Plastic Wrap Ball Fun

If you are looking for a way to add a little extra fun to your holiday gatherings this year, give the plastic wrap ball a try!  A great game for all ages!

We added this ball of fun to our family gathering last weekend with kids ranging in ages from 3-12.  They literally ripped into the ball and were each excited as they found prizes!  They took turns like champs and even negotiated and swapped some of their prizes after the game was over.  Ha!  Was fun to watch from start to finish.

Want to play?

The Game

What you will need:

One assembled plastic wrap ball (see below for assembly ideas)

A CD Player

A Christmas Music CD

Players, of course

A person to run the CD player

How the game works:

Participants sit in a circle.  Pick your starting participant and place the ball in front of them (you can simply draw a name or roll some dice to pick your first person or pick a volunteer). Once the music starts, the player with the ball tries to locate the start of the plastic wrap piece and begins to unroll it.  Any prizes that fall out during their turn are theirs to keep.  Once the music stops, their turn is over and the ball is passed to the next person.  When the music starts they begin their attempt at locating the next layer of plastic wrap and this continues on until the center of the ball has been reached and the final prize has been won.  How fun is that!

Some tips:

*Instead of music you can use dice as the timer.  The player with the ball continues their turn until the player next to them rolls doubles.  Then the player passes the ball to the dice roller.  And the dice are passed on to the next person to begin their attempt at quickly rolling doubles.  This works great for older participants. Music is great, especially for younger players who may not have the mobility or understanding of the dice.  The music option is also good when a wide range of ages may be playing, to somewhat control the time that a player has or doesn't have with the ball based on their abilities.

*Communicate with the players that they must pull the ends of the plastic wrap to unravel the ball NOT tear open the plastic wrap to the prize.  Trust me, this is important!

*You can save your plastic wrap after the game to reuse for future use on another ball.

*To add another layer of difficulty for the older crowd, you could have them wear oven mitts during their turn of trying to unwrap the ball - or even while they are rolling dice!

The Plastic Wrap Ball

Assembly instructions:

Purchase your prizes and a container of plastic wrap (such as Saran wrap). Completely wrap your first prize with a piece of plastic wrap.  Keep in mind, this will be the final prize that someone wins.  Do you want it to be of special value?  Maybe something funny? A special memento?

Once you have wrapped your first prize.  Lay your second prize on top of the first wrapped prize and cut off another piece of plastic wrap and wrap around the second prize and the first prize.  Alternating directions of your wrap, continue wrapping prizes by laying the new prize on top of the forming ball and wrapping a new piece of plastic wrap over it.  The ball may not look like a ball at first but it will continue to grow and form, as you go.

Look at the end ball (pictured at top)! How awesome!  You would never guess that there was a full bag of goldfish wrapped up in there, would you?!  

Prize Ideas:

Depending on the ages of your players, pick your prizes!  If you have a large age range, throw a little of everything in there and allow some swapping at the end - that's part of the fun.  Adults can play too, but here is a list of ideas for young kids all the way through teens!

Money (dollar bills and coins - could use unique $2 bills or a 50 cent piece)

Candy (chocolates, ring pops, mints, suckers, tic tacs)

Microwave popcorn packs

Hot chocolate packets

Bubble bath (dollar bin small bottles)

Bath Bombs or Fizzies

Bubbles

Gum

Tooth flosser picks

Tooth brushes

Goldfish (I fit a full bag - you could use the individual bags)

Small Flashlight

Gift Cards

Bodywash (small travel size are fun)

Breath Strips 

Massager (those small wooden ones)

Snack Packs of all kinds: oreos, trail mix, etc

Small toys: character figurines, yo yo, paddle ball, hot wheels, squishy balls, bouncy balls, shopkins, army guys, small Hatchimals or LOL balls, etc

Craft supplies: Pens, Scented Markers, Stampers, etc (I placed a full box of 12 ct colored pencils in)

Hand Sanitizer (the small to go ones are fun)

Lotion (mini)

Chap Stick or Lip Gloss

Stickers

Tattoos

Earings 

Socks

Ear Buds

Popsockets

Card Games (Uno, deck of cards, etc)

Soaps (fun shaped soaps)

Word Search Booklets 

Mad Lib Booklets

Ornaments

Slime or Putty Containers

Fidget Spinners

Playdoh (fun size containers)

Stuffed Animal

Beef Sticks
Crystal Light Packet
Ferris Wheel Token (Scheels)
Easy Mac packet
Ramen Noodles packet
Gatorade (I stuck a small bottle in our ball)
Pop Can (those small cans would be cute)

The list could go on and on!  There are so many fun things that would work well in your ball.  Whatever you place inside, you are sure to enjoy the fun of playing with your family and friends!

