Big Ball of Fun

I saw this idea for a game kicking around on the internet this year that I wanted to give a try. Wrapping a bunch of "prizes"  up in plastic wrap and making it a contest to see who could unwrap the most things. It seemed like a good idea so I set about making it a reality for our Christmas Eve gathering. It was  HUGE success and unanimously voted to be a yearly tradition from here on out.

The first thing I did was hit the dollar stores, bargain bins and gadget aisles of my favorite stores (I can be a real thrifty shopper when I have the time and mindset). I wanted mostly inexpensive, fun items in our ball o' plastic. However, in the center were a few more desirable gems: some small games and movie tickets.

The bulk of the booty was Christmas Candy, Gum and simple items like pens and pencils. I also went back out to pad the pool with some microwave popcorn and more Christmas Candy...... I don't think there is such as thing as too much Christmas Candy - Santa would have wanted it that way!

As you wrap your treasures, make sure that the most valuable items are in the center, and they get smaller and less expensive as you get to the outer layers, where you start your unwrapping. That way, the longer the game goes on the more desirable the prizes are.

Here are the rules to this fabulous game. I don't know who the ingenious person was who came up with the idea in the first place, but my hats off to them!! I did end up throwing a few ideas of my own into the game to make it more fun and challenging, but I suppose that's the nature of all great things - a culmination of many ideas colliding into a final project (or game).

  

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• 3-4 Rolls of plastic wrap - depending on how many prizes you have and how big they are.
• Enough prizes that everyone in your group gets to have a turn at least 5 or 6 times. I bought a few bags of candy and opened them up to make individual prizes: that also works with pens, pencils and anything else that comes in a package.... It makes things go longer and it shares the items among several people.
• Make sure to have some more desirable items in your ball. I had some movie tickets, larger candy bars, and a couple small games towards the center of my ball - the beauty of doing this with plastic wrap is you can see what's coming up and people get very competitive when something bigger is coming up.

HOW TO PLAY

• First, start by wrapping up all of your treasures in your plastic wrap. Put the most desirable things in the center and work out to the smaller stuff. We had a lot of candy and microwave popcorn in our outer layers to start off.... Keep one of the rolls that the plastic wrap came on, as you will need it for game play.
• One person gets to start with the ball while the person on their left gets two dice. The person with the ball starts to unravel the plastic and re-rolling it back onto the tube it originally came on. (even though I used 4 rolls of plastic wrap, we only re-rolled one of the tubes.) Simultaneously, the person with the dice rolls until they can get doubles.
• As soon as the person on the left rolls doubles they get to start unrolling the ball while the dice are passed to their left. And play continues.
• Anything that you are able to free from the plastic as you are unraveling becomes yours, and you get to keep those items.

There was a little bit of trading and swapping going on after the game, but mostly people had a great time and were all very happy with the treasures they came away with. Everyone talked about how fun this game was for days. It will definitely be part of the Cheney Family festivities from here on out!