Thursday Theme: A Halloween Party

Halloween parties are fun for kids of all ages and can be done at any time of the year. When my son was 11 we had a "Half-way to Halloween" party in April complete with costumes, a spook alley and trick-or-treating! My daughter also had a Halloween party for her birthday one year in September. If you are having a Halloween party at a time other than the fall you may have to adjust some activities. For example, at my son's party we carved oranges since pumpkins were nowhere to be found.

You can make a spook alley in your home using refrigerator boxes, Halloween decorations and spooky music. Appliance stores are usually nice to give refrigerator boxes for free. It may take several trips to the store or you may have to visit several different appliance stores to get enough boxes so it is good to plan ahead. Arrange the boxes in a sort of maze and hang bats, spiders, lights, skeletons, ghosts (can be simply tissues on strings), spooky decorations that are activated by motion sensors, or anything that will be silly or scary. Play spooky music as guests crawl or walk through the maze.

You can go trick-or-treating, at any time of the year and at any time of the day. Make sure to have your guests dress up for the party and take treats to your neighbors before the party. Kids of all ages love to trick-or-treat and will be shocked that the neighbors actually give them something when it isn't Halloween. Since you are providing the treats, neighbors are usually totally cooperative and entertained.

Other fun activities and games for a Halloween party include:

Swinging Apples
A drier variant on apple bobbing! Tie string around each apple stem and hang the apples from a doorway. The children can then take turns biting into the swinging fruit while keeping their hands behind their backs!

Doughnut Eating Race
Eating donuts has never been so fun! Hang several donuts with string from a tree branch or a sturdy rod. Blindfold the contestants and, on the count of three, have each player try to eat their doughnut — the first one to finish wins!

Mummy Wrap
This game will leave you all wrapped up! Divide your party-goers into teams of two, and give each a roll of toilet paper, white crepe paper, or fabric. At the sound of the music, one team member must wrap the other from head to toe (leaving the head free and not binding the arms to the body.) Once completely wrapped, the "mummy" must run to cross the finish line before the others.

Eerie Piñata
This is a great pre-party craft that doubles as a game. Have your kids help you with this easy-to-make piñata, fill it with candy and small toys, and decorate it as a spooky ghost or jack-o'-lantern. At the party, have everyone take a swing until it breaks, and then go to town collecting the loot.

Mr. Skeleton Relay Race
This game takes a bit of prep work before your party begins. Buy (or draw) a simple skeleton on sturdy poster board or cardboard, and cut out each of the bones separately. Make enough so each relay team has a full set of skeleton parts.

Divide your players into teams. Place each set of bones at the opposite end of the room or yard. Have the first member from each team line up, and, at the whistle, race across to grab a piece of skeleton, race back, and tag the next team member. The first team to get every piece and assemble their skeleton together correctly wins!

What's in the Bowl?
Spaghetti brains! Grape eye balls! Jell-O guts! This classic guessing game will leave everyone screaming (from fun, of course)! Fill separate bowls with prepared Jell-O or pudding, peeled grapes, cold spaghetti, and anything else you can think of that feels slimy and gross. Cover each bowl with black and orange felt so nobody can peek inside, and have everyone try to guess what it is they're touching.

Pin the Wart on the Witch
Ever seen a witch without a wart? The trick is putting it in just the right spot. This is a fun twist on a party game classic.

Find the Pumpkin
Challenge the party-goers to find the hidden pumpkins. The grand prize? Candy, of course!
Supplies:
·  Ten pieces of white paper
·  Five pieces of yellow paper
·  Five pieces of orange paper
·  A crayon
·  Scissors

How to play:
Draw ten white pumpkins, five yellow pumpkins, and five orange pumpkins. Cut out all the pumpkins. Decorate each pumpkin with a funny face. Write the number 1 on the backs of the white pumpkins. Write the number 5 on the backs of the yellow pumpkins. Write the number 10 on the backs of the orange pumpkins. Hide all of the pumpkins. Tell the kids to find as many pumpkins as they can before you say "Stop!" Players will add up the numbers on the pumpkins each of them found. The player with the most points wins!

