The Saran Wrap Candy Ball Game is a hilarious, fast-paced, fun game for people of all ages. Kids, teens, and adults love playing this Candy Ball Game at parties. It’s the perfect game for Christmas, New Year celebrations, and other celebrations throughout the year. Come on in and I’ll share how to set up and ideas for playing this fun game…
Saran Wrap Candy Ball Game
If you hate the idea of using so much plastic in a game, then check out my Toilet Paper Version of this Saran Wrap Ball Game
Other fun Christmas Game Ideas for the Whole Family
- Paper Plate Pictionary
- Guess Who – A fun Christmas game
- Guess the Christmas Smell
- Stick it to Santa’s Beard!
- Minute to Win It Christmas and Winter Games
What Kind of Prizes do you Put Inside a Saran Wrap Ball Game?
The prizes you put inside the ball are entirely up to you. They can range from…pennies, candy, pencils, gag gifts, themed gifts, and even paper money.
Depending on how large the group is, how big you want to make the ball, and the number of prizes you want to include will probably determine the extravagance of the prizes inside. Candy and change are probably the least expensive options.
Here are some fun prize ideas for this Christmas Game:
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- fun themed erasers
- fuzzy socks
- small sticker books
- plush or wooden ornaments
- candy
- coins
- plushies
- silly glasses
- small storybooks for kids
- crayons
- novelty games like pinball or Wordsearch
- gag gifts like chattering teeth, fake poop, toothpaste, or gross flavored jelly beans
- fun pencil toppers
- cash
- gift cards
- lotion
- soaps
- nail polish
- candy canes
- wind up toys
- slap bracelets
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This is a great game to add to your Christmas and New Years’ parties. The more people you have participating, the more fun it is for everyone involved.
My teenage daughter has played this game at several birthday parties and showed us how her friends play the game. She was a ninja at unwrapping the ball this way and she got most of the prizes. You can see that her little brother is looking on with total anxiety as he watched the ball disappear and his sister hoard all of the prizes. There is a huge smile on her face, (for obvious reasons) and he is in complete agony waiting for his turn. This way stressed everyone out (with the exception of the one getting all of the loot) and it quickly became apparent that I was going to have to make the game a little harder to unwrap so one person didn’t get all of the prizes. I researched some ideas that I’ve written down for you to make the game more challenging and fair for everyone involved. Then, I re-wrapped another candy ball and we tried again.
Here are some tips and ideas for making this Candy Ball Game more challenging for players and fun for everyone…
Use one idea or combine some ideas –
- Every other layer or every three layers, tape the seams from the saran wrap with packaging tape
- Have the players wear mittens or gloves to unwrap the ball
- Have players sit in a circle and use their feet to unwrap the ball
- Use forks to unwrap the ball
- Use spoons to unwrap the ball
- Use sticky clear wrap that seals itself
- Time the players that are unwrapping the ball – When the time is up, it’s time to pass the ball
- Instead of only passing the ball when the player to the left rolls doubles, make up other number combinations that qualify, like rolling the number 1 or 3 on one of the die, or the two dice adding up to a sum like 7, 9, or 5.
- Tell the players that they can NOT lift the ball up and let gravity quickly unwrap it, they have to leave it on the surface and unwrap it by pulling the layers of saran wrap back
- Have extra prizes for anyone that did not get something on their turn
Fun additions to the Candy Ball Game…
- Add bells inside the toilet paper tube which is your base and seal them with saran wrap – the ball will jingle as they play
- Use a giant bell instead of a toilet paper tube as your base
- Add gag gifts to unwrap, like wound-up chatter teeth or fake poop
- Add mystery jelly beans and when a player unwraps it, they have to eat it right then and there before they can continue (Some of the flavors are disgusting!)
- Add Challenge Cards
What are Challenge Cards for a Saran Wrap Ball Game?
They are just like Uno Challenge cards in that they make you stop the game and follow the instructions. They can be a reward, but they are mainly a challenge
To make Challenge Cards, cut index cards in half and write challenges on them
here are some ideas…
- lose a turn – the player has to pass the ball to the left (the person with the dice would also pass to their left)
- use only one hand to unwrap the ball
- skip 2 players
- unwrap the ball with your eyes closed
- put on the oven mitts to unwrap the ball (player rolling dice should pause until play can resume)
- give one of your prizes to the player on your right
- use spoons to unwrap the ball
- use forks to unwrap the ball
- Congratulations! Exchange a prize with anyone at the table
- stand up and hop on one foot while unwrapping the ball
- hold the ball over your head while unwrapping the ball
- the person with the dice has to roll until the dice add up to (5, 3, or 8) *mix the numbers up to whatever you fancy
Finally, Here is what you’ll need for a Candy Ball…
- Prizes – refer to ideas at the top of the post –
- *for my 4 kids, I used about 100 pieces of candy and threw in other prizes like money. Unfortunately, I only had (2) $5 bills at the time. I wish I had singles. I also used change as prizes
- Saran Wrap or bubble wrap – I purchased 300 ft. of saran wrap and probably only used 1/3 of it
- Something as your base – I used a roll of toilet paper
- *optional but recommended – packaging tape
Instructions:
- Use something round-ish as your base, like toilet paper
- *You can place bells or something noisy in the tube for added fun
- Unwrap some of the saran wrap and place the round object in the center, begin wrapping it going in different directions until it forms a ball as your base
- Start adding prizes to the saran wrap and wrapping them – It’s up to you on how far you want to space the prizes out. If you space them too close together the game will be over quickly
- Tape the ball every few layers to add a little bit of a challenge
- Keep going until you run out of prizes
Playing the Candy Ball Game:
- I’ve included several add-on ideas above and different ways of playing the game
The basic rules are:
- Have players get into a circle or sit at a table so they are side-by-side and able to pass to one another
- Give the starting player the ball – you could roll to see who goes first
- Give the player to the left of the player holding the ball 2 dice – You can place the dice in a round cake pan to keep them secure and easily accessible
- The player with the dice should simultaneously roll the dice as the player with the ball unwraps the ball
- The player with the dice should quickly and continuously roll until they get doubles and yell stop to the person unwrapping the ball
- Then, the ball is passed to the person who rolled doubles and the dice are passed to the left as well – play continues this way until the ball is completely unwrapped
- play continues until the ball is unwrapped or if you’ve used my Challenge Card Ideas from above
