You typically only need everyday household items to play. Whether you are hosting a birthday party, a family game night, or just need to burn off some energy on a rainy day, we have you covered. Here are our favorite 60-second challenges to get everyone moving.
Key Takeaways
- These games utilize common household items for quick, 60-second challenges.
- You can adapt play styles for individuals, pairs, or relay teams.
- Games like Cookie Face and Cup Stack help develop motor skills and focus.
- Scoring is optional, but friendly competition adds to the excitement.
How to Play Minute to Win It Games
You can play these games in several different ways. The common thread is simple: a player must complete a specific task using ordinary objects within 60 seconds. There is usually a quirky twist to make it difficult.
For example, moving candy from one bowl to another sounds easy. However, it becomes a challenge when you must use a spoon held between your teeth while keeping your hands behind your back.
You can play as an individual, in pairs, or as a team. Most tasks are against the clock, but you can also race to see who finishes first.
Minute to Win It Games for Individuals
Individual games are usually a race against the timer. These are excellent for killing time on a quiet afternoon. We also use these as “brain breaks” when homeschooling to reset focus between subjects.
Minute to Win It Games for Pairs
Two heads are often better than one. Pair games involve working together to beat the clock. These can be relay-style, where one person hands off a task to the next, or cooperative games where players must synchronize their movements.
These activities build communication skills and teach the value of teamwork.
Minute to Win It Games for Groups and Teams
There are two main ways to organize team games:
First, split your group into equal squads. Pick one representative from each team to go head-to-head. Second, have the entire team work on a task simultaneously to beat the other group.
How to Score Minute to Win It Games
If you are just playing to keep the kids busy during a Zoom call, skip the scoreboard. However, if you want to ramp up the competition, here are three ways to track the winner:
- Winner Takes All: Give one point to the winner of each round. The person or team with the most points at the end claims victory.
- Reverse Ranking: Give one point for last place, two for second to last, and so on. The player with the highest score wins.
- Top Tier: Award five points for first place, four for second, three for third, and one point for everyone else who finishes.
The Best Minute to Win It Games for Kids
These are our family favorites. We have tested them with kids of all ages to ensure they are fun, safe, and doable.
1. Cup Stack
Grab 15 plastic cups. Start with them in a single stack. The player must build a pyramid using all the cups and then stack them back into a single column within 60 seconds.
You can adapt this for younger children by using fewer cups or removing the requirement to deconstruct the tower.
2. Hershey’s Kisses and Chopsticks
The goal is to move items from one bowl to another using only chopsticks.
Make it harder by using rounder objects like Skittles or M&Ms. You can also use a jar with a narrow opening as the destination container to test their steady hands.
3. Toilet Paper Pull
Unwind two rolls of toilet paper across the room and place a slightly heavy object, like a plastic cup of water, at the far end. Players must race to roll the paper back up without tearing it or tipping the object over. The first player to retrieve their item wins.
4. Suck Up the Skittles
Give each player a straw and two plates. One plate holds Skittles; the other is empty. Players use the suction from the straw to move as many candies as possible to the empty plate.
Create a relay race by having team members switch places every minute.
5. Cookie Face
This is a classic. Players lean their heads back and place a cookie on their forehead. They must use their facial muscles to wiggle the cookie down to their mouth without using their hands. If it falls, they start over.
6. Ear, Nose, and Pinch
This tests coordination. Hold your nose with your right hand and your left ear with your left hand. Then, swap quickly: hold your nose with your left hand and your right ear with your right hand.
Players must clap their hands between each switch. Count how many successful swaps they can do in a minute.
7. Tower Test
Challenge the kids to build the highest tower possible using only paper plates and cups. For older kids, add a rule that they must place two cups between each paper plate layer.
8. Three Balloon Keep ‘Em Up
The objective is simple: keep three balloons in the air for a full minute. Younger players can use both hands. Older players must keep one hand behind their back.
Increase the difficulty by disqualifying players if a balloon touches the wall or ceiling.
9. Sucker Swing
Tie a string around a lollipop and hang it from your mouth. The lollipop should hang near your waist. Swing your hips to get the lollipop to hit a ping pong ball on the floor.
Make it harder by setting up a “goal” or target area for the ball.
10. Whipped Cream Face Targets
Prepare for a mess with this one. Players cover their faces in whipped cream. They then have one minute to pick up as many marshmallows as possible using only the cream on their face.
Alternatively, partners can throw marshmallows at the creamy face to see how many stick.
11. Junk in Your Trunk
Tape an empty tissue box to the back of a belt or waistband. Fill the box with ping pong balls. Players must jump, wiggle, and shake to empty the box. No hands allowed! The first person to empty their “trunk” wins.
