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CHALYMPICS ARE BACK!!!!
What are the CHALYMPICS?
The CHALYMPICS is an 8 day long, 7 event series we partake in every year of Chanukah (we take a break friday night for shabbos!).
Every night, after we light the menorah, instead of opening presents, we set up a game, using inexpensive materials that are easily purchased or that are already lying around the house, and all the kids compete.
Like the real Olympics, we start off with a torch lighting ceremony (CLICK HERE to see how to DIY your own CHALYMPIC torches!), the winners stand on appropriate leveled chairs and receive their award at the end of each night, and of course we end the games with another torch lighting ceremony.
Through out the 8 days, we keep track of the winners on a giant score card and at the end of the CHALYMPICS there is a final champion who wins the ultimate prize…BRAGGING RIGHTS!
Onto the final and most vital piece of all this:
The events and their rules:
These are the 7 events my children will be competing in this year. If some of these games are not suitable for your children, you can watch our videos from years past for some other ideas. You can also come up with your own games that are more appropriate for your family!
*A few things to know:
-All games are based on 5 contestants. Adjust accordingly.
-Games are chosen specifically to avoid judges having to “choose” winners. This keeps emotions a little more at bay. We find that having to choose, who built the “best” menorah can cause more problems than ‘who replicated the menorah the fastest or who got the most blind tastes correct”. If you do choose to incorporate your own games into the CHALYMPICS (which I do highly suggest because no one knows your family better than you!), I would suggest you keep this aspect of the games in mind.
NEW THIS YEAR: BONUS CHALLENGES
Due to having a wider age range of children competing in this years CHALYMPICS we have added a BONUS CHALLENGE ELEMENT. Players ages 9 and up will be required to do a few minor extra steps in certain challenges to level the playing field.
BONUS CHALLENGES will be italicized and in this color!
NOW, LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!
OPENING CEREMONIES + LIVE MEMORY
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
The homemade torches
12 sets of identical shekel store prizes. (2 key chains, 2 silly patty’s…)
24 aluminum 9×13 pans (or any size, you just want to make sure that the prices fit fully underneath them)
For the opening ceremony, play Olympic music, and have the contestants line up in age order. Light the oldest ones torch and then he lights the persons next to him. Continue until all torches are lit and then take a ceremonious walk around the living room.
(Blow out torches and save for closing ceremony)
HOW TO PLAY:
Send the children out of the room.
Arrange the prizes on a large space on the floor, separating identical prizes, in a grid like pattern.
Cover each prize with an aluminum pan.
Call the children back into the room.
Now play memory….
Give each a child a chance to uncover two prizes. If the prizes are not the same, replace the pan over the prize and it is the next Childs turn.
When someone uncovers identical prizes they keep it.
Play until all prizes have been accounted for.
We like to end this game with a prize swap. No one can keep two prizes and they must trade. Sometimes they need our help to facilitate this but usually it goes smoothly since they are all equally small, 1 shekel (=prizes!
DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT
OBJECT OF THE GAME: collect as many points as you can by guiding a ball down to strings and dropping the ball into designated cups below with out dropping the ball along the way.
2 long pieces of either tack rope or even a small sheet or table cloth rolled up and tie with a few rubberbands
Something to tie the ropes to (think leg of a heavy table, bar on a window, even a door knob
Tennis ball or baseball
3 buckets/bowls that are different sizes (1 large, 1 medium, 1 small)
3 various size cups (big enough to hold the ball at least)
Tie the ends of the rope to the bar or table leg.
You are looking to be able to hold the other ends of the rope at a distance from the bar and make a “V”
That is what the ball will balance on.
Place the bowls in a line (for extra difficulty you can zig zag them instead of a straight line) 2 feet beneath the ropes.
They will have to tilt the ropes down ward to help the ball slowly makes it way down the ropes and drop it in the bowl/cup of their choice.
The bowls closest to the starting point (the bar or table leg) will be worth the least amount of points. The farther along the ball gets the higher the value of the bowls/cups and the smaller they become.
To play: the player will begin with holding the two ropes tightly.
A judge will walk over to the bar, place the ball on the ropes and the player will begin.
Each player will be given 8 turns.
The player to accumulate the most points is the winner!
WALK-A-MILE RELAY
I’m pretty sure this is my best game ever. Basically, im gonna strap on some big belly and give them a bunch of tasks to do around the house.
OBJECTIVE:
Complete a series of 6 tasks with a giant ball strapped to your stomach.
1 basketball
(I will have a few different size balls to accomadte the different heights of the children)
Masking tape or duct tape
3 pairs of socks
2 shoes (ideal if it is not a machine set)
1 crumpled shirt
1 pair of pants, turned inside out
1 laundry basket
A bowl filled with colorful adashim or m&m’s (go through the bowl make sure there is only 15 blue candy in the bowl mixed into all the other colors)
4 slices white bread per person
2 sandwich baggies per person
2 dinner knives (not sharp, regular flatware knife)
Jar of chocolate spread (or peanut butter or whatever sandwich filling your kids like but never eat because why would they actually eat the lunch you have to make?)
