Plastic wrap prizes! Several have asked how we do this activity, so here is a somewhat-clear description! (The pics are a little grainy in our living room that night!)
One thing that I highly recommend as you prepare for Christmas with teens and adults is that you try to make new memories…that you try to do things that are applicable to their ages. Yes, we definitely continue some of the earlier traditions. But we’ve also added new ones that are more age-appropriate. One of those is plastic wrap prizes.
This activity could be in lieu of stockings, Christmas Eve PJs, piñatas, etc. It is a ton of fun for teens and adults. With younger kids, there’s always a danger of some disappointment if they get Chapstick or antacids (lol!), but with teens and adults, it is all just good fun. Lots of laughs. Lots of usable items. And more family unity than you would think, LOL!
Here is how we created the huge plastic wrap ball:
1) Take a bunch of small gifts—see suggestions below
2) Lay the first one on plastic wrap that is pulled out then start rolling the plastic wrap around the prize.
3) When it is covered, lay another prize on it and roll again.
4) When you come to the end of the roll, open another roll and tied the end of the first with the beginning of the second.
5) When we were done with all one hundred plus gifts/prizes, we had a huge ball like you see in the picture.
Ray getting started on the Plastic Wrap Prizes for our Christmas Eve night! Sorting all of the goodies and gifts.
Getting closer! This is more fun for young adults than stockings!
The “ball” is getting bigger–we are on our second roll of plastic wrap now!
Last layer. The kids will pass the ball around the room to the next person, unwrapping another layer each time as their “prizes” fall out!
So what exactly do we do with that big ball of prizes, goodies, and gifts? Here is how that part goes down:
1) The kids all get in a big semi circle and the first one tears away the plastic wrap (the ball is on the floor in front of them) and gets the first prize he comes to/first one that falls out.
2) Then he passes it to the next person (or moves it over in front of the next person who does the same.
3) They continue to do that…they might see something they like better under the next layer, but they get whatever is next in the wrap. (They barter and trade afterwards!)
So what are good Plastic Wrap Prizes? This is dependent on a lot of factors:
1) Whether this activity is in place of other gifts you would normally get them. (Ours is in part as this year we are doing a bigger gift card or two per person and then the “gifts” are the things in this plastic wrap as well as in the grab bags… See my upcoming post on grab bag gifts for Christmas eve.)
2) If it is just for extras, like candy and trinkets that you put in their stockings, then you would probably want to limit it to $.50 or one dollar items, such as packages of gum, candy bars, nail clippers, etc.
3) How many people will be opening the ball and removing things. For us, we have seven adult kids and four kids-in-law. Thus, I try to have at least forty-four items in it so that each “child” receives four gifts or prizes approximately.
4) Your family’s Christmas budget. Since this is replacing some of their gifts this year, I will put a little bit costlier items in it than I did when it did not replace part of their gifts. Therefore, this year, we will have DVDs, nicer earbuds, and some $10 gift cards. Keep in mind that whatever you start is somewhat what people come to expect. (This is, of course, true with any gift of giving situation. Even going down to gift cards this year for us is challenging simply because that is not where we started with our adult Christmas gifts.)
5) What types of things you want them to end up with. I have been on a minimalism kick for the last couple of years; therefore, I am opposed to giving them more things to have lying around their houses since I don’t want things lying around my house either. Of course, sometimes nicer/more usable things are more expensive. Generally speaking, I try to stay away from too many Dollar Tree items and Target dollar bin items unless these are truly usable prizes.
I know this post is getting long, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give you a list of some suggestions for the Plastic Wrap a Prizes. I recommend you use our Kids’ Faves List if you are unsure of what your kids would like.
1) Gum, mints, Lifesavers, TicTac’s, and other small gum and mint items (I get tons of “consumables” and usually put a gum or candy in every layer—so there is a consumable and a gift each time.)
2) Favorite candy–again I use my kid faves list and get everybody’s favorites knowing they will barter and trade at the end.
