- Head-to-head: 2 to the winner, 1 to the other side.
- Team rounds and the birthday quiz: 5 to the winner, 2 to the other side.
- The final three rounds: a win is worth 10.
- A team 3 or more behind wins ×2, ×3 or ×4.
Free printable ping-pong party games Grand Slam's rules and birthday quiz
Every game, written out.
What to grab, how long it runs and the rules, the same as the sheets.
Blowball
Whole team v whole team · 90 sec
Blow the ball off the other team's end of the table.
Grab: a table, a ping-pong ball
- No touching the ball
- Off the side? Reset in the middle — no goal
- The clock pauses after each goal for the reset
- Switch ends at halfway
- Most goals wins
Catch Crew
2 v 2 · 60 sec
One tosses, their partner catches in a cup.
Grab: ping-pong balls, a catching cup per pair, a goal bowl per pair
- Tip each catch into your goal bowl
- Every ball in the bowl scores one
- Switch roles at halfway
- Most balls in the bowl wins
Tug of Pour
Whole-team relay · 90 sec
Spoon balls out of your bowl and into theirs.
Grab: 20 ping-pong balls, 2 bowls, 10 balls in each, a spoon per team
- One at a time: scoop from your bowl, carry it to theirs
- Run back and hand off the spoon
- Dropped it? Back on the spoon, keep going
- Bowl empty? Wait for a ball to arrive
- Fewest balls in your bowl wins
Scoop Showdown
Whole-team relay · 90 sec
Race balls from the shared bowl into yours.
Grab: a wide bowl of balls in the middle, a goal bowl per team, a spoon per team
- One at a time: scoop from the middle, carry it to your bowl
- Run back and hand off the spoon
- Anything in the middle is anyone's
- Balls in a goal bowl are safe
- Dropped balls go back to the middle
- Most balls in your bowl wins
Back It Up
2 v 2 · 60 sec
Toss it backwards over your shoulder; your partner catches in a cup.
Grab: ping-pong balls, a catching cup per pair, a goal bowl per pair
- Tip each catch into your goal bowl
- Every ball in the bowl scores one
- Switch roles at halfway
- Most balls in the bowl wins
Buzzer Beater
2 v 2 · 60 sec
Sink balls in your cups marked 1, 2 and 3.
Grab: 3 cups per team, marked 1, 2 and 3, 2 balls per pair
- Shoot at your own cups, partners taking turns
- A ball that stays in scores the cup's number
- Pull it out and shoot it again
- Teammates can fetch balls
- Highest total wins
Catapult Crew
Whole team v whole team · 90 sec
Flick balls off spoons; one teammate catches in a cup.
Grab: spoons, ping-pong balls, a catching cup per team, a goal bowl per team
- Launchers flick balls with spoons
- One catcher tips catches into the goal bowl
- Every ball in the bowl scores one
- Your team, your tactics
- Most balls in the bowl wins
Bank Shot
Whole team v whole team · 90 sec
Bounce balls off a teammate's plate; your catcher grabs the rebound.
Grab: ping-pong balls, a paper plate per team, a catching cup per team, a goal bowl per team
- One holds the plate, one catches with a cup, the rest throw
- It must hit the plate before it's caught
- Tip catches into the goal bowl — each scores one
- Most balls in the bowl wins
Hoop Sweep
Whole team v whole team · 60 sec
Fan the balls onto the other team's half of the hoop.
Grab: a hula hoop flat on a table, split into red and blue halves, ping-pong balls, the same number on each half, fans or paper plates
- Fan air — never touch a ball
- Blow one out of the hoop: −2
- Each ball on your half at the buzzer: −1
- Least negative wins
Who Knows Best?
Birthday break · 8 min
Questions about the birthday kid. Then they reveal the answers.
Grab: a printed question sheet and a pen per player, the birthday kid's answer key
- Write your own answers — no peeking
- The birthday kid leads the reveal and sits out
- One point per match — same meaning counts
- Highest team average wins
How the scoring works.
The birthday quiz questions.
Who Knows Best? Each kid writes what the birthday kid would say, and every match is a point. These fifteen are the starting set, and the kit lets you write your own.
- Favourite colour?
- Favourite food?
- Favourite animal?
- Favourite movie or show?
- Favourite game?
- Favourite subject at school?
- Favourite snack?
- Favourite sport or activity?
- Favourite song or singer?
- What do they want to be when they grow up?
- Where would they most like to travel?
- Favourite ice-cream flavour?
- Favourite holiday?
- Cats or dogs?
- What would they buy with a million dollars?
More Grand Slam guides
Free to read before you run Grand Slam, whether or not you buy it.
Grand Slam
Ping-pong game show
$7.99USD
Party Pass good for 30 days.
Grand Slam puts all of this on your TV: it reveals each game, runs the clock and keeps the score.
Get Grand Slam