish
Night 7: Family trivia
Write ten questions only your family can answer. Where did Mom and Dad go on their first date? What was the dog called before the kids renamed him? Which cousin fell in the lake? Teams take turns. The arguments about the right answer are part of the game.
Night 8: The champions' rematch
On the last night, bring back the favorite. The kids vote. Count the gelt from the whole week and crown a winner, with a paper crown and full honors. Then everyone plays one last round together, no scores, just for the joy of it.
Keep the night eight crown in the Hanukkah box with the menorah. Next winter the reigning champion has to defend it, and that becomes a tradition all on its own.
If you only manage four of the eight, that still counts. The point is a reason to stay at the table a little longer.
Keeping score without tears
Eight nights of games can turn into eight nights of sulking if the same person wins every time. A few house rules keep it friendly.
- The youngest goes first. Every game, every night.
- Handicaps for the sharp ones. In the memory game, a teenager has to say where each photo was taken to keep a match.
- Team scores only. Kids and grown-ups on one side. The winning team picks tomorrow's latke topping.
- Everyone gets gelt. Winners get more. Nobody leaves the table empty-handed.
Write the winners on a sheet taped to the fridge. By the eighth night it reads like a family history of who can spin and who remembers exactly where Grandma's card was hiding.
Ready to make your own?
If night four sounds like your family, it's simple to make. Pick photos on your phone: past candle lightings, the cousins, the dog in a blue and white sweater. Choose real photos or re-drawn ones. Choose 12, 24 or 48 cards. You see your first card before you pay. Shipping is $5, and free when you order 2 or more decks. US only, ships in 3 to 5 business days.
Matchy Matchy Memory keeps your real photos, from $19.99. Matchy Matchy Magic re-draws them in 3D Film, Watercolor or Anime, from $29.99. Order early, then save it for night four. Chag sameach.