3) Ear buds… And more earbuds
4) Fast food gift cards
5) Movie theater tickets
6) Hand warmers
7) Small window scrapers
8) Hand lotion
9) Hand sanitizer
10) DVDs
11) CDs
12) Pepper spray
13) Meat thermometers (I’m all about meat thermometers for my kids’ kitchens!)
14) Car wash cards
15) Wal-mart gift cards
16) Playing cards
17) Hand held portable games (Yahtzee, etc.)
18) Coupons for a ream of paper from our print center (we have a small press publishing company….Character Ink Press)
19) Five dollar bills with a sticky note to use it towards something specific
20) Laundry soap pouches in double zipper bags
21) Spices (especially more expensive ones like real vanilla or a blend)
22) Kitchen gadgets that are super useful
23) Hand sanitizer, talcum powder, hand lotion, chap stick, nail clippers
24) Soup, coffee, tea, and cocoa packets and add ins
25) Personalized calendars and other small family pic items
26) Flashlights and batteries
27) Mini Lego figures
28) Zippo lighters (in a box)
29) Travel toiletries
30) Toothbrushes and toothpaste
31) Card games such as Pit, Uno, Dutch Blitz, Skip Bo, Rook, Phase 10
32) Travel games
33) Tylenol, Advil, Emergen C
34) Office supplies such as pens, highlighters, sticky notes, envelopes, etc
35) USB flash drives
36) Household miscellaneous scissor sets, masking tape, pliers, extension cords, etc.
37) Favorite team paraphernalia
38) Fuzzy socks
39) Bathroom miscellaneous such as Q-tips, cotton balls, Band Aids, etc.
40) Inexpensive sporting tickets (or museum)
41) Phone chargers, car adapters, etc
42) Stress balls, yo yo’s, Silly Putty
43) Oven mitts
44) Plexus X Factor, ProBio 5, Boost, Children’s Chewables, or Slim drink packets
45) Car air fresheners
46) Tiny plasticware containers, little zipper type bags (craft, pill, etc., sized)
47) Table top mind games (Cracker Barrel style)
48) Gas cards
49) Chip clips, carabiner clips, zip strips
50) Penny, nickel, or dime rolls
51) Small feather dusters, scrub brushes, cleaning cloths
Other Thoughts
• I just use the cheap plastic wrap from the dollar store. (I thought I needed the heavier stuff, and I bought the thicker kind that year, but it really isn’t necessary.)
• Watch out for things with strong scents. Cinnamon car fresheners, peppermint candy, wintergreen gum, pine cone room scents, etc., can make your prizes smell and/or taste those scents/flavors.
• Things can get broken, so watch out for things not packaged. For example, my non-peppermint candy canes were all in pieces.
• If having things even in cost is super important to you, you could handle this one of two ways: You could be sure that every layer of the plastic wrap has similar priced items. For example, you could put Chapstick, fluffy socks, and a five dollar McDonald’s card in if you want each layer to have roughly eight dollars with the stuff in it. Or, you could do it such where the very middle of the ball has all expensive things in it and the outsides of the ball has gum, mints, masking tape, etc. In this way, they would open the lesser priced things first and then expensive things last. Both of these ways in sure that somebody doesn’t just end up with a $1.50 worth of stuff and somebody else is up with $30 worth of stuff at the end.
Our family plays this game with the less-expensive items; I also roll in lottery tickets, change and dollar bills throughout; we always put a larger gift card in the center with some sort of jingling ornament so there’s a fun sound factor as well.
Our game is fast paced and wild, we use dice and play the game this way: everyone gathers around a table with chairs removed. Eldest to youngest roll a die each to determine who goes first (highest roll), then it begins. The person who starts begins peeling ( I strategically wrap to make this more difficult) trying to free prizes. At the same time, the person to their immediate right starts rolling two dice in an attempt to get doubles. When that person rolls doubles, they get to grab the ball from the previous person and then they start unwrapping. All prizes that fall while you’re unwrapping are yours to keep. Once your neighbor rolls doubles you have to let the ball go. Play continues, the ball changing hands and the next person trying to roll doubles and get their turn- caution it can get crazy fun and frantic!
