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Minute to Win It Timer
The clock is set to 60 seconds. Put it on the big screen, shout go, and press Space to start the challenge.
1 minute
Spacestart / pauseRresetFfull screen+ −add or remove a minute0–9type a time
Minute to Win It games: classic 60-second challenges
| Challenge | What the player does | You need |
|---|---|---|
| Stack Attack | Stack 36 cups into a pyramid, then back into one stack | 36 plastic cups |
| Face the Cookie | Move a cookie from forehead to mouth using only face muscles | Flat cookies |
| Junk in the Trunk | Shake all the balls out of a box strapped to the waist | Empty tissue box, belt, ping-pong balls |
| Suck It Up | Carry candies from one plate to another with a straw | Straws, two plates, small candies |
| Movin’ On Up | Move cups from the top of a stack to the bottom until the odd-colored cup is back on top | A stack of cups, one in a different color |
| Defying Gravity | Keep three balloons in the air with no hands resting | 3 balloons per player |
| Noodling Around | Thread penne onto a strand of dry spaghetti held in the mouth | Dry spaghetti, penne |
| A Bit Dicey | Balance a stack of dice on a popsicle stick held in the mouth | Popsicle sticks, 6 dice |
| Elephant March | Swing a ball in a stocking worn on the head to knock over bottles | Pantyhose, a ball, empty plastic bottles |
These are generic descriptions of widely played party versions; set the exact counts to suit your group. Candies, dice and uninflated or burst balloons are choking hazards for small children, so keep those games for older players.
How to use it
- Open the page on a laptop connected to the TV and tap the full-screen button. The digits fill the screen so the whole room can count along.
- Open the sound picker and choose Urgent buzzer, then turn the volume up. A party is louder than you expect.
- Get the player into position with the kit in front of them. Call “three, two, one, go” and press Space on “go”.
- Lead the room in counting the last ten seconds aloud. At the buzzer, hands off, and score what is finished.
- Tap Restart for the next player. For younger children tap the 90 s chip under the steppers, or 2 min; tap 60 s to go back.
Why sixty seconds works
Minute to Win It is the TV game show format in which contestants get 60 seconds to finish a challenge using household items. The home version has become a staple of birthdays, classrooms, office parties and family nights, and the time limit is the reason. A minute is long enough to recover from one fumble and short enough that nobody watching gets bored. Every attempt ends with a countdown the audience can join in.
The clock also makes the games fair. With a visible 60 second timer for games, nobody argues about whether the last cup landed in time: the buzzer either went or it did not. Start it on the word “go”, not when the player first moves, and use the same person as host and timekeeper all night.
Scoring and running the party
Pick one scoring format and explain it once. Head-to-head: two players race the same challenge and the first to finish inside the minute wins the point. Teams: each team sends a different player to each game. Best-of: play an odd number of games and the side with most wins takes it. Everyone attempts: each guest tries every game, with 3 points for finishing and 1 point for trying, which keeps small children in the running.
Set up every station before guests arrive, each on its own tray or table with its kit counted out. Have spares of anything that breaks or gets eaten: spaghetti, cookies, balloons, cups. Test each game yourself against the clock. If you cannot finish it in a minute, cut the target, for example 21 cups instead of 36.
Common mistakes
- Preparing each game as you go. Five minutes of taping a tissue box to a belt loses the room; have every station ready before the first game.
- Having no spares. Dry spaghetti snaps and cookies get eaten, so a second player may have nothing to play with.
- Setting adult targets for young children. Give under-eights 90 seconds or a smaller target so that finishing is possible.
- Leaving the timer on a phone in the host’s hand. The fun is in the room counting down, so the digits need to be on the biggest screen you have.
- Running the mouth-held games with children who are moving around. Players stay seated or standing still for anything held in the mouth.
Questions people ask
How many Minute to Win It games do I need for a party?
Eight to ten games fill about an hour. Each game is one minute of play per attempt, plus explaining, resetting the kit and swapping players, which comes to roughly six minutes a game with a few attempts each.
What do you need for Minute to Win It games?
Mostly things already in the house: plastic cups, balloons, straws, ping-pong balls, cookies, dry pasta, dice, popsicle sticks and an empty tissue box. Add a visible 60-second timer and a loud buzzer.
Can I give kids more than a minute?
Yes. Tap the 90 s or 2 min chip under the steppers for younger children, or keep the minute and lower the target. Use the same rule for everyone in the same age group.
How do I use this as a one minute timer for games with several players in a row?
When the buzzer sounds, the +1:00 button becomes Restart. One tap starts a fresh 60 seconds for the next player, so the host never has to set the time again.
What is a good 1 minute challenge timer setup for a classroom?
Show the timer full screen on the board, choose a challenge with no food such as Stack Attack or Movin’ On Up, and run it in teams so everyone has a role between turns.