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!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 

Our Family Fun Nights are memorable events.  We love playing family games and these evenings give us a chance to build memories together. I wanted to share some of our favourite family game night ideas. 

Family game night creates lasting memories because they foster a sense of belonging. In the busy hubbub of life, it is so nice to have tech-free, face to face time with your kids.

Creating a family game night tradition won’t be something you’ll regret. The years you have with your kids at home go by in a flash. Laughing together strengthens the bonds.

If you were to invite your kids to an evening of talking with their parents and tell them there were no phones allowed, you wouldn’t likely get a very positive response. But once you start regular a family game night, your kids will be asking you when the next one is!

Ideas For The Best Family Game Night

1. Minute To Win It Games

One of our most memorable Family Fun Nights was our original Minute to Win It party.  We played Face the Cookie, Stack Attack, Movin’ on Up, Junk in the Trunk, Suck it Up, Penny Hose, Keep it Up, and Yank Me.

There was a lot of laughter. I challenge anyone to play the Junk in the Trunk Game with a straight face!

We had so much fun on our first Minute to Win it game night that we decided to create another one.  That time, we chose a Dollar Store Minute to Win It theme.   We played Puddle Jumper, Chocolate Unicorn, Ponginator, Hanky Panky, Ball Drop, Breakfast Scramble, and Elephant March.

These family game ideas are funny and everyone can play. The supplies were so inexpensive and didn’t take long to set up. It was another memorable evening.

Click here for all our awesome Minute To Win It Games:

• Minute To Win It Games Printable
• Christmas Minute To Win It Games
• Dollar Store Minute To Win It Games

2.  The Flour Game

We also get a kick out of The Flour Game. This hilarious game requires only two items and one of them is probably already in your kitchen. This one is just plain old good clean fun. Well, clean may not be the best way to describe it! The messy faces are worth it though.

It’s a great time for all ages. If you’ve never tried it, this is a good one to start with. It’s easy to set up. The rules are easy to understand. And a face full of flour is universally funny!

3.  What’s In The Bag Game

Another classic at our house is What’s In The Bag Game.  For this one, you only need one item. In this game, the kids often have the advantage. That’s a good equalizer. On other family game nights when the older ones may have an easier time with whatever the activity is, this game evens those odds.

Our neighbour taught us this game. We have played it at everything from just a Sunday afternoon at home to my daughter’s Sweet 16 with over 25 people. It is always a hit.

4.  20 Questions Game

I love this personalized version of the game 20 questions from Teach Mama. It gives a Headbands type of spin to it and allows you to use pictures of people you know or are familiar with. It would be easy to create themed versions of this game such as a Disney theme or famous families theme.

5.  Lego Game Night Ideas

Not Consumed’s Lego Family Fun Night is clever. The ideas are easy. Chances are, you’ve got some lego pieces hanging around the house. Why not put them to good use?!

6. Nerf Gun Family Game Night

My kids would go crazy over this Nerf Target Prize Game from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls! You could mix it up by changing up the prizes.

7.  Twister

How about making your own holiday themed twister game? You can find everything you need at Pint-Sized Treasures to make a Valentine’s Conversation Hearts Twister, a Snowman Twister, or a Pumpkin Twister for Thanksgiving, Hallowe’en or Fall.

8.  Board Games For Family Game Night

Family game night ideas don’t have to be complicated. You can create lasting memories sitting around the kitchen table with a bowl of popcorn and a board game or puzzle.

I love how our family has a culture of playing board games together. Sunday afternoons, you can usually find us sitting at the table playing Settlers of Catan, Splendor, Sequence, Ticket to Ride, or some of our other favourites.

Family Board Games:

Watch Ya Mouth Family EditionHasbro Pie FaceGoogly Eyes GameQwirkleKer PlunkBlokusJenga Classic GameTroubleHedBanz5 Second RuleSimonUNO Card GameDutch BlitzSuspend Family GameApples to Apples

 

What is one of your family’s favourite games to play?

 

Our neighbour Christie introduced our family to the Bag Game years ago and it is always a hit on family game night.  This minute to win it game requires exactly one item and can be played anywhere. It can be played with large groups or small groups and with people of all ages.  It seriously does not get simpler or better than The Bag Game!

We have played the Bag Game both outside and inside. We once played it with an empty cereal box because we didn’t have a paper bag to use. It is a great boredom buster on a snow day and an even better ice breaker at group events or a minute to win it game for youth.

As long as you have a paper bag, this game costs nothing and couldn’t be simpler to set up. We always save paper bags now from stores or take-out at restaurants just for this purpose.

Our family loves this activity. There is always much hilarity that ensues as everyone stands around watching the person whose turn it is. There is laughter and cheering. Sometimes, there are some attempts to distract the person, especially when it comes to siblings!

How to Play The Paper Bag Game

Materials needed:

• paper bag or cereal box

Instructions:

1. Place an empty paper bag on the floor.
2. Standing on one foot, each player must take a turn to retrieve the bag using only their mouth.
3. Once the bag is successfully retrieved, that player tears off the piece of the bag that their mouth touched.
4. In this way, the bag slowly gets lower and lower to the ground.
5. Once a player’s raised foot touches the ground or one of their hands touches the ground, they are eliminated from the game.
6. The last person remaining in the game is the winner.

You will want to play this in a fairly large area so that everyone has room to manoeuvre. We have found that everyone develops a bit of their own style in this game. Some put their other leg way up high and use it as a counterbalance. Some crouch low to the ground with their whole body while others bend their upper half down. One of our sons places one foot on top of the other before crouching down.

The Bag Game Variations

For younger children or those with mobility issues, you can play the game exactly the same way but allow both feet to be touching the ground.

You can choose to have some players be allowed this exception while others play with the traditional rules of the game.

