Penny Chinny Game Instructions

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Aaron Waid

Aaron has Master's degree from Denver Seminary, a Master's degree in Journalism from Marshall University, and Bachelor's degrees in Psychology and English from Davis and Elkins College. Aaron has served in churches for over a decade in many positions. He is a husband, father, musician, and deeply believes that knowing Jesus is the purpose of life.

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“Don’t touch me! Don’t make me laugh! Don’t make me move!” Your youth are going to be bent over in hysterics while playing Chinny Penny. This simple game is both a battle of wits and coordination as your students attempt to be the last one standing with a penny on chin. There are also some great variations to this game to add to the complexity and hilarity of the game, so be sure to check those out at the bottom of this post.

Materials and Resources Needed – A penny for each player.

Number of Players – 3 minimum, no maximum.

Preparing The Game

Penny Chinny can be played in virtually any space, indoors and outdoors. The only preparation needed before game is to collect enough pennies for each player. Other objects besides pennies can be used for this game as well (see Variations) below.

Players need to be in relatively close proximity to one another, but should mix together so that there are players on all sides of one another.

Game Instructions (Read Aloud To Group)

We’re going to play a game called Penny Chinny! To begin, everyone needs to come together, but keep at least 3 feet apart from each other at all times. In this game, each player begins by placing a penny on their chin, usually while looking straight up in the air. After each player has their penny balanced, the game begins. Once the game begins, players can no longer touch the penny on their chin with their hands. The goal of the game is to be the last player standing with a penny on their chin. However, in order to win, you’ll need to force other players to drop their pennies. You can’t make contact with any other player, but you can try to make them laugh, scare them, walk close to them, or do anything else you can think of to force them to drop their penny.

If a player drops their penny or touches their penny with their hands, they are out immediately and need to move to the side. However, players that are eliminated can continue to try to get other players to drop their pennies.

The game continues until one player is left holding the penny on their chin.

Variations

1. Use different objects. You can increase the difficulty of the game by using other objects, such as pencils, marbles, or other objects that could fit on a person’s chin. Just be sure that each player gets the same object to make sure the game is fair.
2. Force players to move. Most players will naturally want to stand as still as possible in order to keep their penny balanced. You can increase the complexity of the game by forcing players to take a set number of steps at timed intervals. For example, you could make players move 5 steps every 30 seconds.
3. Add throwable objects. For a really fun game, add throwable safe objects, like Nerf balls, to the game and allow players to throw them at others. However, do not allow them to throw at the head and neck or to try to aim directly at the penny. Throwing objects should be for distraction, not to try to knock the penny off or hit a player in the face..