36 Fun Minute To Win It Games to Fill Rainy Afternoons!

Minute to win it activities photo collage.

Are you bored of constantly fielding cries of "I'm bored!"? Do you dread the long weekend afternoons once you're all back from soccer practice? Wouldn't life be easier if you had a list of quick, easy, and super-fun minute-to-win-it games in your back pocket, ready to go?

Well, dread rainy afternoons no more with this list of fun games to play with the whole family. We've got 37 fab options to entertain your cherubs, with minimal preparation and resources. They're perfect for family game night too. You can go from "I'm bored" to "That was fun!" in just one minute!

Jump to:

The pyramid game

a woman in a blue shirt sits behind an outdoor table. She is stacking 4 red solo cups on the table. — source: Peachy Party Games

Set your stopwatches for 60 seconds and grab some red Solo cups. This game takes less time to set up than it does to play, which makes it perfect for a last-minute save. Stack the most cups in a pyramid as you can in a minute, and then race to unstack them too.

Name that tune

a man, woman and girl stand in front of a yellow background. They are all wearing headphones that they are holding away from their ears, and they are smiling.

This one is great for all your popular music buffs, and teens will love being faster than their parents! Play the first 5 seconds of 12 songs (this adds up to a minute), and get contestants to be first to guess the track.

Unwrapping kisses

a wooden table with a heart-shaped ceramic bowl with a red inside and a white rim. The bowl is filled with hershey's kisses. More kisses are scattered around the bowl

This speedy game is great for dexterity, so get your toddlers involved, just monitor how much of the chocolate they get to eat afterward! Simply see who can unwrap the most Hershey Kisses in 60 seconds. Have as many rounds as your sweet tooth can handle!

Lego build

a white table with lego blocks scattered over it. two children's arms play with the lego

This fun game is easy to adapt to the ages of your participants. Find a lego project that is simple enough for the contestants to complete in a minute or less. Print out a few copies of the instructions, collect the building materials, and set up stations. The winner is the first to complete their model.

Pass it on

Text reads "Family shouting game". The images are of printable playing instructions, and shildren holding cards while shouting — source: Playtivities

We love co-operation games and this one is great for all ages. You can find the instructions and printables for this family game night classic here. Working a bit like Telephone, you draw what you see and then guess what you've drawn!

Stacking pennies

a stack of copper coins on a white background

This game might cost you a little, but you can always get the pennies back at the end! Give each player 25 coins, and challenge them to stack as many coins as they can with only one hand in 60 seconds. This is harder than it looks, especially under pressure!

Yank me around

on a green background with a green table a boy sits down. He s reaching toward a tower of 3 paper cups with white squares of cardboard inbetween them — source: Happiness is Homemade

Grab some paper or plastic cups, and some large squares of card for this next game. Build a tower of the cups with the squares placed in between each cup. You can adjust the height to make it more or less difficult. Points are awarded for successfully removing the card without knocking over the cups.

Spring showers

A man stands outside in a dark jumper and is putting a shower cap on his head. — source: Playtivities

This is one for when you don't mind making a mess. The kids will love the prospect of spreading shaving cream all over the grown-ups! One member of each team puts on a shower cap and squirts shaving cream all over the top of it. Then the other members of the team throw Cheetos onto the shower cap to get them to stick. You get 1 point for each Cheetobe at the end of 60 seconds.

Don't blow it

on a green background are two yellow plates. On the right hand yellow plate are 7 colored ping pong balls — source: Happiness is Homemade

This quick and simple game only requires 2 paper plates and as many ping pong balls as you have laying around. The aim is to blow the balls from one plate to the other. If the balls roll away, the player must put them back onto the first plate and start again. You can hand out points for each ball successfully transferred, and for completing the task in 60 seconds, depending on how generous you're feeling!

Cool shot

on a green table are an orange water gun and a blue water gun. Behind these is a polystyrene rectangle. Stuck into this are 6 golf tees with colored ping pong balls on top of them — source: Happiness is Homemade

If you're trying to cool off on a long summer afternoon, then this next game is perfect for you. You'll need squirt guns, golf tees, ping pong balls, and a styrofoam block. Stick the golf tees in a row into the block, place a ball on top of each tee and you're ready to go. Arm each player with a water pistol and challenge them to be the first to knock off all of the balls within the minute.

Shamrock shake

3 children stand in a living room. Tied to their backs are tissue boxes with ping pong balls inside them — source: Play Party Plan

This doubles up as a way of getting some pretty amusing video footage for your family Whatsapp group! Tie an empty Kleenex box to a pair of pantyhose and stick it around the waist of each contestant. Fill the boxes with ping pong balls, and give the players a minute to shake their stuff and empty the boxes of their contents. Start the timer, and have a laugh!

a woman sits in an office chair with a cookie on her forehead, she is looking up at the ceiling — source: Play Party Plan

Another great party game for chocolate lovers! Each player needs a cookie, and they must refrain from eating it until the game starts. Place the cookies on the foreheads of the contestants, and tell them they have a minute to move the cookie to their mouth. The catch? They can't use their hands!