Thank-you for sharing, Melly! That sounds super fun–and right up my six sons and sons’-in-law alleys! Fast and furious!
We do this at Christmas. The same way But the one I’m rolling has to have oven mitts on. It takes two sets of oven mitts.. but it makes it more fun!
That does sound like a blast! We are thinking of doing that with a family shared gift–with the oven mitts. Cool!
My husband had a great idea ! We are doing this instead of additionally filling stockings..I am a champion stocking filler..nice gifts…so heres these nice EMPTY stockings I’ve made..so he suggested everyone gets their stocking and fills it with their ‘loot’…still trade later
Totally did this! Thanks for the ideas for gifts! I wrapped the gifts as well…dental floss and single glow sticks got the same attention as the main gift of magic tricks. Took way more time than I thought, but I am pretty proud of my work. For the 2 preteen boys I added beanboozled…..jelly belly’s prank on flavors and I found a pretty fancy light up tie at the dollar store for my guy.
We do the same thing….except we have to use oven mitts to unwrap it! It keeps non-participating people highly amused yet they still feel part of the experience.
We also have a separate ball for the above 21 crowd which includes the small liquor bottles. I love love love the ideas of what to put in the ball! My stepson made one for his little sister’s 10th birthday (he put her “little” presents in it) but decided to be sassy & also grabbed things from her room & gifts she had recently received @ Christmas. Thanks again for sharing!
We did this and it was a blast!! We used $2 bills, $2 coins, lottery tickets and a $20 bill as a grand prize!! I will say my family enjoyed this more than finding the pickle on the Christmas Tree!!
The Saran Wrap looks skinny in width and not too long in length. What kind of wrap do you use?
I found that using expensive wrap didn’t really make a difference, so I started buying the Dollar Tree packages. The key is having a ton of it! I think we use six rolls with our large family.
I don’t put chocolate in it anymore. I made a ball last year and immediately played the game and everything was melted. So this year I am going to put numbers with colored papers and use the dice too. At the end they will get there bag of goodies not damaged broken or melted. And I am going to write a symbol to separate adult gifts so if a child has it before we get our bags they will switch with another person. I can’t wait till we play it again. I put at least a 20 dollar bill in the middle too. So fun for all ages.
Love the $20 in the middle! I never had chocolate melt, but I had candy canes break all over the place, so we don’t put those in anymore. This year we are doing something fun in conjunction with the plastic wrap game. We are putting numbered cards throughout, and whoever has one goes first to choose something from the “Plastic Wrap Store”–for items that are too big or too breakable for the plastic wrap, such as inexpensive throws, canned beef (we have four marrieds now!), glass candles, etc. I’m excited to add this fun element to it! The trading at the end is going to be crazier than ever!
I am going to do this as an activity at my sons 10th birthday party. The kids are going to love it!
That is a great idea! I seriously had never thought of that…much more fun than just passing out party favors. I’d love to hear how it goes! That’s a perfect age for it too!
We love this game!!! I also add in some Press and Seal wrap to make it a little harder??
That would make it super fun! Might have to try that! What all do you put in yours? for what ages?
Hi Donna,
Its really a fun loving activity because kids really loves the surprises and these types of plastic wrap balls or box. Thanks for sharing such an amazing idea and tips to create big plastic wrap ball. I love the whole idea…. Cheers!!
Thanks so much for saying so! Our “kids” (ages 19-35) love it!
We played this game in the hotel during a girls weekend. It was Awesome and loud. Likely, we were not thrown out.
Our ball included beauty samples, full size makeup (eyeshadow, lip gloss, etc.), makeup brushes and tools, candy, Chapstick, cute socks, hair ties, a novelty tee, a pair of cute flip flops in the center. At the end, we negotiated for the items we wanted most.
So much fun! This year the girls are donating items for the ball, so the expense is not on one person.
I love this so much! Thank-you for writing to tell me. Going to spread the word! Made me think of bachelorette and bachelor parties for this spring and summer. And baby showers and wedding showers…..possibly put two things together for those in each “fold”—something for the guest and something for the new mom or bride. You have made me think of so many ideas! 🙂 Thanks again!