Perfect for brain breaks, icebreakers, or just to fill the last few minutes of class.
If there’s one thing kids love, it’s games! If you’re looking for brain breaks, icebreakers, team-building activities, field day games, or just ways to fill the last few minutes of class, Minute To Win It games are the answer. Many of these 60-second games involve common items found around the classroom while others require no equipment at all. There are games for kids as little as preschool and others that will keep even adults entertained. Whoever finishes the game first is the winner. Our list of 50+ Minute To Win It games for kids features some hilarious and challenging games that will definitely be a hit with your class.
Split your class up into teams and give them each two paper plates, a set of chopsticks, and 20 pieces of candy or another small item like math manipulatives. Whoever moves the candy from plate to plate fastest is the winner. The real challenge will definitely be figuring out how to hold the chopsticks. Great for building fine motor skills.
Learn more: Chopstick Pick Up at Happy Mom Hacks
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One player from each team has to scoop cotton balls into a bowl while blindfolded. Whoever scoops the most cotton balls within 60 seconds wins the game. Watch as the chaos unfolds!
This one is sure to puzzle your students. Arrange the cut-up pieces of the cereal box into the right formation in the allotted time to win this game.
Source: Cereal Puzzle at Happy Mom Hacks
Unstack then restack a pyramid of cups in under a minute. Bonus points to anyone who sings the Cup Song during this STEM challenge.
Source: Cup Stacking at Happy Mom Hacks
This is one of those Minute To Win It games that’s perfect for phys ed class, field day, or as an extra-special outdoor activity. It’s just like regular ring toss but with a fun twist. You can also use Hula-Hoops instead of pool rings.
ADVERTISEMENTSource: Human Ring Toss Game at Kid-Friendly Things To Do
Tie donuts (or snack of choice) to a string and try to eat it with no hands! For an added challenge, try it blindfolded.
Kids place a Popsicle stick in their mouths and try to balance five or six dice on the end of the stick for three seconds. It’s more challenging than it looks!
Source: A Bit Dicey at Math With Meaning
Use the straws to blow pom-poms across the finish line. Try to get as many across as possible to win.
Students move 25 pennies into a stack using only one hand in this Minute To Win It challenge.
Source: 10 Awesome Minute To Win It Games at Happiness Is Homemade
Use trays that will fit a Ping-Pong ball to play a fun spin on tic-tac-toe! The first player or team to get three in a row wins.
Source: 10 Awesome Minute To Win It Games at Happiness Is Homemade
Another one-handed challenge, this Minute To Win It game uses a pipe cleaner and cereal to make “bracelets” while building fine motor skills. Trying to form the pipe cleaner into a circle using one hand is definitely a challenge!
Setting up plastic cups with pieces of card stock in between, players will yank the cards out, causing the cups to fall into a tower. Each time a player makes a mistake, they must reset until all the cups fall into each other. This game is a blast!
Moisten a gummy worm and tie it to the “fishing line.” Dive that worm into a bowl of pretzels, and then eat the pretzel without using your hands. A delicious yet challenging game.
Using a straw and some chocolate candies, move as many candies as possible to an empty plate. Bonus: Kids get to eat the candy at the end!
Just like wrapping presents, only with a twist. Each team of two has one person using only their right hand and the other using only their left hand to wrap the present. First team to wrap the present, put a bow on it, and address it to someone wins!
This game is a children’s party classic, and adding the time element makes it that much more exciting. Work in teams or individually to keep the balloon up for 1 minute.
Using a sweet potato and a spoon, players must move the potato down the line of painter’s tape and back. This one will definitely bring on some laughs!
Kids build a tower of LEGO as tall as they can, only with a catch: They can only use their hands to touch one brick at a time, so holding the tower still is not allowed. Prepare for lots of crashing LEGO towers!
Stick as many Post-its as possible on your partner in a minute or less.
Set up pins (empty soda bottles or cans work too) at the end of a table, and give each student five balls to knock them over in the allotted time.
Stack coins on the edge of eight cups, and don’t let them fall in!
Younger students are sure to love this game. The popular water-bottle-flipping challenge was made into a Minute To Win It game—what fun!
Ball up pieces of paper and attempt to shoot them into a recycling bin. The twist is, you have to throw the paper blindfolded! This is a perfect way to clean up paper and scraps in the classroom.
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This wacky game will certainly get everyone laughing. Teams are given a pair of nylons and several balloons, which they must then use to make a pair of antlers on a team member’s head!
Learn more: Antler Game at DIY Joy
What could be more fun than a good old-fashioned egg race? We highly recommend using plastic or hard-boiled eggs so there’s less mess afterward.
Although you could play this anytime, it is the perfect Minute To Win It game to play in the spring. Scatter halves of plastic eggs around a room and then have players race to match as many as they can and return them to a basket in the corner of the room.
Do you need a Minute To Win It game but don’t have any supplies on hand? All you need for a good old-fashioned staring contest is the ability not to laugh first!
Set up a DIY obstacle course using everyday objects, then have kids maneuver their way through the course while sitting on a mat using an inchworm technique.
Another obstacle course Minute To Win It game, but this time with a book balanced on the head!
This one is so simple, but don’t let that fool you. First, see who can say the alphabet backward in a minute. Of the people who can do it in a minute or less, see who can do it the fastest.
Another Minute To Win It game that requires nothing more than your own two hands. See who can repeat the pattern of alternating hands between pinching their nose and ear, clapping, and switching sides the most times in 60 seconds.
Learn more: Indoor Games at @thefundoor/Instagram
The premise of this game is so simple, but it will be sure to have kids laughing. One player balances a paper plate on their head while a teammate races to see how many objects they can place on it without it falling.
Cut up paper bags to various heights and place them around the room. Players race to pick up as many as they can in a minute using just their mouth.
This is the perfect Minute To Win It game for the littlest competitors since it reinforces color recognition and gross motor skills. See who can sort the most M&Ms or similar candies by color in a minute.
Assign a word and then see who can come up with the most rhymes for it in a minute.
