27 Best Minute to Win It Games for Kids

These easy minute to win it games for kids are perfect fast and fun indoor activities for families! Scroll down to see our list of parent-submitted ideas your kids will love.

With a few simple supplies, many of which you'll already have in the house, these quick one minute games are easy to throw together and will have all ages laughing out loud. Try them for a fun family night idea, to fill a rainy day, or for a creative birthday party theme.

What are the best minute to win it games that you've tried out with your kids? Add any favorites that are missing from the list!


 

    Going Nuts

    Alexandra F.:  Use chopsticks to stack hardware nuts on top of each other as high as possible in one minute. Stack them upright on their edges!

    Shake It Up

    Alexandra F.:  Place a different number of bells, one through five, into five boxes. The player has to shake each of the boxes and, in a minute or less, place them in order by number of bells in the box. (Other small objects, like dice, will work if you don’t have bells.)

    Suck It Up

    Kelly R:  Each player receives 2 paper plates, a straw, and a pile of Skittles on one of the plates (the other one is empty). Players need to transfer as many Skittles as possible from one plate to the other by sucking through the straw.

    Penny Stack

    Kelly R:  Players stack as many pennies as they can into a single stack within one minute, using only one hand.

    About Tine

    Shila:  One of the best minute to win it games for kids who are a little older, this one involves taking a large fork and taping the handle of it tine-side-down onto a flat table. From the other end of the table, see if you can successfully roll a coin and have it land in between the tines! How many coins can you land?

    Chopstick Race

    Shila:  Use chopsticks and any cereal you want (like Cheerios or Trix or Kix). Pour cereal into a group bowl and have the kids use their chopsticks to pick up one piece of cereal at a time and place it in their own individual bowl. Whoever has the most cereal after one minute is the winner.

    Tissue Drop

    Shila:  Do you have a balcony or exposed 2nd-floor loft in your home? If so, one child can drop individual Kleenex tissue from the top spot and another child (his or her partner), is charged with catching each tissue in a bowl - no hands! How many tissues can your team collect in one minute?

    Cookie Face

    Kelly R:  Each player starts with an oreo cookie on their forehead, and has to wiggle their face to slowly move the cookie down and into their mouth. No hands allowed! This is always the favorite when we do kids minute to win it games in our house.

    Balloon Bounce

    Kelly R:  Kids need to bop a balloon to keep it in the air for one minute. Older players can try to keep two balloons in the air!

    Potato Roll

    Alexandra F.:  Using only their noses, players roll a potato across the room. First one to push their potato across the finish line wins! You can make this a one minute game by setting a time limit to see whose potato gets furthest in that time.

    Candy Unwrap

    Kristy Pepping:  Everyone puts on a pair of gloves and tries to unwrap as many candies as they can in one minute.

    Pedometer Challenge

    Shila:  If your kids each have their own fitness tracker, in 1 minute, see who can jump/hop/shuffle more than the other. Who recorded the most steps?

    Categories

    Kelly R:  Add a little brain challenge to your minute to win it games! Players have one minute to write down as many things as they can within a certain category (US States, Harry Potter characters, etc).

    Penny Hose

    Kelly R:  Put a penny into each foot of a pair of panty hose. Each player has 1 minute to try to retrieve both pennies.

    Cotton Ball Nose

    Shila:  Using only the tip of your nose and a dab of petroleum jelly, try to grab as many cotton balls as you can from one section of the tabletop to another.

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Upparent collects community-submitted recommendations and reviews, and any ideas that are shared reflect the opinions of individual contributors.