Since it’s Thursday we thought of an activity that we have often done for Evening Program on Thursday nights – Minute to Win It Games! Minute to Win It Games are mini challenges in which any number of people can participate. At camp we usually divide into small groups and then the groups choose one player to represent them for each challenge. At home, you may not have enough people for teams but instead have individuals who participate in every challenge.
Materials Required: A cookie per player or group, uncooked spaghetti, cheerios (or uncooked penne, or beads with holes), 2-4 plates, uncooked beans or another small item (like m&ms, mini marshmallows, goldfish), a straw per player or team, cotton balls, petroleum jelly, 5-10 dice, one popsicle stick per team, a balloon per team, plastic cups, as many pennies or coins as you can find
How to Play Minute to Win It Games: These are a series of mini challenges that happen within a minute timeframe. Keep track of which person or group wins each challenge and whoever has the most points at the end wins!
Challenge 1: Cookie Face – This one is simply hilarious. Each player tilts their head back and places a cookie on their forehead. They then have 1 minute to get the cookie into their mouth, without using their hands. If it falls on the floor they can replace it on their forehead and keep going (use a new cookie if it gets dirty). Any player to get the cookie into their mouth gets a point. If no one gets it into their mouth within the timeframe, whoever does it first wins the point.
Challenge 2: Noodling Around – The participating players have to move cheerios (or beads with holes, or uncooked penne pasta) from one plate to the other within the minute timeframe. But that would be too easy, so they have to do it using an uncooked piece of spaghetti that they hold in their mouth, and they cannot use their hands. The player who moves the most pieces wins!
Challenge 3: Bean there, Done that – Similar to Noodling Around but with a twist, this challenge asks players to move beans from one plate to another, using a straw. After 1 minute, the player who has moved the most beans wins. Be careful that the item you are asking players to move doesn’t fit through the straw, because when they use suction to move it, they could accidentally suck it into their mouth. Safety first! If you don’t have beans use: m&ms, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, goldfish crackers, etc.
Challenge 4: Dice Balance – While holding a popsicle stick in their mouth, each player has one minute to see how many dice they can balance on top of each other. The most dice wins.
Challenge 5: Nose Dive – Each participating player puts a dab of petroleum jelly on to the tip of their nose. Using only their nose (no hands), they see how many cotton balls they can move from one plate to another. The player that moves the most cotton balls after 1 minute wins.
Challenge 6: Blow the Cup Down – Within a minute time frame, each player blows up a balloon and then uses the air inside of it to try and knock over a plastic cup. Whoever blows over the most cups wins, and if they make it through all the cups before a minute is up, they can set the cups back up to keep going.
Challenge 7: Penny Challenge – Using only one hand the participants have to try to stack as many coins as they can in 1 minute. The most coins stacked wins.
*Counselor Hack: Help make sure everyone gets to participate fairly by making a rule that a different participant should play each game. Run an uneven number of games if you want there to be a clear winner and no chance of a tie (or vice versa if you’re hoping for the opposite). If you like these types of games, a simple google search will provide you with even more ideas that you can cater to your age groups and what materials you have readily available. Get a camera ready, because these can get silly (especially Cookie Face)!
Challengers, are you ready?