Annual Tournament Of Games

Time to turn a weekend into the ultimate party with this tournament of games idea. Let me walk you through how to recreate this board!

Last year we had all the kids home for the whole weekend of Thanksgiving and I knew I had to come up with something fun and entertaining for them! I landed on creating the 1st annual tournament of the Wests (our last name). It was a board full of fun games to play all through out the whole weekend long with money prizes! It turned out so fun and when I shared it on Instagram, I had so many requests to show all the details- so here we are- a year later putting a post together!

It’s great timing though because we are recreating this for my large extended family so I’m going to walk you through a couple of different ways to recreate this!

Set up the game board

The cheapest way for me to create the tournament board was to buy 2 foam core boards from the dollar tree and tape them together so I could fold them in half. You can also buy a tri-fold board like they use for science fairs!

I just created some printables that say TOURNAMENT OF THE GAMES for you as well so you easily tape them to the top.

Pick your games. You can just handwrite each game on the board or make a printable of it. I wanted to reuse it year after year so I printed out each game and taped it onto the board. If you need to add instructions, you can.

Here is what my papers looked like. I just cut apart each game and added it to my board.

You can grab these HERE if you want to use any of them. I thought about making printables for all the games, but there are so many that I talked myself right out of it!

I’ve done this twice and with my family of 6, I just made one board with all the prizes taped right to the board, and a place for each person to sign if they won. We gave out prizes as we played.

The big family game we played with my family had a board with all the games and instructions and a separate board with each person’s name to keep track of their points. We did a point system and it the winners got prizes at the end.

How to play the tournament of games

There are two different ways to play it.

A. Point system.

You can give the winner of each game a point. If you win uno, you get a point. If you win corn hole, you can earn a point, etc. At the end of the tournament, the person with the most points wins the “prize”.

We did a big Thanksgiving party with 30 people, and we knew it would be so hard to round up everyone all night to play each game. So instead we gave points and It made it a little easier because people could do the activities at their leisure. They could do water bottle toss, write down how many tosses it took. They could do the typing test, write down their time etc. That way we could add more games on our board!

This is also a great idea if you want to do any board games. Most board games only let 6 people play. So you can have different groups play at different times and each winner can still earn points.

B. Prize as you go.

I wanted my kids to be motivated to play. So I attached money to the board with each game. That way they knew if they didn’t play bingo, they didn’t have the chance to win $20. This kept everyone playing and everyone won money at some point. We still kept track of the person who won the most games (they got to sign under each game) and at the end they got the big trophy!

Prizes:

MONEY: We did good old fashioned money. My kids are all older, and I usually give them gas money or lunch money, so I just justified it that way.
Bragging rights: Always a good motivator!
box of candy: (think theater candy) would be a fun prize for each game!
PRIZE TABLE: You could put out all sorts of prizes: Chapstick, lotion, candy, lottery ticket, socks, flashlight etc and as people win, they can pick from the prize table!
TROPHY: Have a trophy made that gets passed from winner to winner each year!

Tournament Game ideas:

There are lots of great games to play! Make sure to include any favorites your family has and check your game closet for any good games as well! This list is just games we made up, our favorite games, and some games we had in the closet! If you need more ideas, you can google Minute to Win it Games!

I’m going to break this into two lists. One is games that you can play with supplies found around the house or that only involve a deck of cards or dice and the second list will be the specific board games we played!

(This is a lot of games we have played over the years! Just pick a few!)

High Card: Lay out a deck of cards face down. Everyone grabs one card and flips it over at the same time. High card wins! (decide first if Ace is high card or low card!)
Guess the M&Ms: This one was super easy and everyone has a chance to win! Guess how many skittles or m&ms are in the package! We had a spot for everyone to write their guesses and once they all guessed, we opened it and counted.

Fastest Typer. Pull up a typing game and see who can get the most WPM. (words per minute)
Easter Egg: I hid ONE easter egg in a designated area. I didn’t disclose the area until everyone was ready to search. The money was actually inside! You could also hide a few and everyone who finds one gets a point. (but decide beforehand if people can find more than one!)
Point spread of the game: Since we played during Thanksgiving, the Cowboys were playing (our team!) So we had each person picked what they thought the point spread would be. Closest won! You could do this with any sports event that’s on.