Walk on the Witches Hat
Kids will go batty for this hair-raising version of musical chairs.
Supplies:
·  Big brown paper bag, or big picture of a witch's hat
·  Pencil
·  Scissors
·  Tape
·  CD player, tape player, or radio

How to play:
If you have a large picture of a witch's hat, tape it right on the floor before you play the game. If you don't already have a picture, you can make one easily. Cut the bag so that you can open it out flat. Draw a big witch's hat and cut it out. The players will line up and shut their eyes. A leader is at the front to see that no one peeks. (Whoever peeks is out of the game.) The leader will control when the music stops and starts. When the music starts, the players begin walking in a circle (as in musical chairs) around the hat. When the music stops, the person who is standing on the hat is out of the game. The last player to circle the hat wins!

Pumpkin and Ghost Bowling
It's like bowling, only better! Simply paste some black circles on toilet paper rolls to look like ghost faces and then stack them like a pyramid with 4 on the bottom, 3 on top, 2 on top of that and then 1 on the very top. Use small, round pumpkins as the "balls" and you've got a great seasonal game to play at your next Halloween party.

Tricks and Treats
Shhh! To win this game, kids try not to say the magic words.
How to play:
Give each of the players a bag filled with ten pieces of wrapped candy. Have the players write their names on their bags so that the bags don't get mixed up. Decide on a time limit. If you are giving a party, you could keep the game going the entire time, even while you are doing other activities. The object of the game is to catch people saying any of the following words:
· HALLOWEEN
· CANDY
· WITCH
· PARTY
· GHOST
· PUMPKIN
It might be helpful to write the words in large letters on a piece of paper and tape the paper up where everyone can see it. If you catch someone saying one of the words on the list, that person has to give you a piece of candy from his bag. The person who has the most candy at the end of the game wins a prize. The best part is, everyone gets to keep any candy they have left in their bag.

Scarecrow Building
A scarecrow contest is a great way to bring out everyone's creative side! Provide all the supplies you need to build a scarecrow (hay, old flannel shirts, burlap bags, etc.), pair off into teams, and have everyone get to work building the most creative scarecrow they can in the time allowed.

Nosey
Halloween games of disguise survive in many old sources, and they don't necessarily involve elaborate costumes. In "Nosey," the party guests are divided into two groups and sent into adjoining rooms. A curtain or heavy sheet with a small slit in it is hung in the doorway. One of the players sticks his or her nose through the slit, making sure nothing else shows. Then the game leader chants, "The witches have stolen somebody's nose. Who does it belong to, do you suppose?" and everyone on the opposing team attempts to guess the owner of the nose. If correct, the guessing team scores a point and the opposing team must present another nose for their regard. If the guess is wrong, then the guessing team must now start offering up noses -- which, it should be noted, can be very hard to recognize without any accompanying features!

The Black Cat and Her Kittens
A good game for younger children is "The Black Cat and Her Kittens." One child is chosen as the black cat and is escorted from the room. The rest of the children then take their places around the table, laying their heads on their arms so that they cannot see anything. The game leader then touches several children on their heads, tapping them as the black cat's kittens. When the black cat is brought back into the room, the kittens meow for their mother, and the mother attempts to locate them by their meows. The first kitten to be found takes the mother cat's place for the next round, but the rest must keep up their meowing until every last kitten is found.

Guess the Ghost
You will need a blindfold. Sit the kids in a big circle. Put some music on and take it in turns for one child to be blindfolded and walk around the circle, touching the other children's heads. When the music stops, the child that the person who is 'it' has their hands on must let out a ghostly wail. The person who is 'it' must try and guess who it is. If they guess correctly they swap around. If they do not guess correctly they go around the circle again.

What's the time, Mrs Witch?
You will need: a witch's hat and broom and a spacious room
This is a simple variation on the 'What's the time, Mr Fox' game. Elect one player to be Mrs Witch. They can put on the witch's hat and hold the broom. Each of the other players stands at one end of the room with the witch at the other, with her back to the other players. The players ask: 'What's the time, Mrs Witch?' and the Witch shouts out a time, eg. 7 o'clock. The other players take the corresponding number of steps in the direction of the witch. When the players get close to the witch the witch can then should out 'midnight' and chase the other players. Whoever the witch catches is out of the game.

