I belong to a group of families who teach their children at home. Some of us are Jewish and some are not. We are having a "Culture Day" where we prepare dishes from our culture and lead games from our culture. I have a dish in mind, but am not sure what games (if any) are particularly Jewish. Are there certain games that have routinely been played by Jewish children either in Israel or around the world? If you know of any, please tell how to play, tell which country the game is from, and significance to Judaism (if there is any).

I did reach a web site that mentioned an article on games Jewish children played to deal with the horrors during the Holocaust, but could not access the site. That sounded interesting. Even aside from this Culture Day, I would be interested to know how children tried to cope.

In general, games could deal with a specific holiday (Purim, Passover) or be a game to be played on any occasion. I would really love to hear about both sorts of games!

Dreidel comes to mind.

You might find some on www.chabad.org.

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Dreidel comes to mind.

You might find some on www.chabad.org.

I had thought of Dreidel, but wanted to introduce others to something they probably hadn't heard of.

Thank you for directing me to the Chabad web site. Unfortunately the games listed were computer games, but I'll remember the site because it has neat things for my kids to do.

If I don't get any further suggestions, I'll make up games related to Jewish events and philosophies. I already have some in mind. I just thought it would be neat to present something that Jewish children have played historically over the years.

Thanks for trying!

I was thinking of maybe the game gogoim/adjuim. It's a very traditional Israeli game that almost all children play with apricot pits, but I'm having difficulty finding a website that explains how to play it in english.

TES (Torah Educational Software) of Monsey surely has many offerings of computer game software.

There is one boxed game I know called Super Siddur Search which has a Jewish theme, I don't know from where we got it.

These may be easier solutions than making your own game, or might provide ideas for your own games.

Abstract games based on quizzing details of the parsha, or envisioning what it would be like to be living in the time of the parsha are probably not appropriate for a mixed setting of culture day.

Paulette, are you looking for board games? Computer games? Or any other type of setup?

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Originally posted by rob:
TES (Torah Educational Software) of Monsey surely has many offerings of computer game software.

By signing up for their newsletter/email notices, one can get notices of free items that all that is needed is to pay S&H and there are other items with discounts.

The link to their website is: http://www.jewishsoftware.com/

I think dreidal is the best suggestion so far. It is the most traditional.

A dreidal is a top. Before World War II my greatgrandparents owned the biggest top factory in the world- Weatherbee Tops.

Like Macabees

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Posted March 08, 2007 05:02 AM Hide Post
I think dreidal is the best suggestion so far. It is the most traditional.

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Paulette, are you looking for board games? Computer games? Or any other type of setup?

As I mentioned, I don't want to do dreidel because most non-Jewish children have heard of it. (It's about the only thing they learn of Judaism, at Christmas-time. I don't want them to think that's all there is!)

I'm looking for active games: running around, possibly involving some skill. Mental games of strategy would also be good.

For examples, here are a few I made up:
For Purim:
1) Hang Haman
Hang a Haman doll with its feet resting on 3 cans. If a child can knock down the cans with the ball, Haman gets suspended in air - hung.
2) Tzedakah Roll
Place a coin on its side on a piece of cardboard that has holes cut in it. Tilt the cardboard and see if you can get the coin to roll past all the holes. If you can, you win, and your coin gets donated to charity!
3) Esther's Scepter
A variation on Red-light-green-light-1-2-3, where instead of "It" saying the above while people try to run and tag him, "It" is King Ahasvaros (sp?), raising the scepter as if to allow Esther to approach, butin the game allowing the children to approach to tag, and then lowering the scepter when the children must freeze in their places.
For Passover:
1) Slaving to build the Egyptian pyramids
Children try to build a pyramid made of children!
2) Moses Parts the Red Sea
Blowing with a straw, see if you can part the water in a long rectangular container.
3) Manna falls in the desert
A parent drops pieces of cardboard in the shape of matzoh down from the "sky" and children see how many they can catch before they hit the ground.
All games would come with a brief explanation of their significance in Jewish history and/or custom.
I can easily come up with more games, but since the group was asking for traditional games, I figured I'd look for them. (Oh, and the games needn't have holiday themes.)