Cup Game: You need a pair of 5 different cups and a box. Place the box on the side. The participant will stand behind and another person will arrange 5 cups on the inside of the box. The person will need to put the cups on top of the box and try to match them to the unseen cups. The crowd will tell the person how many they have correct match. Each time they rearrange counts as a turn. The person with the least amount of turns wins! I have a video HERE that explains it a little better!

Pick a number: I had everyone write down a number between 1-10. Then we asked Alexa to pick a number and the person that was the closest won! If there are more people, do more numbers ie: 1-30 etc.
Whitney Houston drum challenge
Ping pong toss: Grab a package of ping pongs and a tall bowl or cup. Set a line that people have to stand behind. Eahc person gets 6 to toss. The person who gets the most ping pongs in the cup wins. You can bounce them on a table to get them to land as well.

Measuring tape: Write a bunch of different sizes from 5 feet to 12 feet on paper. People will pick a paper, and have to pull out the measuring tape (UPSIDE DOWN) to what they think that length is. If they got 7 feet, they will pull out what they think 7 feet is and then flip it over. The person who gets it closer to the length wins.

Water bottle flip: Take a half drank water bottle (with lid on) and flip it. count how many flips it takes to land it upright. The person with the least amount of flips, wins.
M&M suck: Each player needs a straw and a plate. You can have a few big plates in the middle with lots of M&Ms. Time everyone to see who can transfer as many candies from the main plate to their plate using only the straw!

Memory: Gather up about 30 random items from around the house and put them on a cookie sheet with a towel over them. Give everyone a piece of paper and a pencil. Take off the towel and give everyone 20 seconds to look at the items. Cover them back up. Now they have 1 minute to write down as many items as they can remember. The person with the most wins! I have a youtube video of this game where it’s all set up so all the work is done for you!
Garbage : This is a super-easy card game that is more about luck than skill.

Nerf shot. Put a few cups on a table and mark a line that people have to stand behind. Give the person 5 bullets and a nerf gun. If they hit the cup, they get a point. The person with the most points wins.

Spatula scoop: One spatula, a blindfold, a deck of cards and a paper plate. Each person needs to be blindfolded and gets 30 seconds to try to scoop up as many cards onto the plate they are holding using only the spatula. The cards are light so you aren’t sure if you are even scooping up any. (You can watch it at the end of this video!)

Puzzle: Take a 25 piece puzzle and time each person how fast they can put it together. The person who can put it together the quickest wins this round!
Balloon toss: Give each person a blown-up balloon. The goal is to keep it in the air the longest. If it touches the ground, they are out. If everyone plays at the same time, it will be harder since people will be in your way and can sabotage you. (For a harder challenge, give each person 2 balloons to keep up in the air!- you can write their names on it with sharpie if you have the same colors!)

Spoons: Like musical chairs but with cards and spoons! I linked the how to!
Bank Dice Game: This is a game played on an app. You play with dice but the app keeps score with you. It’s a game of risk and super fun!
Button up: Have a large button up shirt or coat and a pair of snow gloves. Time people putting on the gloves and shirt and who can button up the shirt the fastest. You can a few pairs of each to make it more of a race.

50 states: Print out a blank map of the united states. Whoever has the most states filled in by the end of the night wins.
Ceiling Fan Grab: We took some tissues or squares of toilet paper and put them on the blades of the ceiling fan. We covered each blade but didn’t overlap the squares. We turn it on low, and everyone underneath tries to snag as many as they can as the fan moves and blows them off. You can also play this one by one and just put 10 on the fan for each person and keep track of how many each person catches!

Bingo: We have a legit bingo set. But if you don’t, you can find a fun bingo printable and use it instead. I linked to a page that has one for almost every holiday/season! When we played, The first round went really quick, so we played a few times and it was the person who won the most after 5 rounds!
Book Balance: Create a simple maze. Maybe around the couch, over a chair and then have to sit down. Have each person balance a book on their head while they go through the course. Whoever can keep the book on their head the longest wins!

The cup game: This one is a favorite! It’s like musical chairs, but with cups. The prompts will tell you to touch your head, your elbows, your eyes etc and then when they say CUP- you have to grab a cup! There is one less cup than there are people so someone is out every round. Here is the cup video!