Witches Cauldron
You will need:
a large cooking pot
a damp sponge
a shelled hard-boiled egg
a large piece of orange peel
selection of rubber toys from the toyshop (frog, snake, etc)
blindfold
Fill your cooking pot with items such as the above (and any other suitable things you can think of - you'll need enough bits and bobs to allow each child a turn). Each child has a turn at being blindfolded and plunging their hand into the cauldron to find the imaginary item you name. For example, ask them to look for: 'A hairy giant's tongue' (the damp sponge), 'a dragon's eye' (the egg), a goblin's skin (the orange peel), 'a frog/snake' (rubber toys), etc.

Brain Digging
You will need:
a big bowl of cooked spaghetti
some ping-pong balls or similar
some small bags of sweets
Get the kids to dig in among some bits of 'brain' to find a trick or treat! Cook up a big pan of spaghetti, leave to cool for a moment and then turn into a big bowl. In the pasta hide some ping-pong balls or similar. Three balls have 'treat' written on them with permanent marker, and three have 'trick' written on them. Each child gets a turn to dig inside the 'brains' and pull out a ball. If they choose a trick ball they have to do a forfeit (something silly, like run around the garden twice, or do a silly impression), but if they pick a treat they get a small prize, such as a small bag of sweets.

Web Weaving Game
You will need a small ball of string (approx. 30 to 40 feet) for each child in this game. Pair the players into teams of 2 and place them into a circle (3 to 4 teams work best). Team members should be opposite of each other. Give each child a ball of string and have them tie the loose-end around their waist. When you say go, have each child throw the ball of string to their teammate. The teammate wraps the string once around themselves, and then throws the string back. The first team to use their two balls of string wins. This is lots of fun and the kids will go wild. Make sure to take pictures before they start removing the web-it's fun to see everyone all tied up. To add a spooky element, after the last ball of string is tossed, turn out the lights for a minute or two. The kids get creeped out that they are tied up in the dark. Part of the fun too is watching to see how the kids will get out of the web.

Boo, Boo, Ghost
A Halloween version of duck, duck, goose. Fun for smaller kids.

Pass the Orange
Everyone gets in a large circle. The first person is given an orange to place under his chin. He must pass the orange to the next in line but neither may use their hands. If the orange drops, those two people are out of the circle. This continues until there are only two people left. When the orange drops the next time, a vote is taken as to who dropped it. The winner gets the prize.

Push the Peanut
Give each player a toothpick and a peanut which is still in the shell. Placing the toothpick in their mouth, they have to use the toothpick to push and roll the peanut from the starting line to the finish line. This game can be turned into a rely, but do not make the distance between start and finish too long - it is a slow race.

Candy Corn Catch
Divide guests into groups of 3 teams, 4-5 per team or if couples into pairs. Team members will toss candy corns into the pumpkin that will be tied around a team member’s waist. To make things fair give each team member the same amount of candy corn, so if some people choose to eat it rather throw it, they will have a choice. Suggest 10 per person. Now select a team member to wear the pumpkin (these should be the ones for trick or treating so there is a hole on top) and tie the plastic pumpkin around one team member's waist. Now establish a throw line for those with the candy and place the pumpkin wearing teammate 5, 7 or 10 feet away. Once everyone is set let the tossing begin. The kids and adults can throw candy corn all at one time or one at a time. You person wearing the pumpkin can move around to try to catch the candy corn as it is thrown. Once everyone has thrown the candy corn, take the pumpkin and count how many went in and also have the kids pick up any that is on the floor. Switch team members and go again. Add up how many go in each round and then total the amounts after everyone has had a turn. Winning team is the one to get the most candy corn in the pumpkin.

Halloween Corners
This random Halloween game is always a lot of fun for kids and it is totally random who the winner is. Stick up large Halloween themed pictures (ie witch, bat, ghost and black cat) in the four corners of a room. Play some music and when it stops, each child runs to a corner (if you have small numbers you can limit the number of children in each). The music operator without looking then calls out one corner or pulls a piece of paper from a hat and the image on the paper identifies which the corner is out of the game. Continue to play until there is one person left and they win a prize.