Book Countdown Christmas Tradition

Yes, I am going to post about Christmas! 😃I know that it isn't technically Christmas season yet and I understand that we need to enjoy and celebrate Thanksgiving first.  Got that.  And just so you know, I'm not fully ready to accept that Christmas is just around the corner either.  But one thing we must face is that if we have special holiday traditions; like matching Christmas PJs for the family, elf on the shelf, advent calendars and more, it takes a little planning and we have to sneak that planning time in somewhere, even if it means starting before Thanksgiving gets here.  Agree?  Yes!  No?  Maybe no blaring the Christmas music while you are planning, does that help?  Ha.  I love to hear how each family celebrates the beauty of the season, no matter when it starts!

What traditions do you have?  Leave a comment, would love to hear from you.

One tradition that I started with the kids years ago, was a Christmas book countdown!  My kids love books and this easily became such a fun way to celebrate the season together.  With the Christmas book countdown, different Christmas books are wrapped ahead of time.  Choose as many books, as you have days to countdown (All 24 days leading up to Christmas or 12 days, 7 days, etc) and start on your chosen date.

Each day of the countdown the kids take a turn unwrapping one book.  Once the book has been opened, sit down as a family and read the book together.  For additional fun, add some hot chocolate, marshmallows and sprinkles to the reading time. Or create a pile of blankets and pillows to curl up together, you know the kind that I'm talking about right?  Where everyone brings their own blankets and pillows from their rooms, pile them up and everyone jumps in!  Sounds cozy doesn't it!

Once we are done reading a book, we place it in a basket by the Christmas tree and the kids are welcome to pull them out and look at them or read them throughout the season.

Because I have kids in a range of ages (from 4 to 12 years old), I include some chapter books in the mix so that the older kids can read on their own as well.  When wrapping up a chapter book, I pair it with another book that we can all read together.  We typically have a wide range of books to read; fun character books to meaningful story of Christmas books, activity books and interesting flip books or touch books and board books.  We have even done the record-able books that Hallmark puts out and had the grandparents record themselves reading the book for the kids! Anything goes, really!

When Christmas is over and we are putting away our decorations, the books that have been declared favorites are kept to the side.  We bring these out at Christmas the following year and put them in our basket by the tree.  I recycle the "others" by donating them or passing them on to someone else that may be interested in the same type of activity.  Then I keep my eyes peeled throughout the year for Christmas themed books that we haven't read yet to add to the new countdown!  Super fun and meaningful for our family!

Sound like a fun tradition to add in your home?  Here are a few ideas on how to acquire books for your countdown:

*Department stores - Stores like Walmart, Dollar Tree, etc carry holiday themed books in their specialty sections.
*Specialty stores - stores like The Carpenter's Shop and Rexall Drug carry Christmas themed books.
*Thrift Stores - check stores like M&M Kidstuff and More, David's Depot and Goodwill. You may need to do a little digging but they may have some Christmas books!
*The Library - yes!  You can even utilize your library card at the library to borrow Christmas books to wrap up and use for your countdown.  Just don't forget that they do have a due date for return!
*Friends/Family - why not swap with a good friend or family!
*Scholastic Book Orders - those fun book orders that the kids come home with, where purchases you make also support the classroom, is another great way to find Christmas books.  Even if they are not in the flyer, there are many books available online. If you have an order coming up, check with your teacher, they may still come in before Christmas!
*Book Stores and Used Book Stores - look for area book stores.
*After Christmas Sales - it may be too late to utilize this option for this year, but keep in mind that some after Christmas sales offer their themed items at 75%, even 90% off!  This is a great way to plan for next year!
*Rummage Sales - again, this may not help you right now, however if you plan on doing the book countdown again next year be sure to keep an eye open at rummage sales during the warmer months and snag those books!

Don't forget to share your traditions with us!

Whatever traditions you have, whatever your plans are and whenever your celebration begins - enjoy the joyous and breathtaking season.  Enjoy the adventure!