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Let's Dreidel Around

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
the children were kvetching, "There's no fun in our house!
Our friends all have parties and decorate trees. But we're only Jewish, we want fun, too, if you please!"

I don't know about you, but I make sure there's no Christmas Envy at our house! Every night for eight days a miracle occurs: the kids are good as chocolate covered in gold, or else they don't get their Chanukah gift du jour! Whether you party on for eight days or have one grand party for friends and family, there's lots you can do to make sure your Chanukah celebration is fun, festive and bright!

Invitations

If you're having a large shindig, open house, or dinner, you'll want to get your invitations out well in advance—at least 3 to 4 weeks. It's a busy time of year! Party411 can custom create personalized invitations for you, or put together some yummy personalized wrapped candy bars.

Gifts are every bit as much a part of Chanukah as Christmas. Instruct each guest to bring a wrapped gift (set a price limit depending on the crowd) suitable for male or female, adult or kids—whatever you think suits your crowd best. (Our family got so big we drew names and bought one great gift instead of lots of small tchotchkes!) One year we had a white elephant gift exchange; everyone brought a gift they had received and didn't like or something from around the house. As we went around the room choosing a gift, we either got to choose a new one or took something from someone else, who then got to select another wrapped gift, until everyone had something to take home. Some of the gifts were so funny, this gift exchange served as a huge part of the entertainment!

Decorations

Light a path for your guests to the doorway with White Snowflake Luminaries.  Personalized Chanukah banners or custom-created welcome signs to greet your guests are always fun. Have them enter through an arch of blue and white balloons and wow them by decking the halls—and walls and ceiling— with Chanukah ceiling decorations and lots of sparkly white twinkle lights. 

Tables and Centerpieces

If you have assigned seating for large parties, large candy-filled dreidels tied off with names and table numbers make great seating cards. Decorate the table in white lights and add an 18” dreidel centerpiece.

If the Chanukah party is for a large group (temple party, say), each table should have a menorah with candles. Whoever finds a star under their plate will lead the prayer over the candles.

Tables covered in white linens scattered with golf foil-covered chocolate gelt and Star of David confetti make the tables very festive. Blue napkins rolled and tied off with gold and silver curling ribbon and dreidels are always a fun touch. It's party time, so who wants to do dishes? Festive Chanukah paper tableware makes clean up a snap!

Menu

Mmmmm...potato latkes! It must be Chanukah! If you're really old-fashioned, you can grate your potatoes the old fashioned way. Nothing's more authentic on Chanukah than latkes made with knuckle skin. (Sorry...that's gross.) For the rest of us, there's latke mixes or, if you're lucky, the local deli will sell you the prepared batter or latkes already fried and ready to gobble up. As long as you serve plenty of potato latkes, the menu is wide open. You can serve a traditional Jewish meal, from matzo ball soup to latkes and brisket, or you can have something a little more budget conscious: egg salad and tuna salad with latkes, and plenty of sour cream and applesauce on the side.

Activities

Chanukah's not Chanukah without a game of dreidel. Retell the story of the miracle: the oil enough for one night that lasted for eight. Get your kids learning to gamble while they're young, I always say. The four sides of the dreidel, or top, each have a Hebrew letter which stands for one of the words "Nes-Gadol-Haya-Shom" which means "A Big Miracle Happened There." Anyhow, to play dreidel, each person takes a turn spinning the dreidel and the letter on the side that lands up indicates one of the following: Nun - take nothing, Gimmel - take the whole pot, Hay - take half the pot, Shin - add to the pot. Betting can be in real money, pennies, chocolate coins, raisins, or whatever. It's getting the whole family or group involved that's fun.

There's also lots of fun Chanukah songs. Get a Chanukah party music CD. Kids can take turns leading the group or performing a la karaoke. And of course, you'll want to listen to Adam Sandler's now classic Chanukah song.

Party Favors

In addition to the gift exchange and dreidels, send everyone home with a goodie bag filled with a selection of chocolate Chanukah gelt, Chanukah symbol cookies, custom-wrapped candy bars, or Personalized Photo Chocolate Favors in the shape of a Jewish Star!