Minute To Win It Games the Family Will Love

Minute To Win It Games the Family Will Love

Minute to Win It Games are a growing category of games that are fast to play. Each round lasts only a minute, and the games are fun and often silly. These games are a great way to engage party guests, host family game night, or develop new skills and practice coordination. 

What are Minute to Win It Games?

What are Mins to Win It Games

Minute to Win It Games are short activities that are timed at one minute for each round. As each new challenge is presented, the opportunity arises to be the fastest, to fully complete the task, or to show your ability while trying. Fun for everyone, they are often made with items that are found around the house, or kits can be purchased for ready-made fun. Minute to win it games are fun for a birthday party, games night, or family night in.

A few years ago, NBC had a family game show called Minute to Win where contestants had to complete a task using ordinary household items in less than a minute. These “Minute To Win It” games have now become a popular addition to family party games.

How to Play Minute to Win It Games

To play a Minute to Win It Game simply find the game you want to play, and there will be several great suggestions below, then gather the materials, set it up, and start the timer. Each game can be played in three different ways. Each player can be timed, and the player with the fastest time wins. This also works for practicing alone and trying to beat your last best time.

Alternatively, each can be set up twice right next to each other and two players can compete at the same time to complete the game faster than the other player. If you want to work on team building or you have a larger group of participants or larger games, separate into teams and see which team wins the most rounds. Each round can be the same game or task, or they can each be different.

Minute to Win It for Individuals – Man vs Clock

Man vs Clock

To play as an individual, simply set up the games, start a timer, and go! For a larger challenge line up a few Minute to Win It Games and do one after the other, with a timer set to go off each minute for 5 minutes.

That’s five times the fun and five changes to improve your speed. This can be a fun way to prepare for an upcoming friendly competition or gathering, or just a way to pass the time on a rainy weekend.

Minute to Win It for Groups

When playing with a group of people there will be someone to compete against. This can make the game feel all new, and push you to better your performance with a little encouragement from others. Set up two stations for each game, and they can be reset between rounds, and have each person compete once for each game.

Pair them up with someone to compete against, and see who can complete the task in the fastest time. If you do not have the supplies or the space to set up two of each game, simply decide who goes first and reset the station for the next person to go. 

Minute to Win It for Teams

When you have a larger group or are focused on teamwork, then Minute to Win It Games for groups is a great choice. Separate into two or more teams and determine who is going to try the first challenge. Each challenge will be done by a different person on the team, and each team gets a point for every round they win. At the end of the games the team who has the most points wins. 

Top 60-Minute-to-Win It Games

Top 60-Minute-to-Win It Games
  1. Cup Stacking: set the timer for a minute and see how many cups you can stack, unstack, or restack. The more you practice the fast you get!
  2. Name the States: offer each person a piece of paper and a pencil and have them list as many states as they can in one minute. 
  3. Times Tables: everyone learns their timetables in school, dust off those facts, and see who can finish the sheet the fastest. Times table practice sheets can be downloaded and printed.
  4. Toothpick Words: provide each competitor with a stack of toothpicks and have them spell as many 2 letter words as they can without breaking or bending the toothpicks.
  5. Cereal Box Puzzle: cut up the front of cereal boxes and see who puts theirs back together the fastest.
  6. Wordsmith: provide a set of letters, alphabet tiles, or words that are cut up as each letter, and see who can make the most words, or who makes the longest words. Adjust to fit your needs.
  7. Coin Stacking: provide a roll of coins and have each person stack the highest they can using only one hand.
  8. Tower Building: provide blocks and see who can build the tallest tower without it falling over.
  9. Tennis Ball Bowling: layout circles around the room and have guest roll tennis balls into the circles. 
  10. Junk in the Trunk: fill empty tissue boxes with ping pong balls, cotton balls, or rolled-up socks, tie them around the waist with the box at the back, and see who can get the most out in one minute
  11. Pop Can Shooting Range: stack pop cans into pyramids and see who can shoot down the most with elastics.
  12. Egg Race: this classic is as fun for adults as it was in school! Put an egg on a spoon (hardboiled for easy cleanup) and see who can cross the finish line first.
  13. Balloon Toss: line up in pairs, and toss a water balloon back and forth. The last balloon standing wins.
  14. Wall Bounce: set up a bucket a few inches away from a wall and have participants bounce a ping pong ball off the wall and into the bucket.
  15. Egg Relay: give each participant a spoon, and each team leader an egg. Pass the egg from spoon to spoon without dropping it. 
  16. Hot Air Balloon: each team gets a balloon and they need to keep it floating for one minute. It can’t touch the ground, and you can make any other rule you want such as only using your breath, no hands, etc.
  17. Cookie Face: each participant tilts their head back and balances a cookie on their face. Try to get the cookie into their mouth without using their hands.
  18. Tic Tac Tweezers: fill a bowl with tic tacs, mini m&ms or other small snacks, and have each participant use tweezers to pick them up and carry them across the room to another bowl—the most successful person wins.
  19. Cotton Ball Transfer: put a little Vaseline on the nose and move cotton balls from one bowl to the next without using hands or teeth, the person who moves the most cotton balls with their nose wins.

