Family Game Night with Minute to Win It

Are you all looking forward to the holidays as much as we are in our house? I just love having these breaks with no real schedule, getting to sleep in and fill in the day just as we like. Like many moms, I love the idea of getting some wonderful family time and with a bit of planning I know we can have some fun, and not spend a fortune.

I started thinking of what my kids love and this year they seem to love the Game Show Minute to Win it! I have put together our own Minute to Win It game kit for us to use over the holidays. I think this would be a fun present and an exceptional time if you are having relatives visit and need some ideas to fill your time together. Best of all, it's all contained in it's own bucket for easy storage!

I started out by collecting all the items that I wanted for my games and found everything I needed at Walmart. I have 15 games in all. Here are my supplies. The only thing not shown is a timer if you wanted to grab one (we use the iPhone stopwatch) and then you'll need a cookie or Nilla Wafer. Since that can go bad, I figure we'll just grab it when we play.

***Click on any photo to enlarge***



5 gallon paint bucket
At least 21 solo cups (one needs to be a different color)
Pack of Pencils (for this game you could substitute with quarters)
Balloons
Skewers
Penne Pasta
Deck of Cards
6 dice
Jumbo Craft Sticks
String
At least 6 nails
We grabbed stickers as well just to decorate the bucket



I love things to be self contained. Nothing makes me nuttier than pieces and parts all over my house. Head to your paint section at Walmart and find the 5 gallon paint buckets. They had some that said Walmart on the side (nope, not what I wanted) but then I wandered down the aisles and found some plain colored ones. JACKPOT! I found green, blue and white. I grabbed some plain green and blue buckets and lids (my store only had white lids but that was fine with me)



My friend Cathy is an amazing graphics artist and created this sticker to put on the outside of the bucket. We also grabbed some stickers that people use for garage sales that were blank and my kids just lined the top with alternating colors. They loved how colorful and fun their game was becoming. You can download the Family Game Night sticker here. I printed mine out on shipping labels where there are 2 to a sheet. You can always print on regular paper and just tape it on.



Then we just started bagging up the games into ziplock baggies and filled the bucket.



We decided on 15 games that have been tested by all my kids so a range of ages can participate. Sorry for the crummy photo, it's from my old iPhone but one of our favorites is the noodling around game. We like to do 2 family members at a time, creates some fun competition!



I created a template with the game names and descriptions and printed it out on white cardstock. You can download this template here. These can help you get started but you can create loads of fun by making up ones of your own or searching online for more games. We tried to choose games that a range of ages would be able to do. I also love laminating things :-) I laminated this sheet so that grubby hands don't ruin it over time.



Now put your lid on and your Game Night Kit is complete and ready for use or to give as a gift. Have fun and enjoying spending some time together!