There’s no better to get your guests laughing and having a good time than offering them an interesting activity that they haven’t tried before at a baby shower. I stumbled upon a Christmas party version of a saran wrap ball game and knew right away that I had to adapt this as a baby shower game.
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Are you wondering what this is all about? It’s basically a big wad of prizes inside excessive layers of plastic wrap that forms a ball. During each round, someone gets a chance to unwrap as many prizes as they can before another person rolls a double with the dice.
In this post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about the game rules, ideas for prizes, how to keep this challenging for your guests, plus I share a set of baby shower player cards for you download free.
This is perfect as a small group or family activity you can use while keeping safe and social distancing. My family had a great time playing this while hunkering down at home.
How to Make a Plastic Wrapped Prize Ball?
You will need approximately two to three rolls of strong plastic wrap, cling wrap or similar. You will also need a variety of small prizes, around a dozen or so that you can secure inside several layers of plastic.
Some wrap holds better than others so keep that in mind when you make your shopping list. I’ve personally found the Kirkland, Saran or Glad brands pretty reliable. Finally, you’ll need a set of player dice.
Saran Wrap Ball Game Prizes
When deciding on what prizes to include in your saran wrap ball, you will want to keep in mind who is on your guest list. Ask yourself, should this be family-friendly for kids and grandparents, are you mostly hanging out with girlfriends, is this a co-ed party, do you your gifts to reflect the party theme, etc.?
Based on who’s coming you’ll want to keep the gift selection appropriate. I’ve put together the following list to help you brainstorm:
- Gift Cards
- Bath Bombs
- Candy Binkies
- Dollar Bills
- Candy Bars
- Hard candies
- Liquor samplers (for adult party)
- Perfume (for women)
- Homemade coupons
- Theatre tickets
- Lottery tickets (adults)
- Rolled coins
- Gum
- Balloons
- Fidget spinners
- Stress balls
- Bracelets
- Earrings
- Busy bag
- Rubric cube
- Play Doh
- Noise makers
- Manicure set
- Makeup
- Mini Lego set
- Stickers
- Lip Balm
- Gag gifts
- Dud gift (like something from your junk drawer)
As you see, you can get really creative and even add a random blah item to make people laugh, i.e. the nuts and bolts or dead battery from your junk drawer! I’d recommend putting your most valuable prize in the middle of the ball to create suspense since everyone will want to get at it.
How to Make a Cling Wrap Ball
Making a cling wrap ball seem straightforward but I have a few tips to make sure the game is challenging and engaging enough for your friends and family.
Firstly, you may want to avoid wrapping it all in one go because it may be too easy for someone to unwrap it and the game will end very quickly. That said, I’d recommend cutting the wrap ever so often and changing the direction. That will force them to stop and locate the ends which will add a bit more time and effort.
You will also want to make sure to purchase a good quality plastic wrap that sticks together well. Otherwise, the ball will come apart very easily.
Again, start with your most valued prize at the beginning (center of the ball) to make it an exciting destination for all involved.
A good-sized ball will require around three full rolls of plastic wrap. If you are making one just for kids you might want to make a smaller version for the kiddos’ hands. The more plastic you use the bigger and more challenging it will become. So go crazy and use more if you want!
Saran Wrap Ball Game Rules
Now for the fun part: How to play the saran wrap game. The goal is to unwrap as much plastic from the ball as you can and get as many prizes as possible before the next player rolls a double with the dice. Each round consists of an “unwrapper” and a “dice roller.”
Game Instructions:
- Everyone starts out by rolling the dice. Whoever gets the highest number gets to be the first “unwrapper” while the person to their left gets to be the “roller.”
- It’s helpful to roll the dice inside a box or container to help keep the die from jumping all over the place. The game can get heated and as the “roller” will be rolling over and over as quickly as possible to try to stop the other person from getting all the prizes.
- On the count of 3, both the “roller” and the “unwrapper” begin their tasks simultaneously. Any prizes that fall out completely are eligible to be kept. Once the “roller” rolls doubles, they should call out “doubles” and everyone stops.
- The dice and the ball are handed to the person on their left, so the previous “roller” becomes the “unwrapper” and the person next to them gets a chance at the dice.
- The game continues in this fashion with the dice and ball being passed clockwise until the final prize falls out completely. Anything that is partially unwrapped is otherwise passed to the next player who tries their hand.
Optional Modifications
If you feel the game needs to be more challenging, there are a few modifications you can use. One idea is to have the “unwrapper” wear oven mitts or latex gloves. You’ll definitely be making them work hard for those prizes!
Another way to make this more interesting is to add player cards to the game. These baby shower themed cards will reveal special instructions for each round. For example, the “unwrapper” may need to unwrap with the ball above their head, with baby lotion on their hand’s or after reciting a nursery rhyme. You can see how interesting this can get. I’ve illustrated a free printable set of 12 cards that you can download here when you sign up for my newsletter.
The game will take approximately 20 minutes, depending on how big your ball is. I’d suggest adding at least one other main group activity, such as my signature Baby’s First ABC Book, and sprinkle 2 to 3 popular baby shower games like Baby bingo, What’s in Your Purse, or Predictions and advice.
That’s it. I hope you guys have a great time with this baby shower saran wrap ball game. Please comment below and let me know if you used this game at your party, or if you have any suggestions.
