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Everyone wants to cool off when the weather gets hot. A frozen T-shirt game is a great way to do it. It's engaging, interactive and fun. You can play with kids, teens, adults or mixed groups. The best type of frozen T-shirt game for your next gathering will depend on your environment, the number of people involved and the makeup of the group that is present.
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You'll want to get enough T-shirts for each group of three to four people. If each player is going to be on his own team, you'll want more. Make sure the T-shirts are similar to each other so the game is fair.
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At least a day ahead of time, soak the T-shirts in water. Get them completely saturated but wring them out so there isn't a lot of excess water. If they're too wet when they go into the freezer, the game is too challenging to enjoy.
Fold the wet T-shirts neatly and uniformly, checking that each has about the same amount of moisture.
Put them into gallon freezer bags and freeze them overnight. By ensuring you do this consistently, you guarantee that no team has an advantage over another.
When it's time to play, take the bags with the shirts out of the freezer. Break participants into teams of about three or four players and give each one a bag with a shirt. Play outdoors to avoid a wet mess in the house. The object of the game is to be the first team with a teammate able to successfully wear the shirt (arms and head through the appropriate holes). You can set your own rules about how the teams can achieve this. For example, decide whether they can use household items, such as hot water, a hair dryer or another heating implement.
You can tweak the rules a couple of ways to make it more exciting or less challenging if you're playing with kids. You can add extra water to the freezer bags to make it more challenging. The shirts will be coated in ice, meaning that there's more to defrost.
You can also set rules about what objects players can and can't use. People will get creative, so be prepared. Since it's a water game, you might want to restrict players to items they can find outdoors. If you would like to make the game easier, especially for kids, remove the shirts from the freezer 30 minutes to one hour or so before playing so they start to thaw.
Finally, you don't have to play the frozen T-shirt race in teams. If you have enough shirts and space in your freezer, you can give a shirt to each person and have everyone play as individuals.
For any of these games to be successful, you must plan ahead. Experts and past players recommend freezing the shirts well in advance, at least overnight. Ideally, put them in the freezer a couple of days ahead of time, especially if you're playing on a sweltering day. If the T-shirts aren't appropriately frozen, the game is a bust. On the other hand, ensure that you don't saturate them too much. If the shirts are encased in ice, the game becomes too difficult, especially for kids.
Prizes always make games more enjoyable. Sometimes, bragging rights are enough, but adding a reward raises the stakes for kids. Teens might need a little incentive to engage in the game in the first place.
