Anyone else play this bizarre children’s party game?
Posted by Northern_Lights_2@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 187 comments
When I was around ten or eleven years old my sisters and I attended a classmates birthday party. For one of the games the mother brought out two of the father’s sweatsuits, and we had to nominate two other children to wear them.
They put them on over their clothes and then the suits were stuffed with balloons so they ended up looking like the Michelin man. My poor sister was one of the nominees. In our defense we didn’t know what we were nominating people for. The birthday girls mother then handed the rest of us sewing stick pins and told the Michelin sweatsuit wearers they had a ten second head start to start running before the rest of us chased them down with our pins. It was the most bizarre party game I’ve ever seen. Did anyone else play this or was this family just crazy?
We’re all xennials here so, at least where I grew up, parents just dropped us off and left. Maybe this is one of the reasons parents attend birthday parties now…
Tenzipper@reddit
Scars are just memories other people can see.
JessDesserts95@reddit
We did "dress up in dad clothes" frequently at birthday parties and sleepovers at that age, but as a relay race. Each team would be given socks, shoes, pants, shirt, coat, tie and hat. Everyone on the team would work together to get a team mate dressed in the dad clothes (over their own clothes), and then they would run a bit away, spin around a few times and then come back and everyone would work to get that team member undressed and then repeat for all of the team members. We had a blast - though running in the huge pants and shoes was quite difficult! No balloons involved. :)
SamLosco780@reddit
We had one just called the wrap up game. A prize, usually a bag of candy, was put in a cardboard box and wrapped in multiple layers of gift wrap and lots of tape. Everyone would sit in a circle and a pair of dice would get passed around. If you rolled doubles you would have to put on a house coat, a scarf a hat and a pair of gloves then try to unwrap the gift until someone else rolled doubles then they would rip all the stuff off you put it on and try to get into the package.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
We played that too. Canadian? You said ‘house coat’.
SamLosco780@reddit
I am Canadian yes haha
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Me too on mom’s side. Minnesotan dad. :)
SamLosco780@reddit
Nice! What part of Canada is your mom from?
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Alberta. We have family in BC too. What about you?
SamLosco780@reddit
I’m from Edmonton originally but live in BC now
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Mom was born in Edmonton!
SamLosco780@reddit
Haha small world do you live in the US?
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
I do right now but I spent many, many years out of it. Just here for work.
cellrdoor2@reddit
We played this too! Except we had a rhyme about hot potato and you had to pass it as fast as possible until the rhyme was finished. Whoever had it at that point would unwrap one layer. The person to unwrap the last layer took the prize.
False-Cookie3379@reddit
Serious question, where about did you grow up? I’m wondering if it’s a regional thing? We played a ton of “minute to win it” types of games but I’ve never stabbed anyone at a birthday party 😂
sweetassassin@reddit
Sounds like a purge activity.
spinereader81@reddit
I played the version where you hug each other to burst the balloons. Much safer.
Vorpal_Socks@reddit
Not exactly. We had a similar game where one kid dressed like a mummy in gasoline soaked rags and the rest of the kids chased them with matches. /s
al_m1101@reddit
The most bizarre party game to me, in retrospect, is bobbing for apples.
They had us deadass sticking our open mouths in the community bucket of everyone's saliva, snot and hair dander. 😆
Silverdocz@reddit
Yep. Bobbing for apples & pin the wart on the witch every October birthday!
cellrdoor2@reddit
We played one where we had to try and eat a donut tied on a string suspended from the ceiling, but at least we each got our own doughnuts!
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
We did that as well but it was so sad when your donut fell to the ground and your arms were tied behind your back.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Yeah, I hated that one too.
cbih@reddit
Is this some kind of old school Slavic thing or was the mom just a psycho?
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Their last name didn’t seem Slavic. The family had just recently moved to our area. Their children had been home schooled before they started attending our school. Maybe the mom was just insane.
