Games for Stacking Boxes

Jenga

• Create a large-scale game of the tabletop balance and stacking game, Jenga. For this game, use uniform boxes, such as empty tissue boxes. Stack them three wide and three deep as high as they will go in a tower shape. Players will each take turns removing one tissue box from the middle or bottom and stacking it on the top of the tower. The goal of the game is to complete all of your turns without causing the tower to topple over. Strategy and tactics come into play as you can remove risky boxes in the hope that the next person to remove one will cause it to fall. The person who causes the stack to fall loses the game.

Capture the Fort

• Divide the players into two teams and give each team an allotted amount of time to construct a fort using small boxes. Tissue, cereal and shoe boxes may be used. Each team then hides behind their own fort and tries to demolish and capture the opponent's fort. The forts should be no more than 10 feet apart. Give each group a stack of plastic Solo cups as their weapons. Each group tosses the cups at the opposite team's box fort. The first team to topple the opponent's stack of boxes wins.

Leaning Tower

• Break the group into small teams of 3-4 participants each. Provide each group with a supply of boxes of varying sizes. Give the teams five minutes to build the tallest tower they can using the boxes provided, but have more on hand in case a team requests additional boxes. Since the boxes are of varying shapes and will likely be turned on their sides to be stacked as high as possible, the tower will be very unsteady. The team that creates the highest tower without falling for 10 seconds wins the contest.