Another variation is to allow each player three strikes per turn or per game wherein their raised foot or one of their hands can touch the ground twice without that player being eliminated.

We have a large family and we enjoy finding family games that we can all do together.  This one has quickly become a favourite.

You’ll notice from the blurry pictures that this is an active game with a lot of movement. There can be some pretty funny contortions, particularly when the bag gets down really low. There have been times in our competitive family when all that was left of the bag was a single piece of paper laying flat on the ground and our son managed to retrieve it!

The Bag Game is an easy activity for large groups with a variety of ages and abilities. It can be played at youth groups, camp, family reunions, Christmas parties, birthday parties, retirement celebrations, or in a classroom.

Click here for more fun family games:

Dollar Store Minute to Win It Games

The Flour Game

Minute to Win It Games

Our Minute to Win It Family Fun Night was so memorable that I planned another one. This time, I chose to use items from the dollar store to keep within a tight budget. I spent less than $15 for all the supplies.

For the decorations, I used our printable Minute to Win It kit which has full instructions for all of the games as well as all the games we played in our original Minute to Win It family fun night.

 

The supplies I bought from the dollar store:

• 2 boxes of kleenex
• 1 pack of plastic cups
• 1 pack of ping pong balls
• 2 pairs of panty hose
• 1 box of chocolate cookies
• cereal box
• 1 pack of tennis balls

Minute to Win It Games:

Puddle Jumper. To set up for this game, fill three cups with water and line them up, setting a ping pong ball into the first one. The goal of this game is to blow the ping pong ball from one water-filled cup to the next.

Chocolate Unicorn. All that’s needed for this game are chocolate cookies. Each player gets 10 cookies with the goal of stacking them on their forehead. The resulting stack must remain in place for 3 seconds.

Ponginator. For this game, you will need an empty egg carton and ping pong balls. The goal is to bounce ping pong balls so that 8 of them land in the egg carton within one minute.

Hanky Panky. This was hilarious to watch! It is more fun as a head-to-head challenge. Each person must sit with one hand behind their back. They must empty all the tissues out of the kleenex box using only one hand as quickly as they can (if head to head) or within one minute.

Ball Drop. Land three ping pong balls in a single cup while standing on a chair. The trick is to not have the balls bounce out or knock the cup over.

Breakfast Scramble. To set up for this game, you will need to cut the front of a cereal box into pieces. Depending on the size of the cereal box and the age of the people participating in your Minute to Win It challenge, you can either cut the box in 8 or 16 pieces. The goal of the game is to reassemble the puzzle within a minute.

Elephant March. To prepare for this game, put a tennis ball in the end of a pair of panty hose or put a tennis ball in each leg of a pair of panty hose. Set 8 cups up on the floor to create a walkway. To play, the player must put the panty hose on their head and knock over all the cups by swinging their head from side to side. This is a pretty funny one!

A note to all the moms out there: maybe you saw this and it just made you feel guilty because it’s one more thing you aren’t doing with your kids. I see you because often, I am you. I don’t want to have the parties or plan crafts or activities to do with the kids unless I have everything I need and can do it nearly perfectly. So years go by while I have the intention of planning a certain activity with my kids and it just doesn’t happen because I’m not organized enough.

This particular Minute to Win It night is a prime example. After our last one was such a success with the kids, I wrote out a plan for this one, every game written out. And my plan sat there for more than a year. One time, I even got a list for the dollar store written out, but then I realized I didn’t have time to bake and decorate a cake and make special food, so again, it didn’t happen. My kids got older, a full year older as my plan got dusty and my guilt grew.

The other day, I decided that we were going to do this but not perfectly. I wasn’t going to wait until my adult kids could get time off work and join us. I wasn’t going to plan any special food or decorate a cake. We were just going to have fun together and build memories.

Your kids get one childhood. You don’t have to make it magical, but you can make it memorable.

You can read more about our printable Minute to Win It party kit here. The supplies you purchased at the dollar store for these Dollar Store Minute to Win It games can be used to recreate almost all of the games from our Family Fun Night Minute to Win It Challenge.

The Flour Game is also tons of fun for the family!

For the holidays, try the Minute to Win It Christmas Edition games. So much fun!

The Flour Game is so much fun. It’s perfect for gatherings with a variety of different ages because it can be played by anyone from a preschooler up to great-grandparents. This makes it a great option for family reunions or Christmas or Thanksgiving get togethers. It would also be great for a youth group event.

Another great thing about this game is that it takes very little prep and very few supplies. It can be played pretty much anywhere including outdoors so you could even play this when your family is camping.

Materials needed:

• bowl
• plate
• knife
• flour
• LifeSavers or other small hard candies

Fill a bowl full of flour and pack it down. Continue to add flour until the bowl is full to the top and level it off. Place a plate over the bowl and carefully tip it upside-down and lift the bowl off, creating a mound of flour on the plate. Set a LifeSaver on top of the mound of flour.

Each player takes a turn cutting the flour trying not to allow the LifeSaver to fall. Players continue to take turns cutting the flour until the candy falls. The person that cuts the flour which causes the LifeSaver to fall has to then retrieve it with his mouth.

It’s impossible to retrieve the candy without getting a face full of flour making this part quite funny! It’s also funny to see the attempts to retrieve the candy with minimum flour-face-coverage.

We played The Flour Game during our Just for Laughs Family Fun Night. Mackenzie was the first the end up fishing out the LifeSaver with his mouth. He did well retrieving it and only managed to get flour on his nose, mouth and chin but the others that followed after him weren’t so lucky! Unfortunately, I didn’t get pictures of that because I was laughing too hard and too engrossed in the game.

Just for Laughs Family Fun Night

Minute to Win It Family Fun Night