Hanukkah Parties with an Educational Learning Twist

* Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which is November-December on the Gregorian calendar).
* In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" means "dedication." It is the story of the Maccabees, a small band of Jewish fighters who liberated the Land of Israel from the Syrian Greeks who occupied it. Under the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanies, the Syrian Greeks sought to impose their Hellenistic culture.
* In remembrance of the liberation, a candle is lit each of the eight days of Hanukkah.
* Children receive gifts of Gelt (in remembrance of the coins minted by the new independent Maccabee state) or money and play games of Dreidel (a spinning four-sided top.)
* The tradition of receiving a gift on each of the eight days of Hanukkah is fairly recent. Since Christians exchange gifts at Christmas, Jews have come to exchange gifts other than coins at Hanukkah, which comes at the same time of the year.
* The traditional foods consumed during the Hanukkah holiday are symbolic of the events being celebrated. Most are fried in oil, symbolic of the oil that lasted eight days.
* Latkes were originally symbolic of the cheesecakes served by the widow Judith, and later evolved to the potato/vegetable fried latkes most known today.

DREIDEL: N (nun) = Get nothing from the kitty. G (gimel) = Get everything from the kitty. H (he) = Get half of the kitty. S (shin) = Put half the money in the kitty. If you don't have a dreidel already, you can purchase one at a party goods supply or toy store (they're also fun to make.) Have your guests bring pennies, gold-foil-wrapped chocolate coins, or candies to put in the kitty, or distribute these items yourself during game time. Have everyone place a penny or candy into the kitty and then take turns spinning the Dreidel to determine who wins and who loses. At the end of the game, have everyone count their winnings, and use the pennies and candies to purchase small, wrapped gifts that you've prepared ahead of time.

HANUKKAH MUSICAL CHAIRS: The old favorite. With one fewer chairs than people, a short snippet of music is played while the people move around the room. When the music stops everyone tries to sit on a vacant chair. (Only ONE person per chair) The person who doesn't find a chair is out. One chair is taken away and the game continues until only one person (The Winner) is left.

Right click to copy the the printable Hanukkah puzzle below.
Hanukkah Criss Cross Puzzle