Games with Supplies
Sink it!
Supplies: A roll of pennies, tin foil, a plastic tub (about 1.5-2’ wide), water
Each player gets two 1’ pieces of tin foil to make a boat. The boat cannot be partially or fully enclosed. Place one boat in the tub of water. Players take turns, throwing two pennies each turn, trying to sink the boat. The boat that takes the most pennies to sink wins! You can make a rule that pennies must be tossed, not thrown.
Balloon Rockets
Supplies: one balloon per player, one straight straw per player, tape, 1-2 long strings (yarn)
Have each player create a rocket by inflating a balloon (but don’t tie it!) and taping the straw onto the side of the balloon. Tape the two strings up across the room, leaving one end accessible to put on and remove balloons. Have two players race or see whose rocket goes the furthest by threading the string through the straw, then when told, releasing them letting the air propel the balloon down the string.
Paper Airplane Mayhem
Supplies: paper for an airplane for each player (no tape!), one large tarp with about 12 holes the size of a cereal bowl cut into it (write a value next to each hole for a number of points)
Players each make a paper airplane and take turns trying to get their airplane through the holes in the tarp. When the plane goes through, the player gets the corresponding amount of points. You can hold the tarp or tape it in a large entryway or from the ceiling.
Team Yogurt
Supplies: One container yogurt for each pair, one spoon per pair, one ruler per pair, one blindfold per pair
Tape a spoon on the end of a ruler for each pair. Team members sit across the table from each other. One player is blindfolded. The blindfolded player feeds the yogurt to the other player, who holds the yogurt container and can tilt it, although it must sty on the table. First team to finish the yogurt wins.
Ping Pong Clipboard
Supplies: One clipboard per pair with a 4-5’ string attached to the top, 25 ping pong balls per pair, one small bucket per pair
Each pair has a minute to try to get as many ping pong balls as they can into the bucket. However, players must bounce the balls off the clipboard, hanging around the other player’s neck (standing above the bucket). Players cannot touch the clipboards.
Shaving Cream & Cheese Puffs
Supplies: shaving cream, one bag of cheese puffballs
Players get into pairs. One person in the pair must put shaving cream on the other’s face. Make two marks on the floor 6-8 feet apart. The players stand behind the marks and cannot cross over. The person with not shaving cream is allowed 6 cheese balls. They must throw them at the person with the shaving cream on their face and see how many they can get to stick to the shaving cream. The team with the most stuck to the shaving cream wins.
Pencil Elevator
Supplies: two pencils taped together (per player), long strings attached to the end of the pencils, M&M’s
Each player places the pencils hanging in front of their chest by draping the strings up and over their ears. Players must balance three M&M’s on the pencils while they raise the pencils to their mouth and try to eat them. No touching the pencils or anything but the end of the strings, and they can’t fall or you must start over!
Bad Manners Dinner
Supplies: food and plates/bowls (no utensils!)
The idea is to eat an entire meal with no utensils, not even serving utensils. Good foods for this are mashed potatoes, peas, pasta, etc. Things that are possible to eat with your hand but end up being pretty messy are fun!
Jenga Questions
Supplies: Jenga blocks or stackable wooden blocks like them
Before playing, write an opinion or get to know you question on each Jenga block. Or you can put a sticker on each block that indicates a corresponding question on a list. Create the Jenga tower and play the game normally, but when players pull out a block, have players answer the corresponding question for that block.
Cat & Mouse
Supplies: twine, small wooden bead or balls (about ½-1”), metal pot lid (not glass)
Make a mouse for each player by tying 1.5-2 feet of twine onto the wooden bead. Place all wooden beads in the middle of the circle and players hold on to the end of their string. One player holds a pan lid at least 1.5 feet above the beads. The player holding the lid must suddenly put the lid on the ground and trap the beads, or mice, but the players try to pull their string to get their mouse out before being trapped. The player holding the lid can twitch and make players think they are dropping the lid, but if a player pulls their bead out and it was a fake, they are out for the round. Once caught, the player is out. Last player in that doesn’t get caught by the lid wins.
Floating Penny
Supplies: medium sized cup, napkin, rubber band, penny, one toothpick for each player
Fill the cup almost to the top with water. Place the napkin (unfolded to one layer) over the cup and secure with the rubber band. Place the penny in the middle. You don’t want the water to touch the napkin, but to be close under it. Players take turns stabbing the napkin with the toothpick and trying to keep the penny from falling in the water on your turn.
