Mummy Wrap

Set up

Split into teams of two to four. Each team picks one person to be the mummy and gets two rolls of toilet paper. Clear a little floor space around each team.

How to play

1. On “go”, the wrappers start winding paper around their mummy, beginning at the ankles and working up.
2. The mummy stands still with arms by their sides or crossed over the chest. They may turn on the spot to help.
3. If the paper tears, tuck the loose end in and carry on.
4. Leave the face uncovered: nothing over the nose or mouth.
5. Stop when the time is up, usually three minutes, or when a team finishes its rolls.
6. A judge picks the best-wrapped mummy, or the first team to finish wins.

Finishing well

The best moment is the end. Line the mummies up for a photo, then give them a signal to burst out all at once. Have a bag ready, because there will be paper everywhere.

Do not wrap anything around the neck tightly, and unwrap anyone who feels uncomfortable straight away.

Ways to change it

• Mummy walk: after wrapping, mummies race to a line and back. Any mummy who loses their wrapping is out.
• Snowman: the same game at Christmas. Add a scarf, a hat and a paper carrot nose.
• Bride or groom: teams build an outfit from the paper instead of a mummy, and the group votes on the best.
• Crepe streamers: use party streamers for something more colorful and stronger.

Who it suits, and who it doesn’t

Mummy Wrap is a Halloween party standard that works just as well with adults at an office party as with seven-year-olds. It needs no skill and makes everyone laugh. It is wasteful by nature, so use the cheapest paper, and it is a bad fit for anyone who dislikes being confined or touched: let them wrap, not be wrapped.