THIS WEEK I am running two GAME NIGHT events for two different NYC firms. ONE we are hosting at our Times Square theater with Happy Hour menu (Includes drink with a mini buffet of sliders, wings, chips and dips – hummus, guacamole, salsa etc). Here are some of the planned events – most inspired by TV’s Minute to Win It and other Game Shows….

PICTIONARY:

For each round, teams send a one player to draw clues as the rest of the team tries to guess. Requires a large drawing pad and easel or wall mount.

FAMILY FEUD:

Teams face off to see how well they know trivia and common knowledge

COOKIE FACE:

This is a great game to kick off the party because all of the players can compete at the same time (or you can break it down into several rounds of game play). Each player places a cookie on their forehead, and the goal is to get the cookie into your mouth using only your facial muscles in under 1 minute. No hands! This is tougher than it looks!

THIS BLOWS:

Using a balloon full of air, contestant tries to knock off all of the cups on a table, only using the force of the balloons air.

STACK ATTACK:

Players have to stack up a pile of cups and then place them back into a single stack in under a minute. The original Minute to Win It version of this game calls for 36 cups to be stacked, but we reduced the number of cups for the children. Each child stacked 21 cups, and we discovered that this was the perfect number that resulted in exactly half of the kids being successful. Challenging, but not too challenging! Two players competing in each round works well so that any falling cups won’t knock over your competitor’s stack, too!

SUCK IT UP:

Players place a straw in their mouth and use suction to transfer a pile of 25 M&M’s from one plate to another in under one minute. Only one hand may be used to hold the straw. Everyone gets to eat their candy when the round is finished!  This game also works well with 3 players competing in each round.

RAPID FIRE:

Using a rubber band, contestant

SCOOP IT UP:

Using nothing but a spoon in your mouth, transfer six ping pong balls from one bowl to another) in less than one minute. No hands! Hands are only allowed if you drop the ping pong ball, and then they can be used to place the ball back into the original bowl for another transfer attempt. 2-3 players compete for each round of play.

SPUDNICK:

Contestant inserts 5 straws into a potato, then balance a chocolate covered  peanut candy on top of each straw.

MOVIN’ ON UP: 

Each player starts with a stack of 25 red cups with one blue cup at the top of the stack. Start by moving the top blue cup to the bottom of the stack, and continue moving cups from the top to the bottom until the blue cup is back at the bottom of the stack again. Again, we modified this from the original adult version of the game that calls for 40 cups, and found that 26 cups was a great amount for the kids to work with. 2-3 children per round of competition works well.

NUTSTACKER:

Thread five hex nuts onto a wooden skewer. Using only one hand on the skewer, stack up all of the nuts in under one minute. Since this game requires the table to stay as still as possible, only two players compete per round.

JUNK IN THE TRUNK:

This game was another crowd favorite! To prepare for this game, empty a tissue box, and use an Xacto knife to make two slits into the bottom of the box. Thread an adjustable belt or wide ribbon through the two slits to create a tissue-box-on-a-belt. Removing the thin plastic barrier from the tissue box opening will make game play easier (for younger children) or keep it intact for more challenging play.

To play the game, strap the tissue box onto the player’s back, and fill it with 6-8 ping pong balls (we used 6, but 8 would be appropriate for older children and adults). Shake, shimmy, jump, and dance around until all of the balls have fallen out of the tissue box. No using your hands and no laying down! This game is hysterical to watch in action!

DEFY GRAVITY:

Using only one hand, players must keep two balloons from touching the ground for one minute. For a more challenging game, increase the amount to three balloons per player (and use different colored balloons for each player to make it easy to differentiate!). No holding the balloons!  2 players per round of competition worked well to give the players ample space to knock their balloons around.

MAD DOG:

Attach two TIC TAC boxes to either side