Memory Tray
Supplies: large tray, objects for the tray, papers/pencils
Pick a subject like foods you would eat or crave. Lay them all in a tray for viewers to see and have participants pass tray around. Remove tray from sight and have participant’s list what was on tray. The person that lists the most objects is the winner. You can give extra points or break ties by asking specific questions like what flavor sucker and so on.
Penny Hose
Supplies: 1-2 pair pantyhose, 4 pennies or nickels
Two pennies are placed in the ends of the legs of a pair of pantyhose. Using only their hands, players must inch their way down the legs to retrieve the pennies and pull them out. Each arm must work independently and the player cannot use one hand to stretch or hold the hose for the other. The first one to retrieve the pennies wins, or you can time people for the fastest time!
Paper Dragon
Supplies: Two rolls of crepe paper per player
Each player holds one roll in each hand. When the game begins, player must unroll the entire rolls of crepe paper without using any other body part or item to assist. Person with the best time wins.
Elephant March
Supplies: 6-8 water bottles (unopened), one pair pantyhose, one baseball or large orange
6-8 unopened water bottles are placed in two parallel rows on the ground, precisely eight feet apart. The contestant must wear a standard pair of pantyhose over the head, with a baseball (or orange) placed inside the end of one leg. Keeping one foot on each side of the centerline, the player must swing back and forth using the momentum of the baseball to knock down all the bottles.
Blown Over
Supplies: 7 Plastic picnic cups, one balloon (not inflated) per player
Line the cups up on a counter top (cut right side up for the first round and upside down for a harder challenge). One at a time, players must inflate their balloon over and over and let the air escape from it to try and knock over the cups. The person who does it the fastest, or the person who knocks over the most in a minute wins.
Mystery Dinner
Supplies: Food, utensils, servings dishes
Create a menu with 3-5 courses (single items, see below). Also create a list of the same number of each: servings dishes, utensils, and beverages (if you pick four courses, pick at least four servings dishes, four utensils, etc.). Assign random words to each of the things on your list, such as “tree” or “waterfall” or something unrelated like that. The menu should have the courses listed, each with four separate sections (one line for food, one line for utensil, one for serving dish, one for beverage).
Example of one course:
Course 1: tree, waterfall, blanket, heart
Ring, pillow, napkin, globe
Orchid, purse, racecar, chair
Picture, notebook, lamp, curtain
Give each guest a menu. Direct them to circle one thing on each line of each course. Then serve them the food they ordered, but on the serving dish they indicated, with the utensil they circled, with the beverage they ordered. With the code words assigned beforehand, this means someone may order mashed potatoes, served in a cup, eaten with a toothpick, and a drink of milk (use small glasses since they’ll have multiple beverages!).
Some ideas for courses:
-Mashed potatoes, Jello, salad, dessert, spaghetti, macaroni, other pastas, cooked veggies, such as peas, carrots, etc., stir-fry, (foods that you can eat with your hand if necessary, but pretty messy are good!)
Ideas for utensils:
-Toothpick, baby spoon, knife, spatula, tongs, etc.
Some ideas for servings dishes:
-Plate, napkin, 9x13 or baking sheet, mixing bowl, baby food jar, etc.
Some ideas for beverages:
-Water, milk, juices, carbonated beverages, v8, etc.
-You can also assign different vessels for different beverages, for example, if they pick soda it might be served in a baby food jar, or water served in a bowl, or milk served in a baby bottle, etc.
String Spider Web
Supplies: long rope (the longer, the more intricate the web is), poles or something similar to a soccer goal
Set Up: Secure poles (two vertical one horizontal) similar to a soccer goal. Wind the rope around poles and itself to create a spider web-like pattern. The holes should be from 1 ft. squared to 2 ½ ft. squared.
Have the group stand on one side of the “web”. They must work together to get everybody over to the other side through the net but they cannot touch the net or poles at all. Touching any part requires starting over.
Ice Cream Sculptures
Supplies: one rectangular carton of ice cream per team, spoons and a knife per team
Each team is given a time limit, maybe 10 minutes (too long and the ice cream melts!), to create a sculpture with their brick of ice cream. Make sure beforehand that the ice cream is frozen hard. You can also have sprinkles or other things to add to their sculptures. Do this outside or on tarps/plastic!