12. Balloon Stack Challenge
Line up empty cups. Give the player a balloon. They must place the balloon inside a cup, inflate it slightly to create a grip, and then lift the cup to stack it. They cannot use their hands on the cups.
This works great as a relay race where the second player must unstack the cups using the same method.
13. Cheerio Bracelets
Players have one minute to thread Cheerios or Fruit Loops onto a pipe cleaner. The catch? They can only use one hand. Once the minute is up, wrap it around their wrist to form a bracelet.
14. Bigfoot Bumble
Cut giant feet out of cardboard and glue flip-flops to the center. Use double-sided tape to stick ping pong balls to the “toes.” Players must race to a finish line without shaking the balls loose. If a ball falls, they must return to the start.
15. Post-It Note Cover Up
Give one player a stack of Post-It notes. They must stick as many notes as possible onto a partner within 60 seconds. The team with the most attached notes wins.
16. Turkey Feather Keepie Uppie
Each player gets a light feather. They must blow on it to keep it from touching the floor. No hands or feet allowed. The person who keeps their feather airborne the longest takes the prize.
17. Chocolate Unicorn
Players lean their heads back and stack Oreos or similar cookies on their foreheads. See who can create the tallest stack in one minute.
18. Bangle Run
Set up two cups on a table. Balance a wooden spoon across the top of them. Place bangles on the spoon. Players must transfer the bangles to another cup without knocking the spoon off the support cups.
19. Ping Pong Eggs
Lay out empty egg cartons. Players bounce ping pong balls across the table, aiming to land them in the carton slots. To increase difficulty, number specific slots that the player must target in order.
20. Tall Ball Drop
Place a cup on the floor. Have the player stand on a sturdy chair directly above it. They must drop a ball/marshmallow into the cup. The alignment is harder than it looks.
21. Twister Sister
Take a roll of streamers or toilet paper. Push the center up so the player can grab the loose end. When the timer starts, they must spin around to wrap the paper around their body as fast as possible.
22. Cereal Box Puzzler
Cut the front panel off a cereal box, then cut that panel into small puzzle pieces. Players must reassemble the image before the minute runs out.
23. Dipping, Tipping Tails
Tie a string around the player’s waist with a slightly heavy object (like a large bead or lollipop) hanging at the back like a tail. Place cups on the floor. The player must squat and wiggle to knock over the cups using only the “tail.”
24. Card Ninja
Cut a watermelon in half and place the flat side down. Players stand back and throw playing cards at the melon. The goal is to get as many cards as possible to stick into the rind.
25. Pom Pom Puffer
Mark a start and finish line on a table with tape. Players must use a straw to blow a pom pom across the finish line. For a duel, have two players blow against each other to push the pom pom off the opponent’s side.
26. Kerplunk or Kerplunk
Float plastic cups in a large bowl or a kiddie pool. Players toss pennies or ping pong balls, trying to land them inside the floating cups. Score one point for every successful sink.
27. Spoon Balance
Players hold a plastic spoon in their mouth. You can play this in three ways:
- Stack as many dice as possible on the spoon.
- Race between two points without dropping an egg or ball.
- Transfer marbles from one bowl to another.
Important Safety Note
Only use plastic spoons for this game. Metal spoons can chip teeth if a child falls or bites down too hard. Never let young children run with objects in their mouths.
28. Blow Ball Goals
Set up a goal using two cups. Players must blow a ping pong ball into the goal using only the air escaping from an inflated balloon. They cannot touch the ball with the balloon itself.
29. Separation Anxiety
Fill a cup with multi-colored candies like M&Ms. Players have one minute to sort them by color into separate cups. This is excellent for dexterity and pattern recognition in younger kids.
30. Blow Bowling
Set up plastic cups like bowling pins. Players use the air from a balloon to knock them over.
For younger kids, stack the cups into a pyramid. For older kids, weigh the cups down slightly with a piece of candy to require more force/accuracy.
31. Head Stacker
Players balance a paper plate on their head. They must then stack items (like blocks or empty cans) on the plate. The player with the tallest stack after 60 seconds wins.
32. Balloon Roll
Players must roll an inflated balloon from point A to point B using only their elbows. If the balloon touches their hands or the floor (other than rolling), they must restart.
33. Skittle Scramble
Fill a large bowl with Skittles. Give each player a cup and chopsticks. On “Go,” players pick out Skittles one by one and drop them into their cup. The player with the most candy at the end wins.