Pumpkin Smash
Blow up orange / Halloween balloons (We recommend you get good balloons). Tie off and then tie a foot long piece (can be longer) of ribbon around the end of the balloon. Take a Sharpie marker and carefully draw a Pumpkin Face on the balloon. Now have everyone tie their balloon, using the ribbon, around their ankle. Once everyone has tied their balloon around their ankle, share the rules. When the Party Host says Go! Everyone tries to run around and step on each others pumpkins (balloons). If your Pumpkin gets popped, then you are out of the game and can no longer Smash any pumpkins. Play Pumpkin Smash until there is only one person left with a balloon.

Vampire or Not!
For each child take a party cup (cup cannot be see through) and add one set of wax lips and one set of fangs. Create a set of Lips & Fang Cards – We suggest you create 2 or 3 more cards than expected guests just in case you get some extra people at your event. The quickest way to create the cards is to take a photo of the lips and fangs and then copy the images and print it out on a sheet of paper. Now cut out the images and attach to cardstock. If you have less than ten players have 3 Fang Cards and all the Rest Lip cards. If 11 – 15 players for your Halloween game, we suggest 4 Fang cards and all the rest Lip cards. If more than 15 player, divide the group up into 2 groups. (Make 2 sets of cards)

How to Play: Vampire or Not!
Gather the kids and have them sit in a circle where they face inward and can see everyone. Now hand out the cups with a set of lips and vampire teeth / fangs and tell them you are going to play a game. Have one child, the Vampire Hunter, leave the room and give each of the remaining children a card that has a picture on it of a pair of Lips or Vampire fangs. If you get the Lips you put your Lips in and if you get Vampire fangs you put those in your mouth. Once everyone has selected their Lips or Fangs they put in their lips or fangs and the Vampire Hunter returns and takes a seat and has 30 seconds to determine which three or four children they think are Vampires. (The ones with the Vampire teeth) During the time that the Vampire Hunter tries to determine who is a Vampire, the other players try to conceal their teeth from view by keeping their lips closed, so they don’t give away whether they are Vampires or Not. After 30 seconds the child names the 3 or 4 players that they believe are Vampires and one by one they smile to identify whether they are a Vampire or Not! If they child correctly guess all the Vampires then they receive a candy bar or small prize. – In large groups where you have 4 Vampires you might want to give a prize to those who get 3 or 4 correct. If the child only gets 2 Vampires then their turn is over, the other Vampires reveal themselves and the Lip and Fang Cards are collected. Then the next child, Vampire Hunter, leaves the room and the process is repeated until each child has had a turn guessing whether other guests are Vampires or Not! Play one or two rounds

Vampire or Not! Game Variation
A Fun Spin on this game is to have the child, Vampire Hunter, who is guessing whether the other guests are Vampires or Not 15 – 20 seconds to do something silly without touching any other players so they can get other kids to smile or laugh. This way they will have a better chance to get the other kids to smile or laugh, plus it makes the game more entertaining too. Once the Vampire Hunter has completed their silly act then they must guess the Vampires. (Same rules as above apply)

Thursday Theme: Slumberless Party

Kids like slumber parties but they don’t really sleep and parents and kids can both end up cranky or sad. A slumberless party is a great alternative because it combines the fun of a slumber party without the headaches that can come with sleeping over. A slumberless party can start just before dinner and go as late as the host can stand, I suggest ending the party around 9:30 or 10:00pm at night. 

Decorate a plain pillow case with fabric markers for a fun activity at a slumberless party. The pillow case can double as a goodie bag at the end and are a fun memento of the great party. 

Another fun slumberless party activity is Bedtime BINGO. BINGO can be played for as long or as short as you want and is fun for both large and small groups.  

