7 awesome Minute to Win It games you HAVE to try

We’ve played these wonderful Minute to Win It games at parties for years. They are a riotous, screeching good time. In fact, these Minute to Win It games are loved by quiet kids and rowdy kids, both boys and girls, and in ages ranging at least from 7 to 13. Wait, make that 7 – 40+ because Bart and I were right in there as well.

Did Minute To Win It games ever air on TV in Australia? I’m hopeless with most things reality or game show TV (except Survivor), so I honestly wouldn’t know. What I do know is that it’s an immensely popular NBC show in the States where the challenge is to do 10 set tasks within 60 seconds and the winner gets $1 million. Needless to say, we recreated the games, not the prize.

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This was a fun party: Budget Harry Potter party plus free printables

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So, here are seven really fun Minute to Win It games, the rules and a printable scorecard should you fancy rolling out your own game show at your next party or during the school holidays. We highly recommend it!

Rules for all Minute to Win It games

•  Set the timer for 1 minute for each game.

•  A player who successfully completes the mission in each game is awarded 5 points. Anyone who participates and stays in the game for the full 60 seconds is awarded 3 points. Anyone who pulls out or doesn’t compete misses out on the points.

I’ve created a score sheet printable featuring all the games mentioned here. Click here to print your free Minute to Win It Scorecard.

Try these Minute to Win It games

1. Cookie Face

What you need

•  A stopwatch or timer

•  A cookie / biscuit for each participant plus a few extras – Oreos work well, but any round, not-too-big biscuit will do the trick

What you do

Each player puts a cookie on their forehead. The object of the game is to get the cookie from forehead to mouth using only your face, no hands allowed. If the cookie falls off, start again with a new cookie.

Make it harder

•  Make it 2 or 3 cookies that need to be moved from forehead to mouth in 60 seconds

•  Add an extra cookie to the face – so players need to move two cookies rather than just one

2. Coin stack

What you need

•  A stopwatch or timer

•  25 5c and 10c coins (or 50 coins or more if you want to have more than one person simultaneously having a go)

What you do

Each player must create a stack of 25 coins using only one hand.

Make it harder

•  Add more coins to stack in 60 seconds

•  Right-handed players must use their left hand and lefties their right

3. Suck it up

What you need

•  A stopwatch or timer

•  A straw for each participant

•  25 M&Ms or Smarties (or 50 or more if you want 2+ players sucking simultaneously)

•  2 bowls or plates for each player

What you do

Place the straw in your mouth and suck. Use the suction to transfer all the lollies from one bowl to the other in 60 seconds. You can use one hand to hold the straw steady. You get to eat all the lollies you transfer.

Make it harder

•  Add more lollies to move in 60 seconds

•  Don’t allow the hand to hold the straw steady

4. Ping pong toss

What you need

•  A stopwatch or timer

•  A heap of ping pong balls (we picked up a pack of 36 for $8 at Kmart)

•  A large box, container or basket to keep the ping pong balls in

•  A box, container or basket for each player to land their balls in

What you do

Bounce the ping pong balls down a table or the floor to land in the basket. Ball must bounce only once. Seven balls in gets 5 points; 1 or more balls in gets 3 points. We played with 2 players each 60 second session and the remaining kids fielded the ping pong balls back into the starter basket so a supply was always ready for the players.

Make it harder

•  Land 10 balls to get 5 points

•  Increase the distance between the player and the basket

•  Ball must be thrown and land on the full (no bounce)

5. Stack Attack

What you need

•  A stopwatch or timer

•  21 plastic cups (or more if making it harder)

What you do

The player has 60 seconds to build the cups into a pyramid and then put them back in a single stack.

Make it harder

•  Add more cups – 36 cups or more

6. Scoop It

What you need

•  A stopwatch or timer

•  A plastic spoon for each participant

•  Two bowls for each player

•  6 ping pong balls for each player

What you do

Place the spoon in your mouth and use it to scoop 6 ping pong balls from one bowl to the other in 60 seconds. You are not allowed to use your hands!

Make it harder

•  Add more ping pong balls

7. Defy Gravity

•  A stopwatch or timer

•  Two balloons for each player

What you do

Using only one hand, the player has to keep two balloons in the air for 60 seconds. Harder than it seems, especially if you remind the players that they must bat the balls, not just hold onto them or lightly pat them. Give a couple of players different coloured balloons each so they can play at the same time.

Make it harder

•  Increase the balloon count to 3 or 4

•  Insist that the player hit the balloon high into the air each time it lands on their hand

•  Add more players into the arena

Tie Breaker

At one of our parties, two of the boys received the same amount of points. With a $25 iTunes voucher up for grabs, we needed a clear winner, stat. We chose to use the Ping Pong Toss game as a tie breaker. The player with the most amount of balls in the basket at the end of the one minute was the winner. Worked perfectly.

What Minute To Win It game do you think you’d excel at?*

* I am a Defy Gravity master.