Blind Minefield
Supplies: small toys or items similar to the McDonald’s ball pit balls (about 50-150, depending on size of room), 4 blindfolds
Set Up: Place the items on the floor spaced out throughout the room. Leave two ends of the room free of items (possibly place a rope marking the edge of the “minefield” and the unobstructed ends.) Two of the blindfolds (one of each color) are placed in the middle or in a random spot in the middle of the minefield.
Divide players into two teams. One player is chosen from each team to be blindfolded. Only the blindfolded player is allowed to cross into the minefield. The team must direct each step of the blindfolded player to reach the blindfold in the middle of the minefield. If the blindfolded player touches any of the items in the minefield they must return to the side and begin again. Once a team has the blindfold they must get their teammate back out of the minefield without touching any objects. If they do touch, the blindfold is returned and they begin again. The first team to retrieve the blindfold wins.
Go Gum
Supplies: 1-2 packs of gum, at least two sets of garden gloves
Set up teams of five. Each team will receive one pair of new garden gloves and one pack of gum (5 pieces per pack). On go, the first person in each team is to put on the garden gloves, open the package of gum, pull out a piece, unwrap it, chew it, and then pass the gloves to the next person. The first team to complete the task wins. You can choose to have two packs of gum per team so that they would have to go around twice.
Video/Photo Scavenger Hunt
Supplies: cameras (video) for each team, a list of items
Each team gets a camera and a list of items or activities, each with point values. These activities may include acts of service, ordering one fry at a fast food restaurant-3 pts., or similar tasks. The teams then have an hour to go do as many things on the list as they can, but in get credit the tasks must me filmed or photographed. The team that returns on time (each minute late is a 2 point deduction) with the most points for activities documented wins.
Candy bar doubles
Supplies: large chocolate bar (such as Symphony or Hershey), oven mitts or bulky winter gloves, two knives (not sharp), two dice
Players in a circle take turns rolling the dice. When someone gets doubles, they put on the gloves and try to cut the candy bar (start with wrapper on) until the next person gets doubles and they have to hand over the supplies. They can eat whatever pieces they get off of the bar. You have to cut off one section at a time and can’t use your teeth or anything besides the knives.
VARIATION: Use a bowl of M&M’s and people must try to lift M&M’s out of a mixing bowl with the knives while wearing the gloves/oven mitts.
VARIATION: Use a Candy Ball (wrap a jingle bell in bubble wrap, then attach mini candies to the ball using industrial plastic wrap wrapped around and around to form a ball about 1’ in diameter) and players must unwrap the ball with gloves on to get the candy
Ante Up
Size of Group: 3-15
Supplies: a jar of pennies (about 25 per person and 100 more for the "pot"), questions written on index cards beforehand
Players sit around a table. Each has 25 pennies placed in front of him/her. The "pot" of pennies is placed in the middle. Each player takes turns reading a card and following the directions on it. Each card tells the reader to either give or take a penny. The player with the most pennies at the end "wins", but this is also just a fun socializing game and is good for icebreakers too.
Some sample cards would be:
If you have ever been to Hawaii take a penny from the pot, If you are wearing eyeglasses give a penny to the person on your right, If you like ice cream, give a penny to each person sitting at the table, If you know how to text T9 take a penny from the person across form you at the table, If your favorite color is blue, give a penny to the pot, You can say hello in another language, do so, then take a penny from the pot, Shake hands with the person on your right and give him a penny, If you have ever been on a boat take a penny from the pot, Whistle Mary Had a Little Lamb then give a penny to a person wearing red, etc. Etc. Etc.
Candy bar Game
Supplies: 15 or so candy bars, depending on group size.
Have a list of questions ready to read to the group (see below). When someone has done the thing you read, they can take a candy bar. They can take one from the middle or from someone else, but candy bars can only change hands three times, and can’t change hands two questions in a row. Have more questions than candy bars so people can steal even once the bars are gone from the middle.
Example questions:
-Have gone SCUBA diving, wear contacts, have a hole in your sock, have had an ear infection, never got chicken pox, allergic to a food, been out of the country, eaten baby corn, etc.