Pass the Parcel is another fun game to play at a slumberless party. Make or purchase stuffed animals (they can be inexpensive at a dollar store or on clearance after holidays like Christmas, Valentines or Easter) and wrap them up in different layers or in a box with several layers of paper around it. Play music and have the guests sit in a circle and pass the parcel around the circle. Stop the music and when the music stops the guest holding the parcel gets to open a layer of paper. Play the music again and have the guests continue to pass the parcel.  Other sleep related things that can be wrapped up for Pass the Parcel include small pillows, sleep masks (the masks for your eyes when you sleep), pajamas or night shirts.

Have the guests arrive in their pajamas and slippers. At some point in the party divide the guests up into partners and have them style each other’s hair. Give them new clips, scrunchies, ribbons, brushes and combs. You could even have manicures and facials.

After every guest is sufficiently dolled up, have a fashion show. To make a runway, use a red plastic tablecloth from the dollar store. Cut it so that it is about 3 feet wide and tape it to the floor using masking tape. Make a stage with the tablecloth that the runway runs in to. Tape white Christmas lights along the edge of the runway and on the stage. Behind the stage you can tape another plastic tablecloth to the wall or attach to existing curtain rods and include more white lights. Put on music and announce each model describing in detail what they are wearing. Don’t forget to take lots of pictures. The photos can be printed up and given in Thank you cards for your guests after the party.

Friday Freebie: Backwards Party Invitation

Fridays we like to give away free printables to use at your next party. This week's freebie is an editable Backwards Party Invitation that you can use at your next Backwards Party. Click to download pdf and enjoy!

Thursday Theme: Hawaiian Luau Party

A fun theme party for any age is a Hawaiian party. You can have a luau at any time of the year though it is easier when you can have it outside. Sometimes having a luau in the winter helps warm everyone up and makes for a refreshing change from the cold.

It is fun to have your guests dress up for the occasion. Suggest they come in tropical clothes if they have them. Greet your guests with a lei and a big Aloha.

Hawaiian type activities for all ages include learning the hula, the limbo, hula hoop contests and silly photo booths. Check out a video from the library about hula dancing, hire a professional dancer or just turn on Hawaiian music and encourage everyone to dance. Give your guests grass skirts made out of raffia, streamers, garbage bags, or ribbon.

Younger kids will enjoy making their own leis out of dried pasta (you can color pasta with food coloring), beads, cut straws, card stock flowers, tissue paper flowers, plastic flowers, fruit loops, or shells. Dress up in the leis and skirts for your dancing lesson.

For a photo booth you can paint Hawaiian characters on refrigerator boxes, or make a surfboard out of cardboard or corrugated plastic and place it on top of a solid block of wood or a stepping stool or use an old ironing board with a blue sheet, tarp, or plastic table cloths under and behind to look like your guests are in the water.

Games for younger kids:

• Pack the suitcase relay -- have a couple of different suitcases and equal amounts of clothes and accessories that would be good for a trip to Hawaii like shorts, tee shirts, swimming suits, sun glasses, hats, flip flops, etc.  Make as many teams as you have suitcases. Have the teams line up at one side of the room with the pile of clothes and accessories. Put the empty suitcases at the other side of the room. When you say "Go!" the first person on each team puts on all of the clothes and races to the suitcase, opens them up, takes off all the travel clothes and puts them in the suitcase and then rushes the suitcase back to the next player. The player who is next in line has to dump the clothes out and put them on and carry the empty suitcase across the room and then take back off all of the travel clothes and put them in the suitcase and bring the full suitcase back to the next person, and so it goes until every player on the team has had a chance to try on the clothes and pack the suitcase. The first team to have everyone complete the task is the winner.
• Pin a coconut on the palm tree -- similar to pin the tail on the donkey.
  
• Coconut relays -- divide the guests into teams and have them walk with a coconut between their legs or elbows, pass it to each other behind their backs, or rolling it on the floor.
• Musical beach towels or surf boards  -- play like musical chairs where you walk around the towels or surfboards (cardboard or poster board cut and painted like surfboards) until the music stops and then everyone has to jump on a towel or surfboard. You could also have everyone pretend to surf with the music on and when the music stops they have to jump off and change surfboards when the music starts again. While the music is off you can quickly take one surfboard away.
• Pineapple bowling -- Put a little bit of water on the bottom of 2 liter bottles and wrap in yellow paper or cover with yellow tissue paper to look like pineapples. Use coconuts as bowling balls.
• Tidal Wave -- take a very large blanket and place it on the ground. Give everyone a mini beach ball with their name on it and place it in the center of the blanket. Then have everyone grab part of the blanket and call out "tidal wave" tossing the blanket until there is just one ball left and that is winner. 