Key-Shift5076@reddit
As a former child who was homeschooled, I will vouch for the mother being insane.
brainvheart143@reddit
lol
Some-Exchange-4711@reddit
https://i.redd.it/os3qzj1kgptg1.gif
brainvheart143@reddit
Yep. There it is.
joecarter93@reddit
“The children had been homeschooled…”
I think you just found your answer.
WendyPortledge@reddit
We were taught to never run with pointy objects..
degeneratesumbitch@reddit
This is some Balki Bartokomous shit.
qtjedigrl@reddit
I'mterrified of balloons and I'm wondering if I played this party game at some point and blocked it out. That sounds horrible
exitcode137@reddit
OP you are not alone, I've played this game too!
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Wow, really?!! Incredible! I hope you weren’t in the suit.
Tinyhulk27@reddit
In boyscouts at a big ( multiple troop "jamboree" ) campout. We had a game once that involved 1 balloon held in the back of the shirt while the weapons were rolled up newspapers called "slay the dragon".
Like the crooked dart toss game at the fair this underinflated balloon did NOT want to pop. After the "dragon" took a walloping from another six 12 year old boys he was actively yelling "it's right here" while pointing said balloon towards the group to encourage the games end.
I think we were the 1st, and last, troop who got to play that game.
Needles would have been a mercy for that poor kid.
sweetbabybladefeet@reddit
Were you two at the same party?
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Maybe we were haha.
Dickrubin14094@reddit
What are you talking about?
KnifeFightAcademy@reddit
CrazyMinute69@reddit
Pooh_Lightning@reddit
To make the game safer you could use lit cigarettes to pop the balloons instead of needles.
Ill-Percentage-3276@reddit
Smh thinking about how these are the same Boomer parents that have criticized our parenting choices along the way 😄
noonesaidityet@reddit
No, but in church youth group they had us play the game where you and another person had to pop balloons between your bodies without using your hands.
I don't think I need to explain what that game very quickly devolved into, and why it ended after the first two people.
Somebody_or_other_@reddit
RuPaul's Drag Race did this as a mini challenge once, it was hilarious
Somebody_or_other_@reddit
I don't remember this specifically but we played a lot of random and bizarre games just like this at the evangelical church youth groups I attended in the early nineties (very much against my will).
Holmes221bBSt@reddit
Nope & I don’t think giving a bunch of hyper kids needles and telling them to run poke another kid is the best idea.
Obvious_Land_5185@reddit
Yeah that sounds like one of those ideas that probably seemed funny at the time but is actually kind of wild and unsafe when you think about it.
scruffigan@reddit
Counterpoint: as a kid, I would have been pretty into it.
vercingetorix08@reddit
Jarts was dope, but like the way you played it we called "suicide" by throwing the jarts in the air and then waiting to run out of the way at the last second
BobMortimersButthole@reddit
My friends and I played a similar game using a bow and arrows. Our only "shelter" was a thin piece of plywood we'd nailed haphazardly to a branch in an attempt to make a tree fort.
ohforsmegsake@reddit
Oh, we did something similar. Using throwing knives and foam boogie boards shields in our young teens. It was tonnes of fun until the knives got confiscated by our parents
Some-Exchange-4711@reddit
We did blowgun darts. Really hard to see lol
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
We were, except for, of course, the two running away.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
It truly wasn’t.
neonblackiscool@reddit
But peak Xennial
ambercrayon@reddit
My brothers would not have survived this game I'm pretty sure
Lil_Elf81@reddit
TryTwiceAsHard@reddit
Close, they tied balloons to our ankles and everyone ran around and stomped andpopped one another's. It scared me so deeply I hid from everyone. Probably one of the first moments that I look back on and realize I was on the spectrum. 🤣
TiEmEnTi@reddit
I have never heard of this...
Some different kind of version of this more like pin the tail on the donkey could actually have some merit, but I'm really struggling with all that prep just for the game to be the Marshmallow Men to getting chased down in 20 seconds and stabbed en masse
RealityOk9823@reddit
Did this take place on the Ides of March, perchance? :D
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Et tu, Brute?
