By some, this activity is loved. By some, this activity is dreaded. Either way, this is a fun olympic-style competition that puts everyone on an even playing field. The basic idea is to have a series of about twelve events that each team will try to earn points at within a certain time limit. So for example, if you have twelve events and six teams, each team starts at a different event that they will do for three minutes. At the end of the three minutes, they report to the score keeper and then rotate to the next event.

Here’s how the events are done: Your entire team will participate in a particular order – however you choose. Once everyone has tried the event once, you start back at the beginning and go through the lineup again. So, say the event is to throw the ball in order to knock over a tin can. Bobby throws and misses. John throws, misses. Amy throws, knocks it over. The tin can is setup again, and Lisa throws, misses. That’s the whole team, so back to Bobby throwing again. Then John, etc…. Every time the tin can is knocked down, you add ten points to your point total for that event, set the can up again, and keep going through your line until the three minutes are over.

You can change the number of events or number of teams or length of time per event however you like. Generally speaking, you can estimate about two minutes in between events while the teams tell you their score and move to the next event. So if you do twelve events for three minutes each, plus the two minute wait time, that means this game will take about 60 minutes. So you can adjust things to fit your schedule.

Example Outdoor Events

  • From 20 feet away, throw a plastic flamingo into a volleyball net. If it gets stuck in the net, earn ten points.
  • Have three metal baseball bats laying close together at different angles. Roll a golf ball at them and listen for the ‘ping’ sound it makes when the bats get hit. If the bats are setup right, you can ricochet the golf ball off them all. For each ping you hear, earn five points.
  • Putt a baseball with a broomball stick into a small hoolahoop. With each hole-in-one, earn ten points.
  • From 15 feet away, throw a beachball on top of a soccer net. If it lands and stays on top, earn ten points.
  • Roll a giant foam dice by bouncing it off your head. Earn ten times the amount shown on the dice – BUT if you roll a ‘one’, you start back at zero for this event.
  • Throw a volleyball at a bowling pin on a bucket 15 feet away, if the pin falls off, earn ten points.

Get the idea? You can use whatever you have to make any little game. You will want to do a test run on your event to make sure it’s not too easy or too hard. Regardless of what games you make, the big key in this game is leader enthusiasm. Without it, this (or any other game) will be a dud. With that, here are a few more ideas for indoor events on those rainy days.

Example Indoor Events

  • Roll a ball down the length of a slightly tilted table. If it falls into a tin can on the floor at the end, earn ten points.
  • From 15 feet away, fly a paper airplane towards a large pail. If it hits it, earn ten points. If if goes in the pail, earn fifty points.
  • Using the pieces from a Scrabble game, make as many different five letter words as you can. Each word earns you five points.
  • From 10 feet away, roll a football into a hoolahoop on the floor. If it stays inside the hoolahoop, earn ten points.
  • With one person from your team standing on a piece of paper, bounce a ping pong ball to them from 10 feet away. If they catch it after just one bounce, and without stepping off the paper, earn ten points.
  • Taking turns writing just one letter each, write out the alphabet as many times as you can. For each complete alphabet, earn fifty points.