Cotton Ball Games

One bag of cotton balls, five kinds of game: scoop, blow, toss, sort by touch and team relays.

Cotton Ball Games

Show all 35
  1. Nose-Height Drop Into the Jar1. The old clothespin drop, with something that drifts. Stand a wide-mouthed jar on the floor.2. Stand over it, heels together, and hold a cotton ball at the tip of your nose.3. Let go. No bending and no throwing down.4. Ten drops each. The most in the jar wins.Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: a wide-mouthed jar and ten cotton balls.
  2. Three Sizes Into Three Cups1. Make three sizes: ten whole cotton balls, ten pulled in half and ten made of two rolled together.2. Mix all thirty in a bowl.3. The blindfolded player sits and sorts them into three cups, small, middle and large.4. After one minute, score a point for each one in the right cup.Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a bowl, three cups, cotton balls and a blindfold.
  3. Elbow Pinch1. Put a heap of cotton balls on one table and an empty bowl on another, five steps away.2. Clasp your hands behind your neck. Pick up cotton balls by pinching them between your two elbows.3. Walk them to the bowl and let go over it.4. Anything dropped on the way stays on the floor. The most in the bowl after ninety seconds wins.Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: two tables, a bowl and a bag of cotton balls.

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How it works

These cotton ball games use what a cotton ball is: too light to feel on a spoon, easy to blow off course and slow to fly. Most games need only things from the kitchen.

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Games with cotton balls, by what makes them hard

In Scoop and carry games you cannot feel what you are holding. In Blowing and fanning games a breath sends it too far. Toss, flick and target games fall short of where you aimed, and Sort, count and guess by touch is played without looking.

Which is the cotton ball game?

The one with a spoon and a blindfold is here as Blindfold Scoop, Bowl on Your Head. The one with petroleum jelly on the nose is played here as Nose Dab Relay.

  • Count the cotton balls into the bowl before a scoop game, so the judge only has to count what is left.
  • Close the windows and turn off the fan before a blowing game.

Questions and answers

How do you play the cotton ball game with a spoon?

A blindfolded player scoops cotton balls from one bowl into another for thirty seconds. Cotton weighs nothing, so the spoon feels the same loaded or empty. Count only what reaches the second bowl.

What games can you play with a bag of cotton balls?

Scoop games such as Whisk Trap and Cup Hands, blowing games such as Book Canyon Run, target games such as Sticky Target and Flick Into the Egg Carton, and team games such as Cover the Sheep.

How many cotton balls do you need?

One bag covers most games: a scoop or a toss uses ten to thirty. Write SNOW in Cotton takes sixty a team and Snowball Volley Across the Tape takes eighty, so those two want a second bag.

Which cotton ball games work for a whole class?

Three-Second Count and How Many Balance the Coin? are played from the desks by everyone at once. Cover the Sheep, Write SNOW in Cotton and Clothespin to Clothespin Down the Line run as team relays.

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All 35 games

Scoop and carry games 7

  • Backs of the Hands Only 1. Tip thirty cotton balls into a heap on the table. An empty box stands at the far end. 2. Press the backs of both hands together around as many cotton balls as you can hold. 3. Walk the load to the box. 4. Three trips each. The player who moves the most cotton balls wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: a table, a box and thirty cotton balls.
  • Blindfold Scoop, Bowl on Your Head 1. The blindfold scoop, with the empty bowl held on the player's own head and not on the table. Sit the player at a table with a bowl of cotton balls and a large spoon. 2. Blindfold on, empty bowl on the head, held with one hand. 3. For thirty seconds, scoop from the table bowl and tip into the head bowl. Cotton weighs nothing, so the spoon feels the same full or empty. 4. Count what is in the top bowl. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: two bowls, a large spoon, a bag of cotton balls and a blindfold.
  • Cup Hands 1. Each player slides a paper cup over each hand, like two round mittens. 2. Scoop cotton balls from a heap on the floor and carry them to a bucket three steps away. 3. Two cups may squeeze one load between them, but no finger comes out of a cup. 4. The fullest bucket after one minute wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: two paper cups and a bucket for each player, and a bag of cotton balls.
Show all 35 games (32 more)