It was so long ago but it couldn’t have been March. We were in the backyard and there was grass and where I grew up there was still snow in March. I remember we didn’t have coats on. I guess it’s easier to stab someone with a pin that way…
arcxjo@reddit
You mean "etui".
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Touché
Some-Exchange-4711@reddit
Gesundheit
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
We did ask our parents to never accept a sleepover invitation after that.
jadethebard@reddit
Um.. No...
PlantsMcSoil@reddit
Uh, no
MyAvarice4@reddit
Haha. No. But my dad once made up a similar game that involved middle schoolers, balloons, and a couple XXXL shirts. This was a little more calm, though. The goal was to fit the most balloons in your team’s shirt, worn by a teammate. It required some very basic strategy (pick the smallest person, etc.). The thumb tacks were used only to count the balloons by popping them through the shirt to see which team stuffed in the most.
Preparation-Logical@reddit
For some reason I do remember kids in huge outfits filled with balloons, but being chased down by kids with pins does not sound familiar at all.
Kellbows@reddit
Gosh dangit why is this a thing?
witty_user_ID@reddit
I remember kids in suits with balloons too but I think it was something from British children's television and was a part of an obstacle course or challenge maybe?
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Maybe you blocked it out…
i_chose_this_shit@reddit
mom_bombadill@reddit
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Haha, I’ll take that as a no. I don’t know why I was thinking of it. In retrospect it was a very WTF moment.
TotallyNotRobotEvil@reddit
This is some channel zero stuff right here.
NandoMoriconi@reddit
You attended a party hosted by that crazy, bloodthirsty family in the movie Ready or Not (2019). I’m glad you survived to tell the tale, OP!
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
I haven’t seen it but I guess I’ll have to watch it now.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
I sent my sister this thread. She said she’s glad you all can laugh at her suffering. hahaha
blamberr@reddit
No, man. Shit no.
veiled-nomore99@reddit
lol. What?! Wow. I 100% have seen the first part of that…but chasing them around with needles is insane.
ohforsmegsake@reddit
Don't run with scissors kids, but it's cool to STAB EACH OTHER WITH TAILORING PINS
mmm_unprocessed_fish@reddit
My sister and I both hated any game that involved popping balloons. Used to be like a relay race where you had to sit on a balloon to pop it. Nope.
Browndogsmom@reddit
…
CombinationSimilar86@reddit
Yes. I think I still have some pictures from a bday party where this game was played. OP, where did you grow up? Northern MN here.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Minnesota. Duck, duck grey duck, anyone? We were down near the Cities but I still have family up in Northern MN.
1handmandit@reddit
That game is called "Pay the Tuition, Therapist's Kids Edition."
kohmaru@reddit
TheWorldIsNotOkay@reddit
The closest thing to this I remember is that at some of my birthday parties between the ages of around 8 to 10, my dad would put slips of paper inside balloons, tape the balloons to a sheet of plywood, and give each of the birthday guests three darts to try to pop balloons and win whatever little prize was indicated by the slip inside. They were generally pretty cheap prizes of the sort you might get out of a vending machine, but at that age it didn't matter. And there were always a few better prizes on the board if you were lucky to pop the right balloons.
Of course if not thrown accurately, a dart thrown at a balloon can sometimes bounce off -- and occasionally directly back at the thrower. And kids of that age don't necessarily have the best manual dexterity, or experience throwing darts. So it was a pretty exciting game, even as a spectator. I don't actually remember any injuries, but there were definitely some near misses.
After I was 12 or so, though, most of my birthday parties tended to be held at the local skating rink, and my dad's dart board prizes were replaced by a small bucket of tokens for the arcade games.