Click to read about: Party Games for Kids (26 fun party games for children) – Darling Celebrations

More funny Minute to Win It Game Ideas

More funny Game Ideas
  1. Worms in Dirt Search: make traditional worms in dirt or worms in whipped cream and have each person find as many as they can with their mouth only and see who finds the most.
  2. Candy Sort: place 100 small candies on a plate and have them sort them by color using their non-dominant hand, see who has the fewest left at the end that haven’t been sorted.
  3. Suck it Up: put small candies on one plate and give each person a straw. Using only the straw in their mouth, see who can move the most from one plate to the next.
  4. Chopstick Cereal Race: provide one large bowl filled with small cereal in the middle and place smaller bowls in front of each participant. Using chopsticks, see who can move the most from the large communal bowl to their individual bowl.
  5. Flying Feather: use only your breath to blow a feather across the room. Create a starting line and a finish line.
  6. Elephant Bowling: put a baseball or tennis ball in the foot of a pair of stockings and tie it around the head. Each person leans forward and swings with their head to knock down empty bottles.
  7. Tissue Toss: each person gets a new box of tissues and using only one hand pulls them out one at a time as fast as they can. The most tissues pulled in a minute wins.
  8. Count Up: print the numbers starting at 0 and ending at 25, or 50 depending upon age, and shuffle them. See who can put them back in order the fastest.
  9. Spoon Catapult: hand out plastic spoons and ping pong balls or pom poms, and have each person load their spoon and shoot it across the table and across the finish line. 
  10. Balloon Blower: line up empty plastic cups and give each person a balloon. Fill the balloon then use the air from the balloon to knock over as many cups as possible.
  11. Marble Roll: place a piece of double-sided sticky tape across the table and have people roll marbles one at a time towards the video, the person who gets the most to stick will win.
  12. Marshmallow Mouth: hand out words written on flashcards, have participants put a giant marshmallow in their mouth and say each word. The team that gets the most words correct in one minute will win.
  13. Blindfolded Maze: create a small maze or obstacle course with cushions or streamers. Have one partner put on a blindfold and the other partner guide them only using words through the maze. To win they must finish in one minute.
  14. Feed Your Friend: one partner sits on a chair while the other faces them blindfolded and feeds them pudding, jello, or some other food.
  15. Back to Back Stand up: have participants sit on the floor with their back to their teammates and link arms at the elbows. Have them stand up without unlinking their arms.
  16. Tissue Relay: have teams line up next to each other and give each person a straw. Using the straw in their mouth only they pass the tissue from team member to team member and whichever team gets the furthest in a minute wins.
  17. Jump Rope: see how many times a person, or a team of people one at a time, can jump rope in one minute.
  18. Human Ring Toss: using hula hoops or inflatable pool floats have teams line up across from each other and see who can get the most hoops over their partner in a minute.
  19. Bottle to Bottle: choose two 2 L bottles and fill one with candy, cereal, or other similar-sized items. Tape the other bottle to this one with their mouths touching and have each person try and move all the items from one bottle to the next.
  20. Mummy: have one person wrap the other in toilet paper or with streamers and see who gets the most coverage in a minute. 

