Hanukkah party ideas and activities for work
Eight nights of light, fried food and dreidel. Here is how an office can mark Hanukkah well, with dates, games and trivia.
A good Hanukkah party at work is small, warm and led by the people who celebrate: a latke lunch, a dreidel game, a candle lit at the end of the day. Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is the eight-night Jewish festival of lights. Below you’ll find what it is and what people do, its dates for the next five years, 20 Hanukkah activities for work, how to play dreidel, 15 trivia questions with answers, and how to include Jewish colleagues without putting anyone on the spot.
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah remembers the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE, after a small Jewish army, the Maccabees, won the Temple back from the Seleucid Greek empire. The story says there was only enough pure oil to light the Temple’s lamp for one day, and it burned for eight. That is why the festival lasts eight nights, why a candle is added each night, and why the food is fried in oil.
In religious terms it is a minor festival, but a much-loved one, especially for families with children. Both spellings, Hanukkah and Chanukah, are correct. These are the traditions you will hear about:
- Menorah (hanukkiah)
- The Hanukkah lamp has nine branches: eight for the nights and one set apart, often higher, for the helper candle. Many families place it in a window so passersby can see it.
- Shamash (helper candle)
- The ninth candle, lit first and used to light the others. One more candle is added each night until all eight burn.
- Latkes (potato pancakes)
- Grated potato fried in oil, served with applesauce or sour cream. The oil is the point: it recalls the story of the lamp.
- Sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts)
- Fried doughnuts filled with jam and dusted with powdered sugar, a favorite Hanukkah treat in Israel.
- Dreidel (spinning top)
- A four-sided top with a Hebrew letter on each side, spun for chocolate coins or candy. Its Hebrew name is sevivon.
- Gelt (Yiddish for money)
- Coins traditionally given to children at Hanukkah. Today gelt usually means chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil.
- Gifts
- Some families give small gifts, one for each night or one in all, a custom that grew mostly in North America. Others give none.
What do people do on Hanukkah?
- Light the menorah after dark each of the eight nights, adding one candle a night, with blessings and songs.
- Eat foods fried in oil, above all latkes and sufganiyot.
- Play dreidel with chocolate gelt, often with kids and grandparents at the same table.
- Get together with family and friends for a Hanukkah party on one of the nights.
- Give to charity (tzedakah), and in some families exchange small gifts.
- Go to work and school as usual: Hanukkah is not a holiday that stops work, apart from Shabbat on the Friday night and Saturday.
When is Hanukkah? Dates for the next five years
Hanukkah follows the Hebrew calendar, so it moves every year, landing anywhere from late November to late December. Like every Jewish holiday, it begins at sundown the evening before its first day.
| Year | Begins at sundown | Ends at nightfall |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Fri, Dec 4 | Sat, Dec 12 |
| 2027 | Fri, Dec 24 | Sat, Jan 1, 2028 |
| 2028 | Tue, Dec 12 | Wed, Dec 20 |
| 2029 | Sat, Dec 1 | Sun, Dec 9 |
| 2030 | Fri, Dec 20 | Sat, Dec 28 |
In 2026, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday, December 4 and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12. The first night is also a Friday, the start of Shabbat, so keep the office celebration off that evening.
20 Hanukkah party ideas and activities for the office
Pick two or three of these Hanukkah celebration ideas, not all twenty. Every one works for a team where only a few people celebrate, and none asks anyone to perform their faith.
Hanukkah food at the office
Fried food is the heart of most Chanukah party ideas, and the easiest place to start.
1. Latke bar
Order a big tray of potato latkes from a deli and set out toppings: applesauce, sour cream, chives and smoked salmon on the side.
Lunch, any size. Order a day ahead.
2. Applesauce or sour cream vote
Run the oldest friendly argument of the holiday as a poll at the latke bar. Two jars, one token each, results announced at 2 pm.
5 minutes. Two jars and paper tokens.
3. Sufganiyot afternoon
Bring in jelly doughnuts at 3 pm, ideally three fillings (raspberry, custard, chocolate) so people can compare.
15 minutes. About one per person, plus a few extra.
4. Family recipe lunch
Colleagues who celebrate bring a family Hanukkah dish if they'd like to, with a card on what it is and who taught them. For sign-ups and labels, use our office potluck guide.