New_Needleworker_473@reddit
So did anyone get stitches? We never played that game. The parents got drunk and the kids entertained themselves. We used to play a game called "stick it". Each person had a knife. Like a decent pocket knife. And you would throw it on the ground and your opponent had to put their foot there. You alternate feet and first person who can't do it, loses. I was flexible and a good knife thrower so I loved that game. No one ever had a knife in the foot that I can rememeber. But we also played "tarzan" which meant we climbed the oak to the top if the shed and ran across the roof, yelling like Tarzan, and trying to catch onto the branches of a line of olive trees. Not smart but most of us did fine. There was a retaining wall to the side so you just had to shimmy over from your branch. One kid, Eric, was a little chubby that summer. He broke the branch he grabbed and we were so high up that the branch actually came down in his head. Nothing sobers up a room of drunk parents more than the informer running inside and screaming "Eric has a branch stuck out of his skull!!!". Poor guy. He also peed on the electric fence for $1. He somehow managed to go on and have like a half dozen kids. 🤣
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Haha, no, but we used to jump off the garage roof and deck into the snow. My sisters and I also used to choreograph these gymnastics routines on this sort of wide bannister that went down to the front door landing and down to the basement. We could have fallen down two flights of stairs and broken our necks dancing on an incline like that in our swim suits. We wanted to be Mary Lou Retton.
New_Needleworker_473@reddit
That is great! Double points if you made a VHS of it like a music video for MTV. So far none of the ones I was in have leaked to the internet. Lol!
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Thank god no internet growing up! Nobody wanted to see our interpretive ice skating dance to the phantom of the opera.
New_Needleworker_473@reddit
I remember watching and rewatching the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie so we could learn the dance routine. I am positive someone recorded that on VHS.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Post it, post it!
I distinctly remember a road trip with a stop in South Dakota where for some reason my sisters and I thought it looked like the hill Maria spins around on at the beginning of The Sound of Music. The home video consists of one of us spinning and singing ‘the hills are alive’ while someone else knocks her off screen shrieking ‘no, I’m Maria’ and then starting to spin until they got knocked off screen as well.
We also used to put on our mother’s hideous bridesmaids dresses from the 70’s and write very melodramatic soap operas where we all got elaborate death scenes set to Barber’s Adagio in G. A popular scenario was taking the train to Bermuda, largely because we knew it was where one disappeared never to be seen again. We didn’t really consider at the time that a train to Bermuda might present a whole other set of catastrophes.
MetaPhalanges@reddit
Should have completed the party with some blindfolded lawn darts and a round the good time classic Find Out Who Can't Swim!.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
We were pretty good at no rules backyard hockey but you have some excellent suggestions. Are you my childhood friend’s mother?
MetaPhalanges@reddit
I wish. She was a legend but we student picked up as much as we could. And she always preached creativity above all, which has led to some innovations I wish she could see. RIP Mean Girl.
RegularWorry1486@reddit
WTF?
AquariusRising1983@reddit
This sounds pretty freaking unhinged and with great possibility of bodily harm to children lol.
Though it does remind me of a story my Dad used to tell. He and his siblings used to use my grandma's straight pins as darts. They would tape paper fletchings to the non pointy end to make them fly straighter, then roll up a peice of paper and shoot them at each other. My poor aunt was the only girl of six siblings and she was frequently the target.
They all used to tell stories at family gatherings about how if you got good speed on them, they would stick pretty deeply into your skin and how they knew it was a good game if they all had several of them dangling from their arms at the end, and the game usually stopped when my aunt or the youngest brother went and told on the others lol.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
My grandfather used to tell us of story of how he wanted to fly. So he climbed up as high as he could in a tree and my great uncle chopped it down. He said he remembers how much it hurt on the way to the doctors to get his broken arm set and how he could feel every bump in the road; but then he would say with this ecstatic look on his face ‘for a brief moment, I could fly’.
unicorn-beard@reddit
Oh my god! I totally remember playing that game when I was like 9.... NOT!
Let's bring back "not" jokes
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Let’s do it! NOT!
Appropriate-Diver301@reddit
No but I do remember my best friend had balloons with things in them that we had to pop with pins. They weren't attached to any children at the time, though....
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Well, where’s the fun in that. It can’t be a good children’s party game unless someone is clumsily running from a pack of children with needles.
