‘Don’t eat Pete’ doesn’t care how old you are, as long as you’re in for some fun and… (*spoiler alert!) treats!
Players
‘Don’t eat Pete’ requires at least 3 players. It’s a group game, so the bigger the crowd, the merrier!
It appeared as an indoor activity for youth and it turned out to be a great outdoor team building activity for kids, a nice camp game for students, but also a fun backyard activity for adults! No matter your age, ‘Don’t eat Pete’ sparks lots of laughter!
Materials and equipment
To play the ‘Don’t eat Pete’ game, you will need:
- Sweets – M&Ms are among our top choices (obviously, you don’t need to ask why…), but you can also go for Skittles, Reece’s Pieces, or any other candies you have at hand
- The game board
‘Don’t eat Pete’ printable game board
Here you can find the printable board of this game:
https://www.thegamegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Dont-eat-pete-printout.pdf
Design your own ‘Don’t eat Pete’ game board’
Still, if you don’t have the time or means to print it, don’t worry. You can make your own template in the blink of an eye. All you need to do is design 9 faces. You can follow the original ‘Don’t eat Pete’ grid, but you can also come up with your own expressions.
Hint: If you’ve got time on the clock, ask each player to draw a face. Let them use colors, glitters – *even buttons for a silly nose! – then put them all together for a unique ‘Don’t eat Pete’ board game. It doesn’t matter if the grid ends up having more than 9 faces! Children will love seeing their work involved!
How to play ‘Don’t eat Pete’?
The rules of ‘Don’t eat Pete’ differ depending on:
- The age of your players
- How many candies you’re willing to let them eat
If you’re dealing with grown-ups looking to treat themselves with bitter Skittles, then here’s how to play ‘Don’t eat Pete’:
1. Start by placing one candy on each face from the grid.
2. Next, ask one player to leave the room. Let’s say her name is Ashley. If this is an outdoor family game, make sure Ashley goes for a short walk somewhere she will not be able to hear you.
3. Now that Ashley is gone, the rest of the players must choose one of the faces on the grid to be ‘Pete’. They must keep that a secret.
4. Once Pete has an identity, you may ask Ashley to return. Remember, not a single word about who Pete is!
5. Ashley must guess which one of the faces is Pete. She must pick up one candy at a time and pay attention to the other players’ reactions. If she takes one candy and no one says anything, she can eat it. It means the face next to that candy wasn’t Pete. However, if she picks up the ‘Pete’ candy, everyone must yell “Don’t eat Pete!”, and Ashley’s turn is over. The whole point of the ‘Don’t eat Pete’ game is to avoid finding Pete for as long as possible, just so you can sneak more treats into your belly!
Variation of how to play ‘Don’t eat Pete’ with kids:
If you want to restrain the sugar intake of kids, allow them to only eat the candy they chose before touching Pete.
For more ‘sweet games’, eTeamBuilding’s got you covered:
