Challenge games

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THIS CUP BLOWS

You will need: one balloon per player (plus a few spares); 15 plastic cups (500ml); a long table; a stopwatch

Place the 15 plastic cups in a row, upside down, along the table. You want them a few inches away from the edge with the playing area on the opposite side of the table. Place the balloon at the starting end and get the stopwatch ready to go.

The player stands facing the table near the balloon. When the timer begins they grab the balloon and blow it up. Then they turn the open end of the balloon towards the cups and expel the air so that it blows the cups straight off the edge of the table. When the balloon is empty they have to blow it up again and continue, until all 15 plastic cups are on the floor. The aim is to knock all the cups off the table in a minute or less.

Even a game as seemingly easy as this one has some rules to follow. Players may not touch the cups with their hands or any other part of their body. If they do so the game is over. The cups must all be completely off the table when the time is up in order to be successful.

The best tip is to inflate the balloon as much as possible on the first attempt because the balloon will still be ‘tight’ and will push the air out more efficiently. As it is inflated over and over it will stretch out and players will have to rely on squeezing the air out with their hands.

BABY RATTLE

You will need: four empty two-litre plastic bottles; strong tape; gumballs (or similar sweets); table; a stopwatch

Fill two of the bottles halfway up with gumballs. Place an empty bottle on top of each half-filled one and tape them together securely at the necks. Place the bottle stacks on the table.

The goal of the game is to move the sweets from one bottle to the other without getting them jammed into the necks of the bottles. Ask for two players to take part, then whip up the crowd to support the competitors.

Give the first player the two bottles stacks, one set in each hand. They should hold them where they are taped together. When you start the stopwatch, the player should flip each set over and begin shaking or swirling them to transfer the gumballs from one bottle to the other. They have to get all the gumballs into the empty bottle, place the bottle stacks on the table, and remove their hands from the bottles in under 60 seconds to win the game.

The player must start the game with their arms and hands at their sides. They can only touch the bottles once the timer begins. They cannot take the bottle stacks apart or bang them on any surface, including their own bodies, in order to move the gumballs. The gumballs must be completely transferred.

This game sounds pretty easy, but there are a couple of things you can do to make it run more smoothly. First, they can grab the bottles with their hands twisted, so that when they flip them over their grip will be more comfortable. Secondly, if they run into a bottleneck situation where the gumballs get stuck, they can shake the bottles vigorously and then swirl them to get a whirlpool effect going.  

HOLY TRINITY BROMPTON’S YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S TEAMS.