Scoop and carry games, continued

  • Elbow Pinch 1. Put a heap of cotton balls on one table and an empty bowl on another, five steps away. 2. Clasp your hands behind your neck. Pick up cotton balls by pinching them between your two elbows. 3. Walk them to the bowl and let go over it. 4. Anything dropped on the way stays on the floor. The most in the bowl after ninety seconds wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: two tables, a bowl and a bag of cotton balls.
  • Over-the-Shoulder Ladle 1. The player sits on a chair with an empty bowl in their lap. A full bowl of cotton balls stands on a stool right behind the chair. 2. With a soup ladle, reach back over one shoulder, scoop and bring it forward into the lap bowl. No turning to look. 3. Play for one minute. 4. Count the lap bowl. A helper keeps the stool steady and says nothing. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a chair, a stool, two bowls, a ladle and cotton balls.
  • Toes Only, Ten to the Bowl 1. Players sit on chairs with bare feet. Ten cotton balls lie on the floor in front of each chair, beside an empty bowl. 2. Pick the cotton balls up with your toes and drop them in the bowl. 3. Hands stay on the seat of the chair. 4. The first player with all ten in the bowl wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: a chair, a bowl and ten cotton balls for each player.
  • Whisk Trap 1. Scatter twenty cotton balls on the table. Each player has a balloon whisk and a cup. 2. Press the whisk down over a cotton ball so that it pops in between the wires. 3. Carry the whisk to the cup and shake or tap the cotton ball out. Fingers never touch cotton. 4. The most in the cup after one minute wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 6 min. Props: a balloon whisk and a cup for each player, and twenty cotton balls.

Blowing and fanning games 7

  • Blow It Off Their Side 1. Four to eight players kneel around a table with their chins level with the top and their hands behind their backs. 2. The host drops one cotton ball in the middle. 3. Everyone blows. The player whose edge it falls off takes a point. 4. Play to ten drops. The fewest points wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: a table and a cotton ball.
  • Book Canyon Run 1. Build a winding track along a table with two rows of books stood on edge, a hand span apart. 2. One player at a time blows a cotton ball from one end of the canyon to the other. 3. A ball blown over a wall goes back to the last bend. 4. Time each run. The fastest wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a table, about ten books and a cotton ball.
  • Fluff in the Air 1. Pull a wisp the size of a thumbnail off a cotton ball. 2. The group stands in a ring with hands behind backs, and the host drops the wisp over the middle. 3. Keep it up by blowing. Count the seconds before it touches the floor or a player. 4. Beat the group's record, or split in two and play ring against ring. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: one cotton ball.
  • One-Breath Curling 1. Stick a square of tape near the far end of a table as the target. 2. Each player sets a cotton ball on the near edge and gets one single puff. 3. Leave it where it stops. A later cotton ball may knock an earlier one away. 4. When everyone has blown, the cotton ball nearest the tape scores a point. Play six ends. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a table, tape and a cotton ball for each player, each marked with a different color.
  • Plate Fan Hockey 1. Mark a goal with two cups at each end of a table. 2. Two players stand at the long sides, each holding a paper plate. 3. Drop one cotton ball in the middle. Move it by fanning the plate. The plate never touches the cotton or the table. 4. First to three goals. A cotton ball that leaves the table goes back to the middle. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: two paper plates, four cups, a table and a cotton ball.
  • Squeeze Bottle Race 1. Lay two tape lanes along the floor, about four steps long. 2. Each racer has a clean, empty squeeze bottle and a cotton ball on the start line. 3. Puff the cotton ball along the lane with air from the bottle. The bottle never touches it. 4. First over the far line wins, then run it as a relay. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: tape, and an empty squeeze bottle and a cotton ball for each racer.
  • Uphill Puff 1. Prop one end of a baking sheet on a thick book to make a slope. Put a bowl just past the top end. 2. Set a cotton ball at the bottom. 3. Blow it up the slope and over the top into the bowl. Stop blowing and it rolls back down. 4. Count how many a player sends into the bowl in one minute. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 6 min. Props: a baking sheet, a book, a bowl and ten cotton balls.