Other activities for younger kids:

• Bubbles
• Tattoos
• Sand art
• Erupting volcanoes

Games teens will enjoy:

• Shake Your Bootie -- Cut two slots in the back of empty tissue boxes for a belt  to fit through (belt, scarf, ribbon or rope). Fill the tissue boxes with ping pong balls. Tie the tissue boxes around your guests waists making sure the tissue boxes are at the back. Put on some lively Hawaiian music and let the players shake their booties to the music to get rid of all the balls in the box. The guests can't touch the box with their hands or get help from others. The object of the game is to be the first to boogie all your balls out!
• Funny Hot Potatoe -- Load a garbage bag with all sorts of embarrassing and somewhat funny Hawaiian clothes and accessories (bikinis, big briefs, etc.) Now in the form of hot potato you pass the garbage bag around and when the music stops, the person with the bag pulls out an article of clothing and must wear it! The game ends when all the clothes are gone. The winner is the person with the least clothes from the bag on. This game is good for a laugh, especially when guys are wearing bikinis and so on. Wear the garments over your own clothes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Friday Freebie: Amazing Race Party Invitation

Fridays we like to give away free printables to use at your next party. This week's freebie is an editable Amazing Race Party Invitation. Click to download pdf and enjoy!

Thursday's Theme of the Day: Amazing Race

The Amazing Race reality television show is like a huge scavenger hunt with challenges and clues along the way.  Instead of receiving a list of objects to find or places to go to at the start of the game, clues are given throughout the game that lead each team to a particular destination where a task, challenge or clue is waiting to lead the team to the next destination.  Hosting your own Amazing Race type of party can be a bit of work but is well worth the effort and will leave your guests amazed and happy.

In creating your Amazing Race party it is a good idea to be familiar with the terms and rules of the actual Amazing Race television show.  The television show has several teams of two people racing around the world.  The amount of people you have on your teams and the distance you want to travel is totally up to you.

In The Amazing Race, Route Markers are uniquely-colored flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark the place where the teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow. When creating your Amazing Race, Route Markers may not be practical or necessary.

When teams start a leg, arrive at Route Markers, or complete certain tasks, they normally receive an envelope that contains their next clue.  As the creator, you can make these clues as easy or as difficult as you want.  You can make them riddles for participants to figure out or make them poetic.

Route Information Clues instruct the teams where to go next. Such a clue usually provides only the name of the team's next destination; it is up to the teams to figure out how to get there. Besides route information, clues can be for tasks or challenges. Be creative in thinking of tasks or challenges for the players.

There are several different kinds of tasks or challenges you can use in your Amazing Race: Mental Tasks (tasks that require mental skill and the ability to solve different problems including puzzle solving, riddles, trivia quizzes and brain teasers), Physical Tasks (tasks that require running, jumping, climbing etc. as in a relay or treasure hunt) and Mystery Food (an Amazing Race will not be complete without having these around. Some ideas include raw vegetable shake, jalapeno peppers, raw eggs, etc.).

Here are some examples of Amazing Race challenges you can incorporate into your next party:

Mental Tasks

Riddles: Nothing beats a hard to solve riddle, especially if the players would need to solve ten difficult ones!

Word Hunt: Create one that would fill an entire paper. It will make the players go crazy in finding hidden words!

Picture Puzzle: Print out a picture (it could go with the theme of you party or an abstract art) in a huge paper and paste it on a cardboard. Randomly cut it into different pieces and you’ve got an instant puzzle for them to solve!

Difficult Tasks

Send me a text message: Have a rule that the players aren’t supposed to bring their phones and wallets during the race, this would mean that they have to convince strangers to lend their phones and send a text message.