Appropriate-Diver301@reddit
I never said it was fun. I was too scared to pop the balloons 😅
DeterminedErmine@reddit
Uhhh op
brattybabyc@reddit
No way. But it sounds fun as hell 😂😂😂
Maleficent-Box4114@reddit
I may have to do this to an adult.
Morriganx3@reddit
Oh good, I also think it sounds fun! I gather from the rest of the responses that we are the crazy ones
awesometoenail@reddit
thankful I found you both, I also think it sounds fun
FoofaFighters@reddit
katie_cat_eyes@reddit
Yeah, man, noooo. The weirdest my family ever got was whoopee cushion musical chairs at a sleepover.
al_m1101@reddit
Now why did we never think to add a whoopee cushion to musical chairs? 😆😜
katie_cat_eyes@reddit
So there was this local show called Steampipe Alley hosted by the comedian, Mario Cantone. And he had this on his show. I am desperately trying to see if I can find a clip.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
I hope you can find it!
katie_cat_eyes@reddit
OK... I legitimately cannot find it. I may send my brother on the case in a few.
But here's this... this is something... https://youtu.be/L0EJyy2O_Dg?si=O2tOYvVO8h8ch4cO
But yeah, it was like Pee Wee's Playhouse, where they'd show old clips, combined with a Wild and Crazy Kids or Double Dare kind of vibe. Instead of Pee Wee, we got Mario Cantone, who said some things that went way over our heads. Hilarious.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
That sounds much more fun.
ThisIsADaydream@reddit
My family did this, and we were not homeschooled. We're from the midwest....grew up in a rural area.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Also Midwest. This family had moved from a rural area. We were in the suburbs.
ThisIsADaydream@reddit
Maybe it's a rural Midwestern thing then. My family definitely wasn't the only family around who played that game at parties.
New_me_310@reddit
deemarieforlife@reddit
You had me up until the needle 💉
SanchoPliskin@reddit
Jerkrollatex@reddit
I grew up on a navy base. We did a lot of weird shit to entertain ourselves as kids. This was not one of those things.
HouseOfAplesaus@reddit
EmmalouEsq@reddit
aaaayyyylmaoooo@reddit
why is this ringing all kinds of bells?!
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Maybe you were at the same party with us?
valley72@reddit
No, but I remember always eating dirty money cakes at every birthday party!
ThePlatypusOfDespair@reddit
What?
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
It was a chocolate cake and then the top was crushed up Oreo’s that look like dirt and sometimes people put plastic flowers or gummy worms on top.
Looked like this.
https://kathrynskitchenblog.com/oreo-dirt-cake/
TrixieBastard@reddit
Only gummy worms, because that's way more fun than flowers you can't eat.
It's even better if the dirt cake is served in individual cups with a layer of chocolate pudding underneath, which is the first way I ever saw it. My tiny mind was blown 😂
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Was that the dirt cake with the crushed Oreo’s on top and gummy worms?
valley72@reddit
Lol no, you'd go to birthday party's and the cake would have coins baked in it. Like nickels pennies, dimes. It was a very common thing where I grew up in the 80's.
anhydrousslim@reddit
valley72@reddit
Hahahahaha, maybe it was a Canadian thing!🤷
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
How are your teeth?
TheLastBoat@reddit
taleofbenji@reddit
One time my mom got a phone call from the police after dropping my sister off at a birthday party. The mother got pulled over because she was driving around town with all 8 girls in the trunk with the trunk open.
The 90s were wild!
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
I have ridden in the trunk of a car on more than one occasion.
lovelylittleegg@reddit
No. Just you
NorthernLolal@reddit
Nope
Easy-Doubt1373@reddit
We had something similar, though not quite so extreme, where you taped a balloon to the back of your clothes and the other kids would chase you with rolled up newspapers to try to pop it.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
So beating each other instead, haha. Didn’t we all have fun childhoods.
Easy-Doubt1373@reddit
You didn’t get hit if you were fast enough! Lol, fun times.
