My career as a game planner for Chanuka parties began when I was a child living at home with my parents and siblings. Every year, I planned a treasuMy re hunt for each member of the family. When I was in Gateshead Seminary, far away from home, I chose presents for each of my siblings (small things like chocolate bars) and then wrote four or five clues for each present. The whole box was sent before Chanuka with instructions to my sister closest in age to me to hide the clues and the presents.
Forty-five years later, in my role as Bubby, I am still planning Chanuka parties. I’m lucky that a number of my married children live in Baltimore, which makes it easier to get everyone together. I like to imagine that my children and grandchildren look forward to seeing all their aunts, uncles, and cousins once a year at a party. What is the definition of a party? I guess each family has its own definition. But, most likely, every Chanuka party includes food and games. Sometimes, I have the nachas of hearing one of the grandchildren ask if we are going to do such and such a game again this year. If they ask that question, then, of course, answer is going to be yes. If you, my grandchild, enjoyed the game and remembered it, then why not?
Here are some ideas that we have tried over the years:
1) Put the names of all the Chanuka party participants into a bag, adults and children mixed together. Everyone draws a name and then has to buy a present for that person. (Obviously, this part of the activity has to be done ahead of time.) In our family we limit the present to a very small amount of money, like $5, in order not to put a financial pressure on the families. You can give out the presents in two different ways. One way is for the giver to make up a riddle, and everyone has to guess whom the present is for. Alternatively, the giver can make a little speech saying something nice about his or her recipient. This game has the bonus of requiring everyone to put some thought into what might be a good gift for someone else.
2) Gather as many pictures of parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents as you can from different times in their lives. (I call the parents of my children-in-law to get pictures of them when they were children.) Hang the pictures on posters in the party room. Each picture should have a number next to it. Everyone gets a piece of paper and has to figure out who is in each picture and write it down. You can offer a prize or prizes for the most correct answers. This game can be played individually, or families can pool their knowledge and compete against each other.
3) This game is a lot of fun for the kids. Bubby goes out ahead of time and buys a lot of stuff at the dollar store. (As the grandchildren get older, they can help with this.) Then you wrap all the items. At the party, you hand out dollar bills – real or fake – to each participant. The designated “auctioneer” holds up the package, and the party-goers bid for it. The highest bidder gets the package. After the auction is over, you can give the money to tzedaka. Of course, if participants don’t like their gift, they can trade with each other.
4) Compose a list of questions about the members of the family attending the party. For example, who was a lifeguard? Who was valedictorian? Who had their appendix removed? Every guest gets a list of questions and then has to find the person to whom the question refers. That person then has to sign the question. See who can get all their questions signed. A variation of this game is to put the questions on a grid like a bingo game. Then people can get signatures on their bingo card and call out “bingo” to win.
5) Game Show: In each round, one member of each family joins the panel in front of the “audience.” They should be approximately equivalent: for instance, grandchildren above age eight, all uncles, etc. Be prepared with a list of questions that family members might know. For example, if grandchildren are on the panel, the questions might be about how their parents grew up. Examples: Q: Who was the family’s cleaning lady: Vanessa, Rosa, or Irena? Q: Where did we shop for shoes: Hecht’s, Sammy’s, or 7 Mile? Q: What did we do at the end of every trip to Harbor Place: Zeidy dived into the water, we went to Haagen-Dazs for ice cream, or Mommy took us the library to do a book report? You might be surprised at the family lore your grandchildren have picked up over the years. Give out points generously for the right answers or, perhaps, for the funniest answers. Each family counts its points, and the winning family gets a prize.
6) Spin the Dreidel with a Twist: This is especially good for the younger children. Have the players sit in a circle. Each person gets a dreidel. In the middle of the circle are a well-wrapped present, a knife, and a fork. Each child takes a turn to spin the dreidel. When players land on gimmel, they get a turn to start to unwrap the present using the knife and fork. The player who unwraps the last layer gets to keep the prize.
The next two ideas came from a friend:
7) Instead of the regular dreidel game that we all know, which has been played since the days of the Maccabees hiding from the Greeks, put out four bowls of candies. Each letter is represented by a different kind of candy. The younger children can sit around in a circle and take turns spinning their own dreidel. When the dreidel comes to a halt, they take a candy from the bowl corresponding to that letter. What child does not enjoy a game that ends up with going home with a bag of candy!
8) Each child gets a small wrapped gift or a folded paper with a privilege written on it. No one should know what is inside the package or what is written on the paper. The children sit in a circle. The leader reads the Chanuka story below. When they hear the word “left,” they pass the package or paper to the left, and when they hear the word “right,” they pass the package or paper to the right. When the story is over, all the players open the gift they have in their lap.
Here is the story:
Right from the start, we were rightfully Hashem’s chosen nation. In this regard, the other nations were left out. Unhappy with their position, they decided they had the right to destroy the Jews to the point that there would be nothing left to even write about. Well, I’m sure you guessed right; they didn’t succeed, and we were left as Hashem’s chosen nation! We were left to do his mitzvos, and we were left to be different from others!
The story of Chanuka is just another right example. Antiochus thought it right for all his subjects to be strong and well educated in the philosophies he felt to be right! And the Jews were not to be left out! Therefore, he decided to write a decree that the Jews had no right to perform certain mitzvos. He sent his soldiers marching into Yerushalayim: right, right, right, left, right, right, right, left, rightetc. As the soldiers entered Yerushalayim, they went right to the Beis Hamidkash and left it broken and dirty, trying to extinguish the candles of the menorah. Yehuda Hamacabee left his home in Modiin and went right to work gathering an army together, crying out, “Mi leHashem eilaiy.”
As we all know, with Hashem at his right hand, Antiochus’s army was wounded, and the Chashmonaim regained the right to the Beis Hamikdash. The Jews went right to work there. They couldn’t believe what was left of their beautiful Beis Hamikdash. When they set everything right again, they realized the Greeks hadn’t left a single jar of pure oil to light. They couldn’t make new oil right away since it took 8 days to do it right! They searched right and left and left again, until they found one tiny jar, just right for one night! The excitement spread through the city right away that they would not be left in the dark. The Kohen Gadol lit the menorah and the Jews thanked Hashem for the miracle that the Greeks left that small jug untouched! The Jews left that night happy but unsure of what they would do the next day. The next morning, they couldn’t believe their eyes! The menorah stood right where they had left it, with the oil left in it! The menorah was left lit until the third night, and left until the fourth, and left until the fifth night, and left until the sixth night….
But wait! Is it right to light the menorah from right to left? Or left to right? No, we start from the right side of the menorah, but we light the candles from left to rightid you get that right?
Now open the gift that is left in your hands!!!
I hope you enjoy these games. Perhaps you will try one at your Chanuka party. I would love to hear your ideas, and if you send them in to the Where What When, we can publish a new list next year.
