Who on your street wins Most Chaotic this year?
Your mission
The Glow Awards
Walk your one-mile lights loop together, score the houses as you go, then announce winners for Most Tasteful, Most Chaotic and Best Inflatable before the cocoa runs out.
Bonus challenge: Invent one extra award on the spot, like Best Use of a Single Candy Cane or Most Confused Reindeer.
Grab your favorite people and a thermos of hot cocoa, and stroll a one-mile loop past the brightest houses near you. Everyone scores the displays as you go. At the end, you crown the winners, from Most Tasteful to the wobbliest, goofiest Best Inflatable on the block.
Somewhere near you there's a house with twelve blinking reindeer, a giant snowman and a roof that glows like a landing strip. It deserves recognition, and tonight you're the judges. Plan a one-mile loop through the most-lit streets, pour the cocoa, and walk it together, scoring each display out loud with your fingers. You don't need to know anything about decorations. If a house makes you gasp or giggle, you're qualified. Then it's time to hand out the awards.
Walking slowly past glowing houses with a warm cup in your hands gives everyone something to point at, laugh about and argue over. The giant inflatable cat in a Santa hat becomes a joke you'll repeat for weeks. Somebody's porch put on a show for strangers, and you showed up to cheer. Your neighbors decorated, and you made it a contest.
Top gear to make this quest great.
Pull it off
Keeps the judges warm and happy for the whole mile.
Help drivers see you on dark streets, and you'll glow like a display yourself.
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The houses did the hard work. You just bring the cocoa and the opinions. Essential: hot cocoa mix (marshmallows are a smart addition), a thermos or lidded travel mugs, warm layers, and a one-mile loop on a free map app that follows streets with sidewalks. Handy extras: clip-on safety lights so drivers can see you, hand warmers for cold fingers, and a small flashlight for dark stretches. Stay on sidewalks and public paths, and admire every yard from the curb.
A good quest stays a good story. These are general notes; your gear's manual, the venue's rules and local law come first.
Where are the brightest streets near you? Ask neighbors, check local lights lists online, or remember which block glowed last year. Open a free map app and draw a one-mile loop through the best streets, sticking to roads with sidewalks. A mile takes about 20–25 minutes at a steady pace, and longer with all the stopping and pointing you'll do.
Time to fuel the judges! Make a pot of hot cocoa, add marshmallows, and pour it into a thermos or lidded travel mugs. A 16-ounce Thermos food jar keeps cocoa hot for up to 7 hours, so it will still be steamy at the very last house. Bundle up in hats and gloves, clip on your safety lights, and agree on the rules: one finger is a sad single wreath, ten fingers means the house could guide airplanes.
Here comes the fun part! Stroll your loop and pause at every house that catches your eye. On the count of three, everyone holds up their score with their fingers. Cold fingers can't vote, so tuck an air-activated hand warmer in each pocket. Just open the packet and it heats up on its own, no batteries needed. Big disagreements are encouraged. Make your case for why the house with tasteful white lights beats the one with dancing penguins. Keep an eye out for contenders in all three awards.
Plot twist: on the last stretch, everyone hunts for the single best inflatable. Is it the giant snow globe or the wobbly dinosaur in a Santa hat? Spotters call it out, then the group checks it out from the sidewalk. Extra points for size, silliness and anything that seems to be mid-wave.
Back home with the last of the cocoa, it's ceremony time! Each person nominates a house for Most Tasteful, Most Chaotic and Best Inflatable, then everyone votes with a show of hands. Announce each winner in your best awards-show voice and let the losers protest. Add your bonus award if someone invented one along the way.
You just turned your neighborhood into an awards show, and the winners have no idea. Pick next year's walk date now and challenge your crew to find a house that beats this year's champion.
You bring the curiosity. We've found the tools.
Pull it off
Keeps the judges warm and happy for the whole mile.
Keeps the cocoa steaming hot all the way to the last house.
A sealed bottle that keeps drinks hot for hours.
Get on Amazon · $22.99 — Insulated thermoswhat to look for & our pick →
Help drivers see you on dark streets, and you'll glow like a display yourself.
Small LED lights that clip onto coats or bags.
Get on Amazon · $19.95 — Clip-on safety lightswhat to look for & our pick →
Keep fingers warm enough to hold up those scores.
Small air-activated packets that heat up in your pocket.
Get on Amazon · $14.99 — Hand warmerswhat to look for & our pick →RELATED GEAR GUIDE
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