Lunch. Label every dish and its ingredients.
5. Kosher deli order
Order the Hanukkah lunch from a certified kosher caterer, so colleagues who keep kosher can eat everything on the table.
Lunch. Ask on the RSVP who keeps kosher.
Chanukah games for a team
Quick, low-stakes games that work at lunch or as part of a December party.
6. Dreidel tournament
Tables of four play dreidel for 10 minutes; the player with the most gelt at each table moves on to a final table. Rules are below.
30 minutes, 8 to 40 people. One dreidel and a bag of gelt per table.
7. Longest spin contest
Everyone spins a dreidel once while a partner times it on a phone. Longest spin wins; ties spin again.
10 minutes, any size. Wooden dreidels spin longest.
8. Hanukkah trivia round
Read the 15 questions on this page to mixed teams of four, and give a bag of gelt to the winners. Questions and answers are on this page.
20 minutes, any size. Pen and paper per team.
9. Gelt hunt
Hide gold-foil chocolate coins around the office before people arrive. Whoever finds the most by lunch picks the next team snack.
All morning, any size. Two or three bags of gelt.
10. Eight nights, eight prompts
Post one light prompt a day in the team channel for the eight days: a winter photo, a favorite fried food, a song stuck in your head.
2 minutes a day. Works for remote teams.
Lights, music and learning
Quieter ideas, led by the colleagues who celebrate if they want to lead them.
11. Menorah lighting moment
A colleague who wants to leads a short lighting at the end of the day. Where the office bans open flame, use an electric menorah.
10 minutes, optional. Never leave real candles unattended.
12. Learning lunch
Invite a colleague, a local educator or a rabbi to tell the Hanukkah story and take questions over lunch.
30 minutes. Ask the speaker what they'd like to cover.
13. The story in one post
On the first night, share a short, plain explainer of the holiday in the company channel, written or checked by someone who celebrates.
5 minutes to read. Link this page if it helps.
14. Hanukkah playlist
Make a shared playlist for the break room, from traditional songs like Maoz Tzur to modern ones, and let people add their favorites.
Ongoing. A shared playlist link.
15. Dreidel painting
Hand out plain wooden dreidels and paint pens, and let people decorate one to keep or give to a child at home.
30 minutes, any size. Dreidels, paint pens, paper towels.
Giving, and ideas for remote teams
Ways to mark the eight nights when people are spread across homes and time zones.
16. Tzedakah drive
Giving is part of the holiday for many families. Pick one cause, or eight small ones, one per night, and match what the team gives.
Eight days. A collection box or a donation link.
17. Eight nights of thanks
Each evening of the festival, one person posts a public thank-you to a teammate, then picks who writes tomorrow's.
2 minutes a day, any size.
18. Gelt in the mail
Mail remote colleagues a dreidel, a bag of gelt and a rules card a week before the first night, then play together on a call.
Ship 7 to 10 days ahead.
19. Light together on video
Colleagues who celebrate and want to can light at home at the same moment on a short call, with anyone welcome to watch.
10 minutes. Pick a time that's after dark for everyone on the call.
20. A winter party with Hanukkah in it
If you hold one December party for everyone, add a latke tray and a dreidel table to it, next to other traditions, without making any one the theme. More ideas in our inclusive holiday party guide.
Plan with the whole team's calendars in mind.
How to play dreidel, the classic Chanukah game
A dreidel has a Hebrew letter on each of its four sides. Together they stand for nes gadol hayah sham, a great miracle happened there. Each letter also tells you what to do with the pot:
| Letter | What happens |
|---|---|
| נNunnisht (nothing) | Nothing happens. Pass the dreidel. |
| גGimelgantz (all) | Take the whole pot. Everyone adds one to start a new pot. |
| הHeihalb (half) | Take half the pot, rounding up when it's an odd number. |
| שShinshtel (put in) | Put one piece into the pot. |
The rules in five steps
- Share out the pieces. Give everyone the same number of chocolate coins, candies or tokens, 10 to 15 each. Never money.
- Fill the pot. Each player puts one piece in the middle.
- Spin in turn. Spin the dreidel by its stem and follow the letter that faces up when it falls.
