To celebrate Hanukkah, here are two dreidel songs to dance with your little ones. These are traditional Hannukah songs that I sang when I was growing up, but I didn’t add the movement until I became a Waldorf teacher.
What is a dreidel–and what do I do with it?
If you don’t know what a dreidel is, it’s a top that has four sides. On each side, a Hebrew letter is written. The letters stand for a phrase which means “A great miracle happened there.” But mostly, it’s used to play the dreidel game.
Everyone gets some pennies or chocolate coins or stones–and puts one into the “pot.” The first person spins the dreidel–which is great for fine motor development. This is what happens, depending on which letter is up:
When I had my older classes (3-6-year-olds), we always played dreidel around this time of year. It was often an activity we did first thing in the morning while waiting for everyone to arrive–before we started our morning circle. The littler ones often couldn’t spin the dreidel yet, but they usually had fun trying. It was interesting to watch how the older children could or couldn’t spin the dreidel. Also interesting–letting them practice taking turns.
The Songs!
In Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures: Therapeutic Support for Early Childhood, Volume Two by Nancy Blanning and Laurie Clark, these amazing teachers offer a Hanukkah circle. The movements that I share here were inspired by this circle.
These are spinning songs. And spinning is so healthy for children. I’m sure you’ve noticed that children love to spin in circles. It’s really healthy for them to do it (up to a point) as it helps develop their vestibular sense–the sense of balance. You can read more about the four foundational senses (which include balance) here.
The first song
I had a little dreidel is a classic Hanukah song for little ones. It has a couple more verses, but we’re just doing the first one here.
For this song, you just sit on your bottom and spin first one way and then the other–with a few claps at the end. It works best on a hard floor–or maybe wearing your shiniest pants!
Here are the words (with directions in parens):
(Spin on your bottom, legs up)
I had a little dreidel, I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready, my dreidel I shall play.
(At this point, I pause and say something like, “The other way!” and spin the other way)
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready, my dreidel
I shall play (Stop spinning and clap your hands three times for this line).
The second song–S’vivon sov, sov, sov
The second song is in Hebrew.
Here is a pretty literal and not very poetic translation (I don’t know about you, but I like to know what I’m singing):
Top spin, spin, spin; Hannukah is a good holiday.
Hanukah is a good holiday; top spin, spin, spin.
A happy holiday for the people, A great miracle happened there.
A great miracle happened there; a happy holiday for the people.”
In this video, I present this as a dance to do with a partner. You can do it with more people, of course. But less people means more spinning (I’m not sure if that’s better or worse–you can decide for yourself. )
The words: (Again, movement directions are in ( ). But have fun and make it your own!)
S’vivon, sov sov sov, (Hold hands and turn around)
Hannukah hu chag tov, (stop and clap on last three syllables)
Hannukah hu chag tov, (Hold hands and turn around)
S’vivon, sov sov sov. (Stop and clap on last 3 syllables)
Chag simcha hu la’am (Hold hands and turn)
Nes gadol haya sham
Nes gadol haya sham (turn in the other direction if you want to)
Chag simcha hu la’am (stop and clap for last 3 syllables)
Happy Hanukkah! Have fun spinning –dreidels and yourselves!
If you’re looking for a fabulous gluten-free latke recipe, here’s my favorite (which I’ll be making on Saturday) from Martha Stewart.
Let me know if you have any questions–or how it goes when you try the songs and dances.
And as always, thanks for stopping by!
[…] Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate it. I shared a couple of dreidel songs to dance to with little ones on my sister blog, Soul Blossom Kids. Most of my early childhood stuff is over […]