One such party game to play is the toothpick – lifesaver race. This is a really fun game to play and best of all it is really easy to set up. What materials do you need? Why just some lifesavers and some toothpicks. It is very much like a relay race, in that you are passing an object from one person to another down the line, but with some really fun differences that your children will love.
In order to play the game properly you are going to need six or more players, because you don’t want less than three people on a team. One of the great parts about this game is that the number of possible players is practically unlimited, you can have as many people as you want on a team. Usually you will only want two teams but if you have a lot of kids you can also split them into 3 or more teams and they can all compete against each other.
Each team in the game is going to need a captain. You can allow the children to decide for themselves who will be the captain of their team, or you can pick the captains yourself. If you are planning to play more than one round of Lifesaver race then you can even have rotating captains: this way everyone gets a turn. However while it might sound like fun the captain is not too terribly essential to this game.
Every child on every team is going to need to get themselves a toothpick. (That is why it is called the toothpick – Lifesaver race). However if you want there are other alternatives that you can use instead of a toothpick: a straw, for example, can also work. However using a toothpick makes it more fun and exciting.
Each child will then place the toothpick in their mouths. Not all the way, of course: you will want as much of the toothpick sticking out as is possible. As leader of the game you will then give the captain of each team a Lifesaver (it doesn’t have to be an actual Lifesaver, if you prefer to use a generic alternative go right ahead, just make sure it has a hole in the middle!). You will place the Lifesaver over the toothpick of the captain so that it is hanging on the toothpick in his mouth.
The point of the game is simple: the kids just need to pass the Lifesaver down the line from the captain to the player at the end. However they are not allowed to use their hands to do this: they have to pass the Lifesaver from one toothpick to the next. This can be very challenging but it is also very fun at the same time. Not only is it fun to play but it is also fun to watch!
When the Lifesaver travels its way from one toothpick to the next all the way down the line, the first team to get it to the end wins. If the Lifesaver should happen to fall on the floor then you are going to have to start all over again, so the players need to be very careful not to drop it!
You can have prizes for the winning team of the Lifesaver race, or you can choose not to. This is all up to you. Either way it is a fun activity for children to partake in at a party, or any sort of group event you might be holding.