34. Marshmallow Toss
Pair players up. Give one person a cup and the other a bag of mini marshmallows. Standing about 5 feet apart, the thrower tosses marshmallows while the catcher tries to catch them in the cup.
35. Eat Like a Bird
Thread cereal loops and dried fruit onto a string and hang it horizontally. Players must eat the items off the string without using their hands. The first to clear their string wins.
36. Penny Drops
Place a small glass or heavy cup inside a bucket filled with water. The water needs to cover the cup by a few inches. Players drop coins from the surface, trying to land them inside the submerged cup. The water refraction makes this tricky.
37. Kernel Hunt
Paint one corn kernel a bright color and mix it into a bowl of yellow popcorn kernels. Players must use chopsticks to find and remove the colored kernel before time runs out.
38. Rubber Band Archer
Set up an empty tissue box as a target. Players flick rubber bands towards the opening. The player who lands the most rubber bands inside the box wins.
39. Bubble Juggle
Players blow a bubble and must use their breath to keep it afloat while walking from a start line to a finish line. If the bubble pops, they must go back and blow a new one.
40. Water Tower
Fill a bowl with water and float a plastic plate on top. Players must stack empty soda cans or cups on the floating plate. Score one point for every level added without the tower capsizing.
41. Don’t Blow the Joker
Place a deck of cards face down on a glass bottle. Ensure a specific card (like the Joker) is at the very bottom. Players must blow the cards off the bottle but leave the Joker sitting on top.
42. Bite Me
Cut paper grocery bags to varying heights (10 inches, 8 inches, 4 inches, etc.) and place them on the floor. Players must pick up the bags with their mouths and place them on a table. No hands allowed, and only feet can touch the floor.
43. Fruit Re-Roll-Ups
Unroll a fruit snack. Players hold the end in their mouth. Without using hands, they must chew and use their tongue to pull the entire roll into their mouth.
44. Pinecone Relay
This is a nature twist on the egg and spoon race. Players balance a pinecone on a spoon and race to a finish line. The irregular shape of the pinecone makes it harder to balance than an egg.
45. Party Blower Blowout
Line up plastic cups on the edge of a table. Give kids a party blower (the kind that unrolls when you blow). They must use the blower to knock the cups off the table or push them to a specific zone.
46. Fasta Pasta
Ideally, use penne or rotini pasta for this. Place the dry pasta on a plate. The player holds a stick of uncooked spaghetti in their mouth. They must use the spaghetti to hook the pasta shapes and transfer them to a cup.
47. Oh, Mummy
One player stands still while their partner wraps them in toilet paper. The goal is to cover the “mummy” completely within 60 seconds without breaking the paper.
48. Reverse Mummy
Start with a wrapped mummy from the previous game. The player must now spin or tear to remove all the toilet paper as fast as possible.
49. Paddle, Bucket, Mallow
Tie a clipboard or stiff cardboard to a player’s waist so it acts like a paddle. A partner throws marshmallows at the paddle. The player must angle their hips to deflect the marshmallow into a bucket placed on the floor.
50. Cash Challenge
Place dollar bills (or play money) on a table. Players use a straw to suck up the bills and transfer them to a plate. The player with the most “money” banked after a minute wins.
Supplies for Minute to Win It
You do not need expensive equipment to host these games. In fact, you probably have most of these items in your junk drawer right now. Here is a quick checklist of essentials to help you prepare:
- Ping Pong balls
- Post-It notes
- Balloons
- Paper plates
- Paper straws
- Bangles
- Feathers
- Playing cards
- Clothes pegs
- Party cups
- Compostable spoons
- Skittles
- Cheerios
- Lucky Charms mallows
- Party blowers
FAQs
What Are Good Prizes for Minute to Win It Games?
Prizes do not need to be expensive. For kids, consider items like glow sticks, movie tickets, extra screen time passes, or a “get out of chores” card. Candy bars and small toys from the dollar store are also popular options.
How Many Games Should I Plan for a Party?
A good rule of thumb is to plan for about 5 to 8 games per hour. This allows time for explaining the rules, setting up the props, playing the game, and celebrating the winner before moving to the next challenge.
What Is the Best Age for These Games?
These games are versatile and work well for ages 5 and up. For children under 5, you may need to simplify the rules or remove the timer to reduce frustration. Teenagers and adults also love these challenges, especially when played in teams.
Have Fun
Minute to Win It games are fantastic for parties, family reunions, rainy days, or whenever you need a quick injection of fun. You can easily tweak most of these challenges to suit the age and skill level of your group.
So, raid your kitchen for supplies, set a timer, and get ready for some chaos. Good luck!