Toss, flick and target games 7

  • Basket on the Back 1. The catcher holds a laundry basket against the small of their back with both hands and faces away. 2. The thrower lobs fifteen cotton balls from three steps behind. 3. The catcher may shuffle and lean but may not look around. The thrower may call left, right, back. 4. Count the catch and swap. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 16. Time: 6 min. Props: a laundry basket and fifteen cotton balls for each pair.
  • Flick Into the Egg Carton 1. Open an empty egg carton at the far side of a table and write a score of one, two or three in each cup, with the threes at the back. 2. Set a cotton ball on the near edge and flick it with one finger. 3. Ten flicks each. 4. Add up the cups your cotton balls landed in. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: an egg carton, a marker and ten cotton balls.
  • Near, Middle, Far Bowls With the Wrong Hand 1. Set three bowls in a line, one, two and three steps from a mark. 2. Throw with the hand you do not write with. 3. A cotton ball in the near bowl scores one, the middle two, the far three. 4. Ten throws each. A dry cotton ball slows down fast, so the far bowl takes a high lob. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: three bowls and ten cotton balls.
  • Nose-Height Drop Into the Jar 1. The old clothespin drop, with something that drifts. Stand a wide-mouthed jar on the floor. 2. Stand over it, heels together, and hold a cotton ball at the tip of your nose. 3. Let go. No bending and no throwing down. 4. Ten drops each. The most in the jar wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: a wide-mouthed jar and ten cotton balls.
  • Snowball Volley Across the Tape 1. The indoor snowball fight, with snow that cannot knock anything over. Split the room with a line of tape and give each side a heap of forty cotton balls. 2. For one minute, both sides throw their snow across the line. 3. Nobody crosses the tape, and throws go at the floor, not at faces. 4. At the whistle, hands up. The side with less snow on its floor wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: tape and a large bag of cotton balls.
  • Sticky Target 1. Tape a sheet of sticky-backed paper to a door, sticky side out. Draw three rings on it with a marker. 2. From three steps back, throw ten cotton balls one at a time. 3. A cotton ball that sticks scores three in the middle, two in the next ring, one in the outer ring. 4. Pull them off and hand the heap to the next thrower. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: sticky-backed paper, tape, a marker and ten cotton balls.
  • Wet Splat Target on the Fence 1. Chalk three rings on a fence, a wall or the driveway. 2. Players dip a cotton ball in a bucket of water and throw it from five steps back. 3. The wet mark shows where it hit: three points for the middle, two and one for the rings. 4. Five throws each. Let the marks dry between players. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: chalk, a bucket of water and a bag of cotton balls.

Sort, count and guess by touch 7

  • Cotton or Not? 1. Mix fifteen cotton balls in a big bowl with fifteen other soft things: pom-poms, balled tissue, bits of sponge, scraps of felt. 2. The blindfolded player sits and has one minute to pick out only the cotton balls, by feel, into a cup. 3. Blindfold off. 4. Score a point for each cotton ball in the cup and take one away for anything else. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a bowl, a cup, fifteen cotton balls, fifteen other soft scraps and a blindfold.
  • Exactly Ten in One Grab 1. Fill a pillowcase with cotton balls. 2. Each player reaches in without looking and takes one handful, aiming for exactly ten. 3. No counting in the bag: one grab and out. 4. Count the handful on the table. Ten scores three points, and one away scores one. Three rounds. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 15. Time: 6 min. Props: a pillowcase and a large bag of cotton balls.
  • How Many Balance the Coin? 1. Balance a ruler across a pencil and put one coin on one end, so that end rests on the table. 2. Everyone writes down how many cotton balls on the other end will lift the coin. 3. Add cotton balls one at a time, counting aloud, until the coin end rises. 4. The closest guess wins. Play again with two coins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 15. Time: 6 min. Props: a ruler, a pencil, coins, paper, pens and a bag of cotton balls.
  • The One With the Button Inside 1. Out of sight, the host tucks a button deep inside one cotton ball and rolls it shut, then mixes it into a bowl of thirty. 2. On go, a player squeezes cotton balls one at a time, with one hand. 3. Stop the clock when they hold up the right one. 4. The host hides the button again for the next player. The fastest find wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a bowl, thirty cotton balls and a button.
  • Sniff Out the Vanilla One 1. Put eight cotton balls in eight paper cups. Out of sight, the host puts one drop of vanilla on one of them, and numbers the cups underneath. 2. Players sniff along the row, one at a time, without touching the cotton. 3. Each writes the number of the cup they think it is. 4. Turn the cups over. For a second round, add one drop of lemon juice to another cup and ask for both. Ask about allergies before anyone sniffs. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: eight paper cups, eight cotton balls, vanilla, paper and pens.
  • Three Sizes Into Three Cups 1. Make three sizes: ten whole cotton balls, ten pulled in half and ten made of two rolled together. 2. Mix all thirty in a bowl. 3. The blindfolded player sits and sorts them into three cups, small, middle and large. 4. After one minute, score a point for each one in the right cup. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a bowl, three cups, cotton balls and a blindfold.
  • Three-Second Count 1. The host takes a handful of between ten and thirty cotton balls behind a cloth. 2. The cloth lifts, the cotton balls drop on the table, and after three seconds the cloth covers them again. 3. Everyone writes a number. 4. Count them out together. The closest guess scores a point. Play five handfuls. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a cloth, paper, pens and a bag of cotton balls.