Traffic Yam

Raid your kitchen for this next game, as you'll need a sweet potato and a wooden spoon for each player. Use masking tape to mark lines of at least 12 feet on the floor. The aim of the game is to roll the potato along the line using the spoon. If it veers off, then they must move it back to where it was on the line. The winner is whoever gets furthest in 60 seconds.

Head bounce

A slightly blurred photo of a girl in a red shirt bouncing a balloon on her head. The text reads "Family Games: Head Bouncing" — source: Playtivities

Another simple game here for you to bring out at a moment's notice. Head Bouncing involves a balloon for each player. Set the timer for 60 seconds and players must try and keep the balloon from touching the floor with only their head. This is much harder than it looks, but a lot of fun!

Water pong

This is a good game to keep outdoors if you don't want to be mopping your floor afterward! Take 3 solo cups and 1 ping pong ball per team/player. Fill all of the cups with water and place them in a straight line. The player should stand at the end, place the ball in the top of the first cup and try to blow it across to the last cup without it dropping to the floor. See how fast it can be done!

Fruit loop threading

on a white background is a pile of fruit loops

Not only is this a fun game to do at speed, but it's also a really great way of encouraging young children to develop their dexterity. All you need is a pipe cleaner for each player and a box of fruit loops. Challenge the players to string as many fruit loops as possible within the minute. The winner is the one with the longest ceral thread!

Straw race

on a white table are 2 patterned plates with skittles on them. A child in a blue shirt is moving skittles between the paltes with a plastic straw — source: Happy Mom Hacks

You can use whatever holiday candy you have left over for this game, you can even theme the candy depending on the time of year. You'll need a bag of straws, 2 plates per team, and a bag of candy. Set up two plates in front of each player and pile candy on top of one of them. The player needs to use the straw to move the candy to the other plate as quickly as possible. Count it up after a minute and the fullest plate wins!

Defy gravity

in a room in front of a table football table is a small boy. He is keeping a blue and red balloon up in the air — source: Happy Mom Hacks

You can make this game more challenging by adding to the number of balloons in play. Each player should keep one hand behind their back, whilst trying to keep the balloons up in the air. Happy Mom Hacks also suggests that you can add to the challenge by using a lightsaber instead of your hand!

Peep face game

a boy in a grey tshirt smiles at the camera. He has 7 purple marshmallow peeps stuck to his face. — source: Grace for Single Parents

If you have some spare marshmallow peeps laying around (well, then you're a stronger person than I am!), you can play this fun game. You need to hand each player an open packet of peeps and set your timer. The aim is to get the most peeps stuck to their face in 60 seconds. Just don't tell them that licking the peeps will make them slide off easily!

Go fish!

a closeup of a white bowl filled with goldfish crackers. One of these is being liften up with a plastic straw — source: The Pragmatic Parent

The paper bag game

on a white background is a brown paper bag with the top folded over

Sometimes you don't even have a couple of ping pong balls and a straw laying around. But the chances are, you do have a paper bag. This is a brilliant last-minute game for all ages. Stand up a paper bag on the floor and have each player pick it up with just their teeth. For each round, tear a strip off the bag. There's gonna be a lot of falling over!

Dizzy mummy

in a white kitchen next to a sofa are a boy and a girl. The boy is wrapped in toilet paper. The girl is smiling. Both children are smiling facing the camera

Even if you're in the middle of the wildest camping pitch, you'll definitely have a roll of toilet paper (unless someone's been slack with the packing). You can play this game anywhere, and it's lots of fun! Pair up players and give them 60 seconds to wrap their partner in toilet paper. The winner is the pair with the most convincingly wrapped mummy!

Sticky situation

in a garden, a boy is facing the camera, holding a white bowl. In the foreground is a white plate with a slice of peanut buttered bread on it — source: Chica Circle

Love peanut butter? Or just have lots of it around? As long as no one has an allergy, this is a great garden game for a party. The aim of the game is to throw a ping pong ball from one table to another onto a piece of bread covered in peanut butter. You can move the tables apart depending on the age and ability of your players. Just watch out for bits of grass in the butter later.

Eat like a bird

2 young boys are sat on the floor under a horizontal bar. Hanging from the bar is a thread with cereal threaded onto it. One of the boys is trying to eat the cereal. — source: Frugal Fun 4 Boys

This game takes a little prep, but you can sort it in a quiet moment and have it ready to whip out in response to the "I'm bored!" call. Thread Cheerios and raisins onto some cotton with a needle. Loop the thread together and hang it on a pole or piece of dowel laying across two chairs. Give each player one minute to eat as much of the food they can without using their hands! Cue lots of fun and lots of mess!

