Hobbies And Interests
Pretzel Passing
Pretzel passing requires straight pretzel sticks as well as the twisted kind. Each team forms a line and each person holds a pretzel stick in his mouth. A twisted pretzel is then placed on the end of the stick and must be passed from the first player to the last. The first team to get the twisted pretzel all the way down the line wins.
Water Balloon Buckets
The water balloon buckets game is especially fun for children, as someone --- possibly everyone --- is going to get wet. Encourage people to wear old clothing, although everyone should be barefoot. Split everyone into teams and place a bucket about 20 feet away. Next to the bucket, place a selection of water balloons, with more standing by just in case. One at a time, each team member runs to the bucket, sits down and then uses only his feet to try to get five water balloons into the bucket. Burst balloons do not count. For extra messy fun, use food coloring in the water or fill the balloons with non-toxic, washable paint.
A Full Suitcase
The full suitcase relay requires suitcases and a bunch of old oversized clothing. Fill the suitcases with a good mix of the clothing and set them about 20 feet away from the teams. One by one each team member must run to the suitcase, put on all the clothes, take them off again and then run back to his team and tag the next player. It's helpful if all the participants are roughly the same size, but if you have a mix of adults and children you can also stipulate that wearing a too-small shirt on an arm or over one's head is allowable.
Box Towers
For box towers you'll need socks for everyone's hands, boxes in a variety of sizes --- recycled cereal boxes or shoe boxes, for example --- and wrapping paper. A variety of colors and patterns in the wrapping paper will create a festive look. Wrap the boxes beforehand and then line them up smallest to largest. Create two teams and then split each team so that they're standing opposite one another: half a team on one side and the other half across from them. Everyone puts the socks on their hands. The first team member picks up the first, smallest, box, and runs to his teammate across the way, setting the box at his teammate's feet before running back and moving to the back of the line. The teammate then picks up the next box in line, stacks it on top of the first box and runs to the next person in the team, holding the box tower and setting it down in front of the team member. If any of the boxes fall, the person must re-stack them and start from his original place. The winner is the first team to get all their boxes stacked and moved first.