Relays and table games for teams 7

  • Clothespin to Clothespin Down the Line 1. Teams sit or stand in a line, each player holding one clothespin. 2. The first player pinches a cotton ball from the bowl and passes it to the next player's clothespin. Fingers never touch cotton. 3. The last player drops it in the team cup. A dropped one is picked up by clothespin. 4. The first team to pass ten down the line wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 24. Time: 8 min. Props: a clothespin for each player, a bowl, a cup and ten cotton balls for each team.
  • Cover the Sheep 1. Draw a sheep on a big sheet of card for each team and cover its body with strips of double-sided tape. Stand the sheep at the far end of the room. 2. One runner at a time carries one cotton ball to the sheep and presses it on. 3. Tag the next runner. 4. The first team whose sheep shows no bare tape wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: card, a marker, double-sided tape and a bag of cotton balls for each team.
  • Nose Dab Relay 1. The petroleum jelly game, run as a relay with one cotton ball at a time. Each player has a small dab of petroleum jelly on the tip of the nose. 2. The first player dips their nose into a plate of cotton balls, hands behind the back, and lifts one. 3. Walk it to the team bowl and shake it off without hands. 4. Tag the next player. The team with the most in the bowl after two minutes wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: petroleum jelly, a plate, a bowl for each team, cotton balls and tissues for wiping noses afterward.
  • Paper Fan Wind Relay 1. Each team lines up along one side of a long table, every player holding a sheet of card. 2. Drop a cotton ball at the first player's end. 3. Each player may fan it only while it is in front of them, and passes it along to the next by fanning. No card touches the cotton. 4. The first team to send three cotton balls off the far end, one after another, wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 8 min. Props: a long table, a sheet of card for each player and three cotton balls for each team.
  • Pull a Cloud Shape, the Room Guesses 1. The sculpture guess, made of cotton. Each sculptor gets five cotton balls and a secret word from the host: rabbit, snowman, sheep, beard, ghost. 2. They have one minute to pull, roll and press the cotton into that shape on a dark sheet of paper. 3. Hold the sheets up one at a time. 4. A right guess scores a point for the guesser and one for the sculptor. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: five cotton balls and a sheet of dark paper for each player, and word slips.
  • Roll, Then Tweeze That Many 1. Put a big bowl of cotton balls in the middle of the table. Each player has a pair of tweezers and a cup. 2. On your turn, roll one die. 3. You have ten seconds to tweeze that many cotton balls into your cup, one at a time. Any you do not move in time stay in the bowl. 4. The first cup to hold twenty wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: a die, a bowl of cotton balls, and tweezers and a cup for each player.
  • Write SNOW in Cotton 1. Give each team a bowl of sixty cotton balls at the start line and a patch of floor at the far end. 2. Runners go one at a time and may carry three cotton balls a trip. 3. Each runner adds theirs to the team's word, SNOW, written in cotton on the floor in letters a shoe long. 4. The first team whose word can be read from the start line wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: a bowl of sixty cotton balls for each team.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions, written for this site for a party at home, a classroom or a youth group with a bag or two of cotton balls. The wording is ours, and the ages, player counts and times are our estimates. No game puts a cotton ball in or against a mouth, and none uses a straw. The list states no rule or history of a traditional game, so no outside source was needed. Licence: own work