- Top up when it's low. Whenever the pot is empty or down to one piece, everyone adds one more.
- Finish on time. A player with nothing left is out. At work, stop after 10 or 15 minutes and the most pieces wins.
In Israel the fourth letter is pe, for po (here): a great miracle happened here. A round takes about 10 minutes with four players, so a table of four per dreidel keeps everyone spinning.
15 Hanukkah trivia questions with answers
Read them aloud to teams of four, or post one a day for the eight nights. Tap to show each answer.
1. How many nights does Hanukkah last?
Show answer
Eight.
2. What does the Hebrew word Hanukkah mean?
Show answer
Dedication. It recalls the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
3. Which group led the revolt in the Hanukkah story?
Show answer
The Maccabees, led by Judah Maccabee, against the Seleucid Greek empire in the 2nd century BCE.
4. Which Temple was rededicated?
Show answer
The Second Temple in Jerusalem.
5. On which date of the Hebrew calendar does Hanukkah begin?
Show answer
The 25th of Kislev. That's why its Gregorian date moves every year.
6. How many branches does a Hanukkah menorah have?
Show answer
Nine: one for each night plus one for the helper candle.
7. What is the helper candle called?
Show answer
The shamash. It's lit first and used to light the others.
8. Counting the helper candle, how many candles do you need for all eight nights?
Show answer
44. 36 for the nights (1 + 2 + ... + 8) and a new helper candle each night.
9. Latkes are pancakes most often made from what?
Show answer
Grated potatoes.
10. What are sufganiyot?
Show answer
Jelly-filled doughnuts, fried in oil and dusted with sugar.
11. Why are so many Hanukkah foods fried in oil?
Show answer
To remember the oil that, the story says, burned for eight days when there was only enough for one.
12. Outside Israel, which four Hebrew letters are on a dreidel?
Show answer
Nun, gimel, hei and shin.
13. What phrase do the dreidel's letters stand for?
Show answer
Nes gadol hayah sham: a great miracle happened there.
14. On dreidels in Israel, which letter replaces shin, and why?
Show answer
Pe, for po, meaning here: a great miracle happened here.
15. What does the Yiddish word gelt mean?
Show answer
Money. Today it usually means the chocolate coins.
Want a longer quiz for the December party? Our holiday trivia questions cover the whole season.
How to include Jewish colleagues without tokenizing
The goal is to make room for Hanukkah, not to make someone the face of it. Seven rules for whoever is planning:
- Ask, don't assume. Some Jewish colleagues would love a latke lunch; others would rather the office did nothing. Ask privately, and follow what they say.
- Don't make one person the spokesperson. Inviting someone to lead is kind. Expecting the only Jewish person on the team to explain, host and cater is not.
- It isn't Jewish Christmas. Hanukkah has its own story and is a minor festival in religious terms. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover matter more to many people.
- Mind the calendar. Skip the first night and Friday evenings, the start of Shabbat, for anything social. A weekday lunch inside the eight days works best.
- Make the food work. Label what's in every dish, offer a kosher option when someone keeps kosher, and leave pork and shellfish off the Hanukkah table.
- Keep the religious parts with those who celebrate. The candle blessings are prayers. Let colleagues who celebrate say them if they want, and everyone else is welcome to watch.
- Remember the rest of the year. Put the High Holidays and Passover on the team calendar too, and keep big meetings off Yom Kippur.
Celebrating more than one tradition this winter? Our inclusive holiday party ideas cover the whole season, and these Lunar New Year activities carry the same care into February.
A winter party everyone can join, run by a host
Hanukkah itself is best kept with the people who celebrate it. For the all-team party around it, a hosted virtual holiday party gives everyone an hour of winter games with no religious theme. It runs on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request), books about 2 weeks ahead, and can run as two sessions for a team split across time zones.
A hosted hour of winter games, or a cozy kit class, with today’s prices.
Winter Fun & Games is a live host leading game shows, trivia and quick challenges with a winter theme. The Hot Chocolate Bomb class ships a kit to every home, so book it at least 3 weeks ahead. Hybrid team? Run an in-person game in the office plus a virtual session for remote staff, or one virtual party for everyone. More cold-weather ideas are in our winter team building guide, or get a free quote with your date and headcount.
