This past Saturday, November 4^th, I had about seven friends and some family over for a celebration of my 18^th birthday. For weeks I had been trying to plan the perfect schedule for the night: what we would eat, what games we would play, what movies we would watch, etc. Upon researching “things to do at an 18^th birthday party” on Google, a result kept on popping up on almost every website- “Messy Twister.” After seeing it about 20 times, I had to look into it. Just seeing the name of it, I was intrigued as to how this particular version of the game differed from the one I played as a child. So, I researched and here is what I found.

First, simply pull out your old Twister mat and spinner. Then buy some Crayola finger-paint in red, blue, green, and yellow. (Make sure it is washable! Believe me!) Squeeze a pretty hefty dot of paint onto the corresponding circles and spread out. Then, play the game as you normally would. Only now, there is paint oozing between your fingers and toes, and just when you thought that balancing was hard enough, you now must hold yourself up, fighting against not only the body contortion but also the slippery mat underneath of you.

While that sounds absolutely ridiculous, it is actually one of the most entertaining things I have yet to do at a birthday, and I have had 18, so I would know. My friends had a great time playing even though majority of the game was putting paint all over me. While we all may have fallen many times, throwing paint seemed to be our top priority rather than actually winning the game.

By round three, the mat was just a brown, slippery, disgusting mess and being covered in wet paint, I looked at my mom, hoping for some instruction as to how she would like us to clean up and be able to enter the house. She pointed to the pool, the answer I was dreading, as it is NOT heated. This was the second adventure of the night. My friends and I all grabbed hands and braced ourselves for the instantaneous pneumonia. From there, my mom created a pathway of beach towels from the deck to her shower and we all stood in our soaking wet clothes under the warm water for a solid thirty minutes.

Besides the clean-up, the game was a success. The paint quickly washed out of everything and we all couldn’t help but to want to play again. I highly recommend to anyone who doesn’t mind getting a little messy!