Click to read about: Sweet 16 Party Games Your Guests Will Love

Hilarious Family Minute To Win It Games

Hilarious Family Games
  1. Memory: using cards of any kind, create pairs of cards or matching pictures. Place 10 face down in front of each player and have them flip over one at a time to see who can make the most pairs in a minute.
  2. Speed Jenga: set up a Jenga tower for each pair and see who can make the most moves without knocking over their tower in the time limit.
  3. Jacks: provide a set of jacks to each participant and see who can pick up the most jacks following the rules of the game within the time. Drop the ball and pick up one before catching it, then pick up two, and so on, catching the ball after each pickup.
  4. Iron Man: using chopsticks to select one iron nut at a time, see who can create the tallest stack.
  5. Bobbing for Apples: this Halloween tradition is excellent any time of year, fill a large bowl or bin with water, drop in some apples, and see who can pick up the most apples with their mouth only.
  6. Traffic Yam: push a yam, sweet potato, cabbage, ball, etc across the room with your nose.
  7. Sticky Peeps: use peeps or other marshmallows and see who can stick the most to their face.
  8. Ping Pong Race: provide a course for a ping pong ball then have each participant move their ping pong ball through the course by blowing on it through a straw.
  9. Jello Slurp: provide a plate of jello and straw to see who can drink the most in a minute.
  10. Cup Throw: provide each set of partners with two cups and a ping pong ball to see who can pass it back and forth the most times without dropping it. 
  11. Guess the Bears: fill a jar with gummy bears, provide each guest with a small pile of gummy bears, and give them a minute to guess how many are in the jar. Closest to the right wins.
  12. Cup Pyramid: take 15 cups and see how fast you can build a pyramid with them.
  13. Penny Stack: Take 25 pennies and see how fast you can stack them with one hand.
  14. Cookie Face: Give each player an Oreo or similar cookie and ask them to tip their head back and balance the cookie on their forehead. They have one minute to get the cookie from their forehead to their mouth without using their hands.
  15. Penny Hose: Get players to put a penny in each leg of a pair of pantyhose. They then have one minute to try to get the pennies out. 
  16. Suck the skittles: Put 50 or so skittles on a plate and give each player a drinking straw. Players can only use their mouths (no hands) to use the straw to pick up the skittles and move to another plate. You could use mini marshmallows for this one too.
  17. Pipe cleaner bracelet: Give each player a pipe cleaner and a blow of circular cereal-like fruit loops. Players thread the cereal onto the pipe cleaner and make a bracelet using only one hand!
  18. Junk in the trunk: Tape an empty tissue box to each player’s waist. Fill with 15 ping pong balls and each player has one minute to try to get the balls out of the box using movements like shaking, dancing, jumping, etc!
  19. Egg pong: Have an empty egg carton and 15 ping pong balls. See who can bounce the most balls into the carton in a minute.
  20. Balloon blow: Give each player a balloon and get them to blow it up, then use the air from inside the balloon to knock down 20 plastic cups arranged in a line.
  21. Penny tower: Players race to see who can stack pennies into the highest tower in the space of a minute.

Minute to win it game ideas final note

Minute to Win It Games are a great way to focus on team building, try new games with friends and family, and entertain guests. They are suitable for almost any occasion and can be altered to fit any group of people or different age groups. If you are competitive, you can even practice in advance. Best of all, they use simple household items found around the home so preparation is minimal.

About Author

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Jane Sheriff is the founder, creative director, party planner and mom of three. She started Darling Celebrations back in 2012 to share easy and beautiful ideas for celebrating the special events in life.

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