How to host a Taste Test Challenge for your LDS youth group

If you’re looking for a last-minute activity for your LDS youth group, primary activity days or Relief Society, a Taste Test Challenge is just the ticket. It’s super fun, inexpensive and easy to organize. Check it out!

We were originally supposed to have a pool party for our combined Young Women activity but then the rainy weather forced us to change our plans. I literally needed to plan a fun activity for about 25 young women in a matter of hours. That’s why we decided on a Taste Test Challenge. It was seriously so much fun. Here’s how to do one yourself.

Print your Taste Testing Challenge pages

I’ve created an all-in-one PDF printable that includes the instructions, poster, food category word strips and team name cards. It’s basically everything you need to get started and elevate your party to the next level. Click on the link below to download and print your PDF of the game:

Click here to print your Taste Testing Challenge printable

Gather your taste testing ingredients

The activity consists of eight different rounds that progressively get more difficult. You’ll want to buy some 2oz plastic portion cups with lids to put the food in for each participant. Here’s a list of the different categories for each round. You’ll want to buy just one food item from each category:

Sweets – Skittles, Starburst, Oreos, Mambas
Sips – rootbeer, chocolate milk, Fanta, Sprite, Lemonade, Sports drink
Breakfast – yogurt, cereal, granola bar, bread, jams, Toaster Strudels
Baby food – peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, meat, prunes
Healthy – squash, asparagus, beets, artichoke, tomatoes, seaweed
Slimy – oatmeal, okra, tapioca, oysters, passion fruit, cottage cheese
Savory – olives, Vienna sausages, Spam, seasoned edible bugs
Super gross – sardines, pickled eggplant, pork liver pate, anchovies

Of course, you can change the categories however you would like, but this at least gives you a start. Here’s some other category options if you want to switch things up:

Fast food – hamburger, fries, shakes
Sour – Sour Patch Kids, Warheads, grapefruit, lemon
Spicy – Salsa, jalapeño, Cheetos Flamin’ Hot, Takis Fuego
Frozen – Ice cream, Otter Pops, Twix or Snickers ice cream bars
Pickled – asparagus, beans, beets, pickles, sauerkraut

Place a portion-size amount in a small 2oz plastic cup for each team. You’ll need to determine how many teams you’ll want to have. We had about 30 people at the activity so we had four teams of about 5-7 people.

Set up the room for the challenge

In order to make the Taste Test Challenge fun, you’ll want to make sure everyone can watch the reaction of the participants. I set up four small tables and chairs at the front of the room for each of the teams. Then, I formed a half circle of chairs in front of the tables for everyone to sit and watch.

Behind the tables at the front of the room, I wrote down the names of the eight different rounds for the challenge. Each table should also have a blindfold and a small whiteboard and marker. However, I didn’t have any white boards so we just used paper and markers.

Participant writing their guess on a piece of paper

How to play

Once the room is set up, divide all of the participants into teams. You can decided how many teams based on the number of people participating. Each team will need to decided who will be doing the taste testing for each category. That’s why it’s nice to have it written on the board so they can decide ahead of time.

To start the first round, place the first food item on the table in front of each blindfolded participant. Make sure they are all blindfolded before handing out the food. It also helps to remind the people watching not to blurt out what the food is or it will ruin the game. Participants can smell, touch and taste the food, but they just can’t look at it.

Participants taste testing baby food — *Participants taste testing soda*

Scoring

Participants for each team will receive one point for guessing the food correctly. Depending on the type of food, they will also receive another point for guessing the flavor or brand. Finally, participants will receive two points for eating all of the food placed in front of them.

It was fun to see all of the different reactions to the different foods. Although most of the food was pretty normal, they were nervous to eat it simply because they couldn’t see it.

*Participant holding a portion of baby food mashed peas*

There were also some team members who refused to try any of the foods while others participated in multiple rounds.

Finish it off with a spiritual thought

I thought it would be nice to talk about the spiritual significance of this activity in the lives of each of the girls. So, at the end, I talked about how much more difficult it was to guess the foods because they were blindfolded. I compared this activity to being spiritually blind in our own lives. It is only through Christ and His Gospel that we can see spiritually and navigate our mortal experience on Earth.

I used a BYU-Hawaii devotional talk by Kevin Miyasaka entitled, “Whereas I was blind, now I see”. It was a great way to finish off the evening.

Here’s a short video of the highlights from our Taste Test Challenge activity:

Overall, this activity was a huge success and I would recommend it to not only LDS youth leaders, but also for primary activity days and Relief Society. If you’re not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you can still do this activity for a birthday party, family reunion or school function.

Here’s a link to the printable Taste Test Challenge printable if you didn’t see it above:

Click here to print your Taste Testing Challenge printable

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