2 cute stickers per person
Strap the bowl to the stomach of the player using tape.
Make sure its on their reallllly well.
Start the timer and have the player go through each challenge.
The player to finish the fastest wins.
You can customize the challenges to include any fun ideas you come up with!
CHALLENGE 1: PUT ON SOCKS
Place 1 pair of socks on a chair. Players must put on a pair of socks completely. Then remove them and place them back on the chair
Then they can move on to challenge 2
CHALLENGE 2: CLEAN UP!
Place remaining clothing items around the room (I will mark the spot where I put each piece with a bit of tape so that the game is fair for all players)
The player will have to run around the room, pick up items ONE AT A TIME and place them in the laundry basket.
*Pants use be turned back the right way!
Once all the items are in the basket they can move on to challenge 3
CHALLENGE 3: STAND UP
Sounds easy enough (insert evil laugh here)
Pick a spot on the floor, not near anything like a chair or a wall and player must sit down (completely, tush on floor Indian style) and stand back up 6 times.
When the stand up the sixth time they can move on to challenge 4
CHALLENGE 4: BUT I DON’T LIKE PEAS
And I don’t like picking them out of your food. But here we are.
Place 2 bowls on the table. One filled with the adashim and an empty one.
Player must remove every single blue candy from the bowl and place in the empty bowl.
When that is complete player can move on to challenge 5
CHALLENGE 5: ROLL OVER
Mark off a spot on the floor with a piece of tape.
Mark off another spot on the floor, five feet away.
Player must lay down on the floor and roll from start point to end point.
Then stand up and move onto the last challenge.
CHALLENGE 6: LUNCH TIME
Tired, worn out, back hurts, not in the mood to make lunches… hahahaha…TOO BAD!
Set up 4 slices of bread, 2 knives, a jar of chocolate spread and 2 sandwich baggies.
Each player must make 2 sandwiches, CUT THE CRUST OFF, and place each one in a sandwich baggie.
Seal each baggy with a cute sticker and place nicely on the table.
Scream done when finished and stop the clock!
The player to complete all the tasks first is the winner of the walk a mile relay!
FILL YOUR VESSEL
This game is an easy set up which I love AND because each player pulls their own weight it’s even playing for everyone
OBJECTIVE: Complete simple tasks along the way as you pull yourself in the laundry basket to the last task.
1 long strong rope or long sheet or piece of fabric tied with rubber bands
4 magna tiles
15 cotton balls
5 markers (switch the caps of the markers so that they are all mismatched)
10 plastic cups
Tie the end of the rope to a bar, door know or table leg
Tie the other end to the laundry basket
Set up tasks beginning with closest to the laundry basket and moving them down the length of the rope to where the other end is.
Task 1 (on the right side of the rope) build a box out of magna tiles
Task 2 (on the left side of the rope) collect cotton balls and place inside laundry basket
Task 3 (on the right) Replace the caps to the markers so they are all correct and place in laundry basket
Task 4 (on the left) stack 10 cups – do not knock them over!
Task 5 (on the right) unwrap 6 (Chanukah gelt) chocolate coins
Finish pulling yourself to the end of the rope and then stand up
The player to complete this the fastest wins!
Note: I will probably add extra stuff for them to add to laundry basket. Think random toys, books… stuff like that!
MISE EN PLACE RELAY SPECIAL SHABBOS EDITION
(aka: it’s been a long week, were tired, you guys cook for Shabbos. TIA)
(yes, this game is proudly borrowed from top chef)
Every year this event looks different. This is this years version.
On the menu: a trio of puff pastry finger foods including: MINI HUSH PUPPIES + DREIDEL MEAT BOREKAS
*This game includes a bonus challenge element!
15 pairs of gloves (3 for each player. I give 3 sets just in case…)
5 plastic cutting boards
5 medium sized bowl filled with 2 peeled boiled (in salted water) and cubed potatoes,
5 whisks, potato mashers, large fork (anything you can use to mash a potato!)
5 small bowls filled with 2 tbsp sautéed onions + 1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp onion soup mix
5 small bowls each filled with 3 tbsp yellow mustard
30 mini hot dogs (6 per person)
30 3X2 inch squares of puff pastry
10 eggs, place 2 each in a small bowl
10 forks, 2 per player
5 pastry brushes or spoons
2 sheets (about 30cm x 28cm) puff pastry
5 dreidel cookie cutters
5 bowls each filled with 1/3 cup chopped meat, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp coast black pepper + 1 clove garlic minced
4 baking sheets lined with parchment
BONUS CHALLENGE INGREDIENT ADD-INS for the 9+ age group
EACH PLAYER 9+ WILL RECEIVE:
Additional 2 puff pastry squares for a total of 8 squares each
A small bowl each filled with 1/4 cup sauerkraut
A small bowl each filled with 1 roasted or sautéed jalapeños (or chopped pickled jalapeños!)
