Swing State Challenge Ideas

Use any combination of these swing state challenges to enhance your True American campaign, or create your own! 
 

• Infrastructure: Cup Stacking

  • You’ll need: 50 miniature cups 

  • Candidates must create a free-standing, original structure at least 4 levels high, using every cup
     

• The Arts: Designing a Campaign Button

  • You’ll need: craft supplies (paper, pens, colored pencils, markers, scissors, clothes pins or paper clips)

  • Candidates must design a campaign badge using words and imagery related to their name, chosen state, slogan, purpose, etc.
     

• Aviation: Paper Airplanes

  • ​You’ll need: paper and a ~10 ft corridor

  • Candidates must fold a unique paper airplane and fly it across a pre-determined finish line

  • The plane must be folded and glided (no crumpling and throwing)​ 
     

• Down on the Range: Target Practice 

  • You’ll need: Nerf gun(s), 3+ empty cans 

  • Candidates must shoot every empty can until they fall

    • With single shooter, no reload penalty

    • With multi-shooter (>6), must wait until next turn to reload

  • If candidates finish a beer at the swing state, they can add their empty can to the required target area for future participants 
     

• Quartering Troops

  • You’ll need: quarter(s) and shot glass(es)

  • Must bounce a quarter into a shot glass 3 times, or 3 quarters into 3 shot glasses (in honor of the 3rd amendment)
     

• Flip the House

  • You’ll need: solo cups

  • Candidates must successfully sip and flip 10 cups 

  • Must open swing state beer before starting the challenge and finish it before moving on– prepare for a possible penalty beer!
     

• Yankee Doodle

  • You’ll need: an instrument (piano/keyboard preferred) and easy printed musical notes 

  • Candidates must successfully play (and sing?) Yankee Doodle for another/all candidates
     

• America’s Pastime / Louisville Chugger

  • You’ll need: one plastic wiffle ball bat (cut open on the handle end), one ball

  • Candidates must chug remainder of beer and count how many seconds it takes (maximum 7 seconds)

  • After chugging, must place the end of the bat on your forehead (looking down) and spin around it for as many seconds as it took to chug (5 seconds = 5 spins)

    • Another candidate must then lob a pitch for you to hit

    • If you swing and miss– or foul tip, you must try again 

    • 3 strikes and you’re out (you may take your swing state beer in disgrace)

  • If you hit the ball, you may take your swing state beer

    • If you hit what is deemed by spectators (or decided on before the game) a “home run” then you can take your swing state beer and automatically jump to the next swing state– or the White House, if this was your final swing state
       

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For the simplest version of the game, you can just leave the beers at each swing state and no challenge is needed.