Candy wrap: This is a timed event. you will need a pair of socks and package or wrapped candy, like tootsie rolls or caramels. Each person has to put the socks on their hands and try to unwrap it. Timer starts when they start putting on the socks. Timer stops when the candy is in the mouth unwrapped.

Write to 100. This is a great quick group game! You need a piece of paper for each player, One pen, and two dice. The goal is to be the first person to write 1-100 in order. The catch is that if the person next to you rolls doubles, they get to steal the pen and start writing. Then the person next to them starts rolling until they get doubles. I have a video here that explains how to play!

Roll a Car: We used a table and a hot Wheels car. EAch person stands on one side of the table and has to roll the car to try to get the Hot Wheels closest to the edge of the table without it falling off! We took pictures of anyone that got close so we could keep track of the winner!

Fruit by the foot: Each person gets a fruit by the foot. Unwrap it and put the first inch of the candy in their mouth. Once you say GO- each person will try to get the fruit by the foot all the way into their mouth working it up with their tongue. First person to have it in their mouth wins. (They do not have to swallow/ eat it!)

10,000: a fun dice game
Trivia game: Depending on what your family loves (movies, books, Harry Potter, Disney, or even Christmas trivia), just Google a trivia game to play. The person who answers the most correct answers wins.
Unroll TP: I grabbed the cheapest toilet paper I could find. Give each person a roll of toilet paper. They can only use one hand. The other one has to go in a pocket or behind their back. When someone yells go- the first person to unravel the entire roll, leaving only the brown tube wins. You can also do this with a tissue box and they can pull out the tissues with one hand until the box is empty.

We played this tournament during Thanksgiving. But if you are doing this during summer, you can include some fun ones like water balloon toss, Frozen t-shirt race, pass the water, crochet, pickleball etc. I have a blog post with lots of fun summer ideas here!

I actually just looked in my game closet and pulled games that I thought would be great to play. Here are some of them that we played or are planning to play this next year!

Candyland: A classic!

Cover your assets
Life: The person who has the most money at the end of the game wins!
Perfection: We had to play this one at time, and we timed each person. They had to write down their score and the person who could do this the fastest won!
Uno
taco cat goat cheese pizza:
Aggravation: This is my kid’s favorite game so we had to include it!
Putt Putt: We have a little golf game that we used. It was whoever got the best of 3 shots. If we had a tie, they played another round.
C l ue: a classic!
Corn hole: We love corn hole, and while it was too cold to play an actual game, we played a mini game. Each person got 4 bags (throws) and it was the best of the 4 throws. 3 points if you got it in the hole. 1 point if you got it on the board.
Left Center Right
Darts
Spot it

What to do if you have a TIE

Most games had a clear winner. If there were any ties, we had to two that tied play another round. So if two people were able to flip the bottle in 3 tries, they each got another turn until there was a winner.

What kind of games to pick

Keep in mind how much time you have. We played this over 3 days. So we weren’t worried about time. If you have one evening, you might want to pick games that don’t take too long!
One clear winner. Don’t pick a game that involves teams (unless you want to allow team points). We thought about playing Jenga but that means there is one loser, leaving 4 winners instead of one winner! You can always do it elimination if you have the time to play it until there is only one winner left!
A range of skills. If grandpa is playing, he might not be the best at basketball free throws. You want to make sure you have a nice variety so everyone has a chance of winning a few!
Classic games are always a hit. Pull out that candyland, uno, or musical chairs!
Space. Some games require more space. If there are lots of people, you might not want to play spoons or balloon toss where people need to move around quickly!
Number of people: If you have 10 people, you probably won’t be able to play most board games since they usually only go up to 6 people. That’s why the point system is nice. You could have a group of 5 play one game, and the winner gets points, then they can switch to another game and another set of people could play the game.

Play

Once you have the games picked, the prizes determined, the board put together- it’s time to play! We propped up the board and had all the games laid out in front! Then we played as we went about our weekend! ! We played easy games while we were waiting for the turkey to cook, then longer games (like aggravation) after dinner! Etc. Like I mentioned, we got the prize of cash as we played.

If you are doing a point system, you will want to make sure everyone has added their points and then add them all up. The person (or top 3) with the most points wins!

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