Sharla Kostelyk

After the success of our original Minute to Win It family fun night and our Dollar Store Minute to Win It, I thought it would be fun to do a Christmas edition. I chose some Minute to Win It Christmas games. It was so much fun! Whether you’re planning a large holiday party or a small family gathering, these games will bring laughter and fun.

I’ve purposely chosen games that share some of the same supplies. This helps keep it simple to plan and more affordable.

Most of the supplies needed can be purchased at the dollar store. You probably already have many of them in your home. Throw this together at the last minute and still manage to impress.

Use our Minute to Win It Christmas Edition printable decoration kit to make things even easier! 

Minute to Win It Christmas Games:

You can play these games individually or as teams. If you play as teams, be sure to come up with awesome team names to add to the fun!

I’ve added videos of most of the games below to give you a better idea of how to play them. My kids and our neighbour had so much fun trying out all the activities.

Face the Gingerbread Man:

Supplies needed:

• small gingerbread men (at least one per person)

Begin with a gingerbread man on each person’s forehead. The players have one minute to get the cookie into their mouth using only their facial movements. This is a great game to play in a large group. Everyone can play at the same time or you can play head to head.

Snowman Stack:

Supplies needed:

• large marshmallows (6 for each player)

Each player has one minute to stack three marshmallows on top of each other twice to create two “snowmen” using only one hand.

This is an easy game to complete within the time allotted. I included it because it is nice to have a game that younger children can easily play.

If you’re playing these Minute to Win It Christmas games in teams, choose the youngest players to complete this challenge. Even toddlers should be able to do well at this.

If you are playing with only adults, you may want to skip this challenge or increase the difficulty by requiring players to stack the marshmallows using only their mouths.

Reindeer Nose Dive:

Supplies needed:

• 1 inch red pompoms
• ribbon
• petroleum jelly

Tie a red pompom onto the end of a ribbon. Make one of these for each player. Place petroleum jelly on each player’s nose. The player starts with the other end of the ribbon in their mouth. They then have one minute to attempt to swing the ribbon and land the pompom onto their nose and stick there. No hands are allowed to be used in this challenge.

Christmas Cliffhanger

Supplies needed:

• ten Christmas cards

Place 10 Christmas cards in a row on a table close to the edge. You want to set them up so that they form a tent. Blow the cards gently to move them across the table. The goal is to have one card hang over the edge of the table without falling off. Each player has one minute and ten tries to reach the objective.

Candy Cane Catch

Supplies needed:

• garland
• candy canes

String garland up between two chairs with the seat facing out to create a clothesline-type effect. Give each player a handful (or small bowlful) of candy canes. Have the player stand on the chair and drop candy canes, attempting to have them hang on the garland. You can have another player on the opposite chair playing at the same time.

You can either give the point to the person who hangs a candy cane first or see who can hang the most in one minute.

Jingle Bell Clock

Supplies needed:

• craft stick (wide or narrow depending on age and ability of players)
• jingle bells (6-8 for each player)

Have each challenger place a craft stick in their mouth and line the jingle bells across the stick in one minute or less. For young children, use the wider craft sticks. To make it more challenging for adults, use regular sized popsicle sticks. You can also vary the size of the jingle bells to create more difficulty.

Snow Shovel

Supplies needed:

• bowls
• plastic spoons
• 1 inch white pompoms or cotton balls

Give each player two bowls, one with fifteen white pompoms and a plastic spoon in it. Once the clock starts, the players have one minute to transfer the pompoms (snowballs) into the empty bowl using only their mouth and the plastic spoon. This game is quite challenging, so for younger kids, start with less pompoms or cotton balls in their bowl.

Bobbing for Candy Canes

Supplies needed:

• bowl
• wrapped candy canes

Fill a bowl with wrapped candy canes for each player. Challengers place one candy cane in their mouth and attempt to hook the candy canes in the bowl and transfer them to the table. The goal of the game is to move 5 candy canes out of the bowl. The time to beat is one minute.

Peppermint Twist

Supplies needed:

• uncooked spaghetti noodles (one per player)
• Christmas Life Savers or similar peppermint candy (six per player)

Set out one piece of uncooked spaghetti per person. Place six holiday edition Life Savers or similar peppermint candy with a hole in the center on their side so that the hole is facing the contestant. The player must pick up all the candy using only the spaghetti noodle in their mouth. They must stack all six candies onto their noodle in under one minute.

Snowball Run

Supplies needed:

• plastic spoons
• 1 inch white pompoms or cotton balls
• buckets or large bowls

Place two buckets or bowls at the far end of the room. Lay out white pompoms at the other side of the room and give participating players a plastic spoon. This game works with groups as a relay or with two players racing against each other. Each of the players places a white pompom (snowball) on a plastic spoon and races to place it in a bucket across the room. The player or team to fill the bucket with the most “snowballs” in one minute wins.

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Supplies needed:

• Christmas wrapping paper
• household items
• oven mitts

Before the event, wrap some small boxes and cans with holiday wrapping paper. Have each player put on a pair of oven mitts. See how many gifts players can open in one minute while wearing oven mitts. This is quite a funny one to watch!

As you can see from the video, one of our daughters found the game too difficult and used her mouth to open “gifts”. In case it wasn’t clear in the instructions, using your teeth is not allowed!

White Christmas

Supplies needed:

• toilet paper rolls

One person stands still while the other wraps them in toilet paper. This game is best player head to head against another two player team. The team that completely uses their toilet paper first wins. It’s fun to see what method the teams come up with to do this quickly.

These Minute to Win It Christmas party games are great for office parties, family get togethers, holiday parties with friends, or even winter birthday parties.

You can easily adapt the games for all ages from preschoolers to grandparents.

Set the mood by having Christmas music playing in the background. Use holiday decor as your decorations. This means that the lights and tree that are already in the room are all you need!

Pop some popcorn, put out some drinks, set out a few appetizers, print out the game cards and party kit, and it’s time to play. I’m sure the whole family is going to love these Minute to Win It Christmas games!Check out our other Minute to Win It games and easy family games:

Minute to Win It Family Fun Night games 

Dollar Store Minute to Win It 

The Flour Game 

The Bag Game