Each girl brings along an adult (Mum, Dad, older sibling) and then the games begin. I like to use a range of games that have the girls and their family member working as a pair, working together in a Patrol and even competing against each other!
Here are two meeting programs I have used on bring-a-family member nights:
Challenge Night Program #1
Animal Toothpicks
Breakfast Scramble
Stretcher race
Spaghet Me Knot
Defying Gravity
Balloon toss
Bucket toss
The War of Tug
Challenge Night Program #2
Hula hoop challenge
Breakfast Scramble
"Egg" and spoon race
Stretcher race
Tallest tower
Newspaper Hockey
Streets and Lanes
I have all the games typed onto index cards and clipped to a lanyard - one for each Leader - so that everybody knows the order of games, the rules, points and the equipment needed. It's much easier to stay on task this way.
And now the games!
Animal Toothpicks
This game is a great icebreaker! The aim of the game is to be the Patrol that finds the most toothpicks.
Before everybody arrives, hide MANY toothpicks all around the Guide hall - remember that adults will be playing, so conceal them at different heights and with varying levels of difficulty.
Once you are ready to play, divide into small Patrols - no more than four people per group. I had two Brownie Guides and two adults per Patrol. Each Patrol must select an animal. The sounds that this animal makes is now the only noise these players may use. eg. If the Patrol chooses a cow, they may only communicate by saying "moooooo".
Elect a 'collector' for each Patrol. Only this person may touch the toothpicks. Everybody else in the Patrol is a hunter.
Once the game begins, only the hunters may search for toothpicks. When they find one they must make the noise of their animal so that the collector can come and pick up the toothpicks.
Continue play until all the toothpicks are collected. This game should run for 5-10 minutes.
Points: 2 for 1st place, 1 for second place.
This is actually a Minute-to-Win-It game and involves preparation before the day. I spent a good month collecting cereal boxes from the Brownies, family and friends. And then I had my family assist with cutting them all up! Any size cereal box will do but it needs to be cut up into 16 equal sized pieces. Cereals with cartoons such as Rice Bubbles are easier to piece together, so you can always use the back of the box as an extra challenge!
This game is played in pairs. The Brownie Guides with their Mum or Dad (or whoever they brought along). They have one minute to piece the puzzle back together. It's harder than you might think!
I had a big stop watch on my iPad for this game.
Points: 2 for completing in one minute or less, 1 for completing the puzzle after the 1 minute
Stretcher Race
My girls are a huge fan of holding stretcher races, so I modified the usual race. Instead of carrying another person they carried a soft toy and instead of a blanket we used tea towels. it was hilarious to see the parents carefully carrying a doll on a mini stretcher. Definitely a hit!No points awarded.
Spaghet Me Knot
I really don't recall if this is an official Minute-to-Win-It game or not... It was an individual challenge to tie a reef knot and/or double overhand in cold cooked pasta.
Preparation: cook pasta prior to meeting, fettuccine works best.
Defying Gravity
This was played in pairs with the girls and their family member.
Bucket Toss
Played in pairs. Team members must stand 2 metres apart. One holds a bucket on their head. The other must try to throw 3 ping-pong balls into the bucket. Unlimited turns for this as it was quite difficult for the girls. The parents quickly learnt to crouch down and move to try to assist with the catching.
Hula Hoop Challenge
This is a group activity and we use it for teamwork nights. Everybody stands in a circle holding hands. A hula hoop must be passed around the entire circle.
"Egg" and spoon race
A relay race using ping-pong balls as the "eggs".
Tallest tower
A Patrol activity with Patrols being a mix of adults and Brownie Guides. Everybody is given the same equipment. Plastic cups, boxes, masking tape, straws etc. Just random supplies collected from around the Guide Hall. Give them a time limit to create the tallest tower.
The War of Tug
Just your regular tug of war game. The Brownies LOVED competing against all the adults! And the adults were incredibly competitive!
Minute-to-Win-It
As you can see from the games listed, my Minute-to-Win-It night very quickly turned into a general games night! However there are so many great MTWI games you can find online. Depending on the access you have to technology, you can even play the instruction videos which were used on the Minute-To-Win-It game show. They are all available to download from Youtube.
Prizes:
I have run this night with and without rewards and either way works fine. In fact, I prefer it to be a night of fun rather than worrying about counting points. But if you are interested in a point system you can score each game and give out a prize to the overall winners at the end of the night or you could have lolly prizes after each game as explained below.
Each participant was given a plastic cup with a white sticker on the front to write their name (as pictured below). At the front of the room I created a lolly buffet, with bowls full of various types of lollies. After each game was played I awarded points, sometimes to those who won overall and sometimes to everybody that completed the activity successfully. As the points were awarded the players had to use them immediately at the lolly buffet by collecting the lollies in the cup with their name. The lollies were to be taken home to eat.
This is the point system I used:
M&Ms: 1 scoop = 1 point
Gummy sour worms: 1 worm = 1 point
Jelly beans: 1 scoop = 1 point
Candy hearts: 1 scoop = 1 point
Chewy candy: 1 lolly = 1 point
Lollipop: 1 lollipop = 2 points
I hope that this gives you some ideas to run your own Minute-to-Win-It games night! They are a lot of work depending which games you choose, but are always a huge hit with my families!
Minute to Win it resources:
- Ideas on Pinterest
- Game instructions
- Instructional videos on Youtube
- Minute-to-win-it party - this blog has many great themed party ideas
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With Mother's Day just around the corner, perhaps this is something you could do with your unit!
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