Surf a site: Open a website that contains a password to the next challenge. This would also involve the help of strangers or creative access to a computer with the web.

Refill the bottles: position small soda bottles (could be 5 bottles per team) a few yards away from the nearest water source (bathroom or wash station). The task is to refill the bottles using only their bodies or clothing from the source to the small bottles.

Gold coins hunt: Hide toy gold coins around the perimeter of the race and the challenge is to find 20 or so coins before moving to the next round.

 Mystery Food

Raw vegetable shake: Combine in a blender some raw vegetables (bitter gourd, okra, etc.), water and blend thoroughly. Instant vegetable shake! Make one tall glass serving per player.

Mixed Ingredients: Think of foods that when combined together would be gross, although edible to eat. For example, combine Jell-O, corn chips, mashed bananas, gummy bears, canned sardines and mix well. Top with chocolate syrup mad you’ve got an exciting menu!

 

A Detour presents the team with a decision between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. Typically, one task is less physically demanding than the other but is tedious or requires some amount of time or thinking to complete, while the other is usually a more physically demanding or frightening option that, depending on the team's ability, may take less time to complete. The decision about which task to attempt lies solely with the team. A team may choose to switch tasks as many times as they wish with no penalty other than the time lost in attempting the tasks and travelling between task locations. Unless otherwise instructed, teams can work together to finish a Detour option. Once a team has completed one of the tasks, they are given the clue to their next location.

A Roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. Normally, once the racer completes the Roadblock, the team receives their clue to the next Route Marker.  Early seasons allowed teams to distribute the Roadblocks between the team members as they desired, which allowed one team member to do nearly all the Roadblocks. This was changed in Season 6, which limited a single teammate to a maximum number of Roadblocks s/he could complete, thus forcing his or her partner to perform roughly half of the Roadblocks, as well.

Pit Stops are the final destination in each leg of the race, and where all non-eliminated teams go after checking in.  Each Pit Stop is a mandatory rest period which allows teams to "eat, sleep, and mingle" with each other.

In the Amazing Race TV show teams are eliminated after rounds of play.  As the creator of your game, elimination rounds are not necessary.  If you were to eliminate players after certain rounds, you would have some pretty bored guests while they wait for the rest of the party to finish the game!

To prepare your Amazing Race, create an outline of how the race will go from start to end. Include the things needed for each station.  Visualize the route and consider the possibilities of transportation.  The number and size of your teams may be dictated by your transportation needs.  To save the hassle of having to arrange the transportation, your Amazing Race can take place at a mall or shopping center so that all of the destinations are within walking distance.  You can also choose to have Detours, Road Blocks or Pit Stops.

 

It is a good idea, where possible, to ask the stores and business that you are planning to include in your Amazing Race for permission.  Download a sample follow up letter for businesses here to be given after you have asked their permission to include them in your Amazing Race party.  You may need to solicit the help of several people to facilitate the activities at many if not all of the destinations.  Some business owners are happy to be the helper but many are not.  Keep in mind that businesses are more likely to be cooperative if you are not interfering in the running of their business or better yet if you are purchasing their service or product as part of your game.  A thank you note or card to the business after the party is also a great idea.

Click here to Download a sample Amazing Race that was done at a shopping center. There were 6 teams with 3 girls on each team.  Each team was given colored tee-shirts at the start of the race. This helped the shop owners more easily identify them.  There were 14 clues. To save having to have too many helpers the list was divided in half and helpers were assigned 2 different locations, one in the first half of the game and one in the second half.  Because the entire game was in a mall area, the clues were given to each team in a different order to avoid all 6 teams showing up all at once at one location. For example, team one had clues #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and so on and team two started with clue #2, and then went to 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1 and team started with clue # 3, and then went to 4, 5, 6, 7, 1, 2 (although they had no idea that the order was mixed up).

It is surprising what is available at seemingly normal stores. In this Amazing Race the music store had a gallery with fancy string instruments, like a watermelon ukelele, the outdoor store had a climbing wall at the back of the store, the dentist office gave the participants dental floss that they had to use at another location, the craft store had a craft room where the participants were allowed to make a creation before moving on, and the golf store even had a putting green!