Hold your own TWINKIE NIGHT! – Twinkie Games

TWINKIE NIGHT – 4 Games In One Night!                                                        

TWINKIE TRIVIA, PIN THE HAT ON TWINKIE THE KID, FISHING FOR TWINKIES & THE GREAT TWINKIE COVER UP

I don’t normally list games like this, but this is not an average blog post, this involves the Twinkie! Twinkie Night is not just a  game involving Twinkies, it’s an entire night!

Many student ministries hold themed nights aimed at students bringing friends. Through the upcoming months, I’ll share some of the themes and games we’ve used over the years, but this “invite night” is aimed at the Twinkie.

PREP TIME – 2 Hours+

ITEMS NEEDED – 20+ Boxes of Twinkies (you can buy knock-offs), 4 Giant Twinkie Posters (2’ x 5’ – have someone cut out and draw), Blindfolds, Twinkie Trivia Sheets or PP, 4 Sticks with fishing line and a large hook, Kids Swimming Pool (not inflatable), 4 Buckets/Containers, optional: Digital Scale

GAME TIME – 45 Minutes to 1 Hour

PARTICIPANTS – 4 Even Teams (no more than 15 each- add teams if necessary)

INSTRUCTIONS

Start the night by dividing your group up into teams. Colored wristbands, shirts or lanyards work great. Designate an adult leader over every group (use a student is you are short-handed).

Once teams are split up, hand out the Twinkie Trivia Sheets, or gather teams together and place the questions on your screen. Some of the questions you could ask are:

1. Twinkies were invented in what year? (1930)

2. What was the original flavor used for the filling in Twinkies? (banana)

3. What state is credited with starting the deep-fried Twinkie phenomenon? (Texas, at their state fair)

4. Some people claim that Twinkies are indestructible, but how long is their actual shelf life? (25 days)

5. In what movie did a Twinkie make its guest appearance? (Ghostbusters, Grease, Sleepless In Seattle, Wall E, Zombieland, Ghost-Rider: Spirit of Vengeance or Die Hard)

6. How many Twinkies come in a standard box today? (10)

7. How many Twinkies are sold each year? (over 500 million)

8. How many grams of fat does a Twinkie have? (5)

9. Which city consumes more Twinkies per capita than any other in the world? (Chicago)

10. When Twinkies were first introduced, they sold two for a ___? (Nickel)

Use multiple choice on these and feel free to reword or invent your own questions. Maybe video someone eating as many Twinkies as possible before hand and show a clip of them revealing exactly how many they could shove down their pie hole!

Next up is Pin The Hat On Twinkie The Kid.

This game requires some prep work. I recommend getting one or two leaders or students to draw a giant Twinkie and then cut it out. Two feet wide and five feet tall would be great. Find a place in the room where you can hang the Twinkies (hang them with push pins so they don’t fall and remember to leave space so each team can have room to play).

Next, have your artists draw at least two hats on cardstock for each Twinkie The Kid. You will need to put some double-sided tape on the back of the hats (or have them use push pins if the wall is not too hard) so that they will stick to the wall or poster.

Once you are all set up and ready to play, line your students up in a single file line about 10 feet from their teams Twinkie. Have them put their blindfolds on and have your team leaders tell them when they need to go.

Once the game starts, allow each team to place their hat and then send through the rest of your line. Designate points for those who are close or perfect in their placement. Let everyone in the line go at least once, or set a time limit for everyone.

This game will require a fair amount of work from your team leaders. They will need to tell students when to go and will also need to remove the hats from the wall as they are keeping track of points. It may sound a bit chaotic, but if each leader understands their role it will be fairly simple.

Our third game is Fishing For Twinkies.

Before everyone arrives, find four sticks (broom handles work great), tie fishing line to them and attach a decent size hook. You will also need to have a kiddie pool filled with Twinkies (at least 50) and one bucket/container for each team to drop their Twinkies into.

The actual game is fairly self-explanatory, but make sure that you explain to the students how it works. The basic concept is to have each person take their “fishing pole” to the kiddie pool to fish out as many Twinkies as possible in 30 seconds. If they catch something, they put it in their teams bucket. Once their time is up, the next person takes their turn.

This game should take 5-10 minutes to play, and getting Twinkies to stay together on a hook is harder than it sounds! When everyone has gone, or your pond is empty, weigh each teams catch on a digital scale (or use your eyes if you can’t get a scale). Once you’ve weighed in, award each team points based upon their haul.

The final game in TWINKIE NIGHT is The Great Twinkie Cover Up.

Until now, things have been fairly tame with the Twinkies, but we are about to go crazy. Each team will need to designate one person for the cover up, and they will need to be able to get really, really messy!

The game is simple, but short. Each team will have two minutes to bust open 3-5 boxes of Twinkies. Once they open them up, they must carefully tear apart the Twinkies and use the cream filling as an adhesive. At the end of the time, peel off the Twinkies and place them in a bucket so that they can be measured. The team that sticks the most Twinkies to their designated player wins!

This is a great game to shoot video for or take pictures of. If you are a student ministry, make sure to throw these up on your ministry’s Facebook page or Instagram account. If you make a video, don’t wait more than a few days to post it- your kids will love showing it off too!

BONUS TIPS

1. Explain the games to your leaders beforehand. This ensures that the games move smoothly and clears up any confusion. It may seem clear in your head, but it isn’t always clear in reality!

2. Plan and organize. When you play an entire night of games, it’s easy to lose track of time or forget where you put things. I recommend having someone who knows how every game works and where everything is- a second you so to speak.

3. Promote your event. Make small touch cards for students to take and hand out. Mail out postcards. Leave Twinkies at your students homes, on their cars (wrapped!), or in your youth room. Be creative and get people’s attention.

4. Have Twinkies after the night is over. If possible, have someone deep fry some or make a Twinkie cake. Remember, use who you have and think outside the sponge!

When we do nights like this, we do it with the purpose of sharing the Gospel. Games are great and they are a lot of fun, but as a Student Minister, my goal is to see lives transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.

The myth about Twinkies is that they last forever, so maybe work that into a salvation message for your students. Everything, yes, even Twinkies, will come to an end one day.

If you decide to use any or all of these games, we want to hear back from you. Take a quick moment to share a comment at the bottom. We would greatly appreciate it!

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