My sister called the other night to ask if I would set up some sort of game night. Of course, I couldn’t just bring a bunch of board games. No. It had to be a real competition with clear rules and a scoreboard. And a grand prize. We take game night seriously!
I did a quick Pinterest search for family game nights and gathered a bunch of games based on the TV show, Minute to Win It. On the show, contestants have one minute to complete little tasks that seem nearly impossible.
We picked the games that would be the funniest to watch, plus a bunch we had played at a party on New Year’s. (Doesn’t hurt that we had a little practice with those!)
Instead of having to complete the task in a minute, we wanted to add another element of competition by noting who completed the activity in the fastest time. We gave 5 points to the first place time, 3 points to the second place time, 2 to third, and 1 to fourth. If we had a tie, those two faced off to determine the score.
I was the one who suggested leaving the most challenging task for last, allowing people to bet their points. I have to admit, I suggested this to benefit myself because I knew I’d end up low on the scoreboard, and I didn’t want to feel defeated before the games were done. (I’m good at a lot of things…coordination isn’t one of them!)
We had to grab a few supplies. Here’s what we bought or found around the house:
- Plenty of ping pong balls
- Solo cups
- A pair of nylons
- A tennis ball
- An empty tissue box
- A big belt (preferably the kind you can loop through the buckle so it fits all sizes)
- A bucket
- A clipboard
- Four 4×6 index cards
- A package of cookies
- A slice of bread & some peanut butter
- M&Ms
- Straws
- Poster board and markers for the score board
This should help you organize your next game night, and hopefully you perform better than I did in the lineup!
Cookie Face
Place a cookie on your forehead. You have one minute to wiggle that cookie down into your mouth without using your hands. It works best if the player is seated, and if your cookie hits the ground, start again. You might want to have plenty of cookies and a video camera on hand!
Movin’ On Up
Mark one of the Solo Cups as the special cup, or use a different color. I’ve seen a bunch of variations of this one, but we used 25 cups and started with the special cup on top. Moving cups from top to bottom, work that cup all the way back to the top again.
Straw Power
Place 25 M&Ms on a plate. Move the M&Ms one at a time from one plate to the other using only a straw. Prepare to be lightheaded from this one! Or if you’re like me, you won’t even be able to get one M&M to move. Oops! I blame it on the cheap straws we bought with the tiny opening.
Bouncy Ball
Line up 6 solo cups in a single file line in front of you. Stand facing the lineup of cups. Bounce a ping pong ball into one cup at a time, removing the cups as you go. It doesn’t count if you bounce a ping pong ball into the second one unless you’ve made it in the first. My mom dominated this one!
Knock Out
This was my favorite because it was hysterical to watch! Clear an area on the floor and set up 12 cups spread as far out as possible in a large circle. Have each player place the nylon bottoms on their head with a tennis ball in the toe of one of the legs. The object is to knock down all 12 cups one at a time. If they knock down 2 at a time by accident, put them both back up.
On the Rebound
One player holds a clipboard near their waist with a bucket placed at their feet. The other player tries to bounce a ping pong ball off of the clipboard and into the bucket. They must get 5 balls in to win, and it’s not as easy as it looks! (No help from the clipboard holder!)
PB & B
To set this up, place a slice of bread with peanut butter on the floor (or on a lower surface). Bounce a ping pong ball off a higher surface trying to get it to land directly on the peanut butter with one bounce.
Shake It Off (AKA Junk in the Trunk)
This is another event you’ll want the camera out for! Tape the empty tissue box to the back of the belt. Players should place the belt on their waist and load the tissue box with 8 ping pong balls. Players need to shake all 8 ping pong balls out of the tissue box.
At this point, we counted up each player’s points and had them make their bets on slips of paper to prepare for the final challenge!
The Final Challenge- Card Pull
We picked this game as the final challenge because it is so difficult! In one minute, players need to stack 5 cups with index cards in between each and remove the index cards one at a time from top to bottom, without letting the cups fall. If you do it right, the cups will land one inside the other. If you mess it up, hopefully you didn’t bet all those points!
