Family Games

Add some fun and excitement to a birthday party with this homemade prize punch game. This activity is easy to make yourself. It uses inexpensive items that can be purchased at the dollar store.

This DIY punch a prize party game is a welcome addition to any event. It’s a great idea for birthday parties, family game nights, or school or community fairs or carnivals.

This game is based on an old Price is Right game called Punch-a-Bunch. In that game, contestants would punch through for higher ticket prizes, but the concept and fun is the same.

Homemade Prize Punch Game

How to Make a Prize Punch Game:

Supplies needed:

• paper or plastic cups
• tissue paper
• ribbon
• tape
• scissors
• poster board
• poster board stickers
• prizes 

Directions:

1. Fill each plastic cup with small items such as toys or candy. (see our list of ideas below)
2. Cut the tissue paper into squares, large enough to fit and fold over the top of the cups.
3. Cover each cup with a tissue square. Tie a ribbon around the tissue paper and tie in a knot.
4. Curl the ribbon ends.
5. Repeat this process for the desired number of cups.
6. Decorate a poster board with stickers. Set the cups on top of the poster board.

How to Play the Prize Punch Game:

There are several ways to play this game. You can choose which one would work best depending on the type of event you’re planning.

1. Have the birthday child punch the cups for prizes. You can decide how many cups you would like them to punch, either all cups, or as many as the age they are turning. (For example, when my son turned 6, we made 12 cups and he was able to keep the prizes from 6 cups. My daughter is turning 14, so we created about 25 cups and she’ll keep the prizes from 14 of the 25 cups.)
2. One at a time, have each child at the party punch one cup. They are then able to keep the prize from the cup they chose to punch. This method works very well for classroom parties as well. 

What Should I Use as Prizes?

Anything small enough to fit inside your cups will work as a prize. It can be fun to use things that go along with your party theme such as candy necklaces and rings and costume jewelry for a princess party or matchbox cars for a car themed party. This doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. I’ve even included some things on the list that are free!

Here are some prize ideas:

• candy
• money (coins or bills)
• confetti
• small figurines
• matchbox cars
• bubbles
• costume jewelry
• crayons
• small containers of playdough (homemade or store bought)
• beads
• small plastic toys
• trading cards
• gift cards
• stickers
• erasers
• socks
• hair accessories
• makeup or nail polish (think teen girl party!)
• pieces of paper with affirmations on them
• homemade coupons for things like a later bedtime or special time with mom or dad

Variations on the Punch a Prize Game:

• Advent Calendar. Use it as an advent or countdown calendar. Number each cup and every day, your child can punch through and take their prize of the day as they count down towards Christmas or another event. Each cup could contain a chocolate, a small prize, or a paper with a holiday activity written on it.
• Christmas Punch a Prize. Make this a Christmas Punch Prize Game by using holiday tissue paper and filling the cups with holiday themed surprises. Wonderful for all ages!
• Punch Prize Board. Use hot glue to secure the bottoms of the cups to a foam board. Once dry, prop the board up or hang it.
• Pair with Another Game. Use the punch prizes to reward the winners of another game such as the winning team in a Minute to Win It challenge.
• Customize. Depending on the theme of the party or time of year, you can customize your game by changing the colour or design of the tissue paper on the cups, the colour of the cups themselves, the decorations on the poster board, and the prizes inside the cups. 
• Incentivize it. Set up the punch prize board and use it as a reward for chores being done, goals reached, books read, potty prizes, etc.

Check out some of our other awesome party games:

• Minute to Win It Games
• Saran Wrap Ball Game
• The Bag Game
• The Flour Game
• Christmas Gift Exchange Game

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. (You can also check out our Thanksgiving Minute to Win It games for your Thanksgiving holiday gathering.)

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!
Looking for more creative ideas for family fun or resources to help you connect with your child? Join our free 5 Days to Better Family Connection email series.

Check out our other Minute to Win It games and easy family games:

Minute to Win It Build Edition (contains bonus Christmas challenges)

Minute to Win It Family Fun Night games 

Dollar Store Minute to Win It 

The Flour Game 

The Bag Game