Expensive-Day-3551@reddit
That seems very dangerous lol
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
My sister yelled ‘ouch’ a lot. She wasn’t amused.
cranberries87@reddit
I’ve never heard of this, but if I had, I would have had the kids in the youth group I used to lead doing this! 😆
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
I have played that one too.
45babycakes@reddit
We did dad's office shirt and tie, you raced another kid by bottoming the shirt and slipping the premade tie over your head the fastest.
LSTmyLife@reddit
zoeystardust@reddit
SleepDeprivedMama@reddit
I assume this is as to amuse the parents to watch without thought of weirdness of game.
I saw a video today of someone who made all the family kids wear those air blowup costume to pick up Easter eggs for the egg hunt. Adults were amused. Children did not appear to be.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
The thing is, at that time where we were parents didn’t stay for parties they just dropped you off in the driveway. I guess maybe the crazy mom enjoyed it.
Lethave@reddit
I've heard of balloons pinned to the shirt but not under. And the only time I've played anything close was a Double Dare themed party
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Haha, great show.
CliftonHangerBombs@reddit
I agree with this comment. Whether I participated in such a game or saw it on TV, I have no idea. But I remember it.
What I do know is that it NEVER ended with needles and a chase!! How frightening!!!
DisposableSaviour@reddit
Adventurous_Pin_344@reddit
The first part reminded me of something from my past (not the chasing and sticking with puns part, though.)
I lived with my grandmother one summer in college because I had an unpaid internship and my grandfather had recently passed. She started calling me when I returned to school to tell me I had left a track suit, and that she would mail it to me. I told her I was pretty sure it wasn't mine. A few weeks later, this oversized, men's Nike sweat suit shows up in the mail. It was clearly my grandfather's. He probably bought it with the intention of exercising and then never did, and never wore it.
I, a very thin female, decided it would be the perfect drinking and shenanigans outfit because it was so huge on me. So, I donned it one weekend and went out partying. I looked ridiculous and still have some excellent pictures documenting the tomfoolery. Where that sweat suit ended up, I have no idea.
Emotional_Dot_5207@reddit
I vaguely remember a game where you had balloons under clothes but you popped them by running into each other. No pins.
brainvheart143@reddit
Never in my life
Bugs-Ear@reddit
This sounds material for the next season of Squid Game.
MissManipulatrix@reddit
Reminds me of the ‘party game’ in Ready or Not.
Quite odd and absolutely blood will end up drawn.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
I guess they were ahead of their time.
ApplesBananasRhinoc@reddit
Was John Wayne Gacy there?
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
Hahaha, not that I recall but I was a child so I wouldn’t know for sure… 🤔
OkBiscotti1140@reddit
We did the balloons in the sweatsuit thing. But it was just like a race to see which team could stuff the balloons in fastest and run around the dining room table. No pins involved.
EveryDiscussion@reddit
Run Bibendum! Run!
ThePlatypusOfDespair@reddit
Right? The man has a name, people!
Healthy-Resist-5965@reddit
Yes, I hated it.
mrshelmstreet@reddit
kookapo@reddit
I've seen something kind of like it where you had to like pop the balloons yourself by like sitting on them and you tried to pop them all in a set time or something (it's been years) but the idea of everyone chasing kids with pins is cracking me up!
Secure_Bed_9110@reddit
_ficklelilpickle@reddit
Hammerhandle@reddit
Holy hell that sounds like a terrible idea...
Kinc4id@reddit
You know you’re a xennial when one of your childhood games includes kids running around with needles.
swaggering_yak@reddit
No-Hospital559@reddit
Don_T_Blink@reddit
No but we blew up balloons until they popped. I hated that game!
ColdMastadon@reddit
Didujustcallmejobin@reddit
Stab the crab!
Mudcreek47@reddit
Jupitersd2017@reddit
No this isn’t one I’ve heard of, haha that’s horrible
wrestlegirl@reddit
bivo979@reddit
No. That seems kind of old to be playing games like that. And just freaking weird.
Northern_Lights_2@reddit (OP)
They were an odd family.