⏲️ Minute to Win It

What you need

Equipment: Plastic cups, rolled socks, a bucket, a soft ball, paper, a timer. Prepare six to eight one-minute challenges and the simple equipment for each. Mark a start line and a target line. A timer is a must.

How to play Minute to Win It

1. The host reads out the challenge and demonstrates it for 10 seconds.
2. The first player takes position and the host starts the one-minute timer.
3. During the minute, the group counts the results out loud.
4. When the minute ends, write the score on a board or sheet.
5. The next player does exactly the same challenge under the same rules.
6. Once everyone has had a turn, the host introduces a new challenge.
7. Keep going through all the challenges.

Scoring and wrapping up

Scoring: In each challenge: first place 3 points, second 2 points, third 1 point. Add up the points across all challenges.

To finish: After the last challenge, crown the Minute Champion. Finish with one team challenge where everyone works together.

By age

• Ages 6-7: Use bigger targets and let them stand closer to the bucket.
• Ages 10+: Add fiddly challenges like stacking coins or moving candy with a straw.

Variations

• Big group: Split into teams and run two stations at once, swapping after each minute.
• Buga twist: Players do the challenge with their non-writing hand.

Tips for the adult in charge

• Four or five different challenges make a full game. Make sure everyone gets a go.
• Run a practice turn first so nobody wastes their minute working out the rules.

Safety

No glass or breakable items, and keep the play area clear of furniture with sharp corners.

🖨️ Printable one-minute challenge cards

Draw one card per round and give every player one minute.

• Stack plastic cups into the tallest tower you can
• Toss rolled-up socks into a bucket from the line
• Do as many star jumps as you can
• Name as many animals as you can
• Keep a balloon in the air using only your breath
• Move cotton balls from one bowl to another with a spoon in your mouth
• Bounce a ping-pong ball into a cup
• Unstack and restack a pyramid of 10 cups as many times as you can
• Pick up candy with a straw by sucking and drop it in a cup
• Flip a water bottle so it lands standing up
• Balance a spoon on your nose for as long as you can
• Thread pasta tubes onto a string
• Sort a pile of mixed buttons by color
• Walk with a book on your head without dropping it
• Throw a paper ball into a basket from three steps away
• Make the longest paper chain you can
• Draw as many smiley faces as you can
• Roll a ball with your nose across the room