Ponginator

several photos show a plastic egg box full of orange ping pong balls, and a boy trying to bounce the balls into the egg box — source: The Chaos and the Clutter

This is a great way of making use of that pile of empty egg cartons on top of your fridge. With a couple of these and a few ping pong balls, you can make a really fun family game night activity. Challenge each player to land at least 8 balls in the carton within the minute. You can even get the other team to try and distract them!

Breakfast Scramble

several photos show a child completing a jigsaw of a Honey Nut Cherrios box — source: The Chaos and the Clutter

This one is super simple, and you can make the challenge as complicated as you need to match to ability and age of your players. Take the front panel of a cereal box and cut it into sections. Give each player or team 60 seconds to put the panel back together.

Sugar stacking

on a blue background is a metal spoon with sugar cubes stacked on it like jenga — source: The Holidaze Craze

This game can use dice or sugar cubes (sugar is more fun!) and is a fun activity to introduce on holiday. Each player has to put a popsicle stick or the handle of a spoon in their mouth. Then they need to stack at least 6 sugar cubes or dice on top of each other on the end of it! The winner is the person who can hold the cubes there for more than 3 seconds.

Kerplink and kerplunk

the text reads "Minute to win it game kerplink or kerplunk!". The image is of a red bowl on a wooden table. 3 clear plastic cups are in teh bowl, floating in water. Several marbles are in the bottom of the bowl — source: Kid Friendly things to do

One of the best things about minute to win it games is that you generally don't need much space to play them in. This means you can whip out an awesome and fun game idea wherever you are. Kerplink or kerplunk requires a large bowl filled with water, 3 plastic cups, and a handful of marbles. Float the cups in the water and take it in turns to get the marbles in the cups.

Balloon blow

a wooden dining room table with a chair behind it. On either side are 2 boys, one holding a white inflated balloon in front of a ping pong ball. The other boy is holding a red plastic cup — source: Kid Friendly Things to do

Young kids will love the rude noises that this game makes, and older kids (and adults) will find the challenge addictive! You need 1 balloon, 4 ping pong balls, and 1 plastic cup for each team. Player A blows the balloon up and uses that air to push the balls over into the cup player B is holding. The winner is the first team to get all 4 of their balls into the cup.

Post-it note shimmy

a girl wearing a grey dress is covered in coored post it notes. A hand apperared from the right hand side of the frame placing another post it note on her head — source: Paging Fun Mums

This is really 2 games in one because we love a little bit of value! Part one of the game is to see how many post-it notes a player can stick to their team member in 1 minute. Part two is much more fun if you stick on some music! Set the timer again and see which team can ditch all of their post-it notes by dancing away!

Lego skittles

on a wooden floor are several towers made of duplo. a ping pong ball is rolling toward them — source: Mummy to Twins Plus One

We're back with lego again, or Duplo depending on the age of your kids. Not only does this game provide you with a little bit of fun competition, but it also occupies your little darlings with making the lego skittles, before you challenge them to knock as many towers over in 60 seconds. Double the fun!

Fruit ninja

on a patio are two girls throwing playing cards at half a watermelon. Cardsa re scattered all over the stone floor — source: Club Chica

This is great for those kids who love throwing things! The aim of the game is to get a playing card to stick in the side of a watermelon. Cut a watermelon in half and prop it up on a table or a bench. Tape a line on the floor and players must stand by this line and throw regular playing cards at the melon. This is harder than it looks!

Hot Chocolate toss

on a white background is an aerial view of a white mug filled with hot chocolate and topped with 2 marshmallows

This game can either end in a yummy hot drink or a lot of mess, so maybe it's one for outside games! Serve each player a deliciously creamy hot chocolate, and hand them the same number of marshmallows. The winner is the player who gets the most marshmallows in their cup in 60 seconds (mini ones are best).

Turkey leg wrap

Looking to get a game ready for the holidays? Then this one will bring the fun. You'll need a roll of brown burlap, a chef's hat, and a timer. Pair up your players, and give them 1 minute to wrap a team member in the burlap, and pop a chef's hat on their head - making them look just like a turkey leg! Insta-ready and laugh-out-loud!

Paper dragon

on a grey background is a roll of pink tissue paper, unravelling — source: Fun Squared

A little bit similar, but not holiday-specific, this game involves two rolls of party streamers (in the color of your choice!). Instead of wrapping something up, here players have to unwrap a roll of party streamers only using their hands and arms.SOunds simple? Well, the player will begin holding the end of a roll of streamers in each hand. They can't let go or tear the roll. It's harder than it seems!

Pantyhose pennies

a hand is pushing to the bottom of a leg of pantyhose — source: Fun Squared

Do you have a pile of laddered pantyhose laying in a drawer somewhere? Well, as long as they're clean then you can use them for this fun little game. Put a penny in each foot of the hose. The player must get both pennies out of the hose just with their hands, starting with their wrists and hands already in the top of the hose. The pantyhose can't touch anything else, and the pennies can't touch the floor. This is another great one for taking embarrassing photos!