Will increase chopped meat to 1/2 cup instead of 1/3 cup and 3/4 tsp kosher salt instead of 1/2 tsp
Cover your dining room table with plastic.
Set up five separate working stations.
Place a cutting board in the center of each one and one of each ingredient around the cutting board.
Place the ingredients in order of the relay clockwise starting from the bottom left corner of the cutting board.
To play the game each player has to complete each of the dishes of the race before moving onto the next part.
The player that completes both dish challenges first wins.
THIS YEARS CHALLENGES:
Each player must make 6 hush puppies AND 12 mini dreidel meat borekas
BONUS CHALLENGE: Players 9+ must make 8 hush puppies each and 14 mini dreidel borekas
Here’s how its going to go:
Each player will begin by mashing the potatoes (we will be inspecting any any lumps that are deemed to big will need to be further mashed)
Next they will add the sautéed onion mixture to the potatoes and stir.
They can then move on to building the hush puppies.
They will take 1 piece of puff pastry dough, cover with a thin layer of mashed potato mixture leaving to edges (next to each other not opposite each other) with a small border.
Next they will add a small shear of the mustard on the potato
(BONUS CHALLENGE ALERT: older player will be required to make at least 3 of their hush puppies with sauerkraut AND 3 with jalapeño for a total of 8 hush puppies. 2 plain, 3 kraut, 3 spicy)
Next crack eggs into dish and beat with fork.
Use brush or spoon to glaze the top of the hush puppies and place completed hush puppies on baking sheet.
Before moving on to next dish, judges will come and inspect.
If approved they can move on to the meat borekas.
First they will combine meat with spices and garlic.
Mix, set bowl aside.
Wipe off cutting board and lay down 1 piece of puff pastry.
Used dreidel to cut out 15 dreidels.
Place dreidel cut outs next to cutting board, lay down send piece and cut out 15 more.
Next build the boreka.
Place about 1-2 tsp of meat mixture in the center of 15 of the puff pastry dreidels and cover with a second piece of dreidel pastry.
Use a fork to press around the edges and seal!
Brush with reserved beaten egg and place on baking sheet.
BONUS CHALLENGE ALERT: players 9+ must clean their cooking stations. They must discard any paper goods, egg shells, puff pastry scraps etc. and bring all dishes to the kitchen, wipe off into the garbage and place in the sink.
When a player has completed all these tasks the game will pause (everyone will stop what they are doing) judges will inspect and give feedback if necessary.
The first player to complete all the challenges is the winner.
SHAKE IT OFF
Object of the game: To move all your cotton balls from the table to your designated bowl
2 bowls per person
5 small plates filled with vaseline
15 cotton balls per player
Set up a station for each player around a table with 1 bowl filled with 15 cotton balls and a small plate of vaseline
Players must dip their nose in the vaseline and then walk across the room to their designated bowl and shake the cotton ball off into the bowl.
They are not allowed to use their hands and if the cotton ball falls off on the way it is abandoned and they must return to the table to take a new one.
All players will compete at the same time.
The timer will be set to 3 minutes.
Who ever has the most cotton balls in their bowl at the end of three minutes is the winner.
Note: we will only being allowing each player to transfer one cotton bowl at a time due to our highly competitive natures and me not wanting them to dip their entire face in vaseline. Do what works for you.
THE BLIND TASTE TEST + CLOSING CEREMONY
Object of the game: To identify as many foods as possible by simply tasting them while blindfolded.
blindfold, or scarf
a cookie sheet (to contain any spills)
20 different foods that can fit into small bowls or cups
20 small bowls or cups
a kitchen towel
Send the kids out of the kitchen.
Place the cups on the cookie sheet and fill each one with as different edible product. (can be food, drink, snack, condiment, spice…)
Place a kitchen towel over the filled bowls so that no one can see whats underneath.
Call each child one at a time into the kitchen.
Cover their eyes with the blind and remove the kitchen towel.
Help them guide their hand into each bowl one at a time.
They must taste each item and identify it.
Only first answers are accepted to remind them to take their time.
The child that guesses the most right is the winner.
Examples of tasters: Ketchup, Mayo, Honey, Croutons, Salt, Chopped hard boiled egg, Chocolate chips, Captain crunch, Cut up string cheese, Butter, Cucumbers, Red sufganiya jelly, Lemon wedges, Pickles, Plain yogurt, Franks hot sauce, Soda, Peanut butter, Craisins, Pesto, Salad dressing…
CLOSING CEREMONY
Tally up all the medals on the scoreboard.
The person with the most golds, is the overall winner, the person with the second most is the silver medal winner and so on and so forth.
Repeat the torch lighting ceremony only this time the overall winner goes first!
UNTIL NEXT YEAR, THE END.
Keep up with Chalympics and what's happening at PeasLoveNCarrots!
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