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Christmas Minute to Win It Games for All Ages

Christmas is a time for all to come together with their loved ones, to eat, drink and BE MERRY! Minute to win it games are probably the funniest games of all.

When you’re watching anyone manoeuvre a cookie from their forehead into their mouth, sans hands, it’s always going to be hilarious, but if that person is your grandmother or your tipsy Uncle Joe, it doesn’t get much funnier.

We have put a festive twist on games like ‘Face the Cookie’ and ‘Suck it up to make Christmas minute to win it games for everyone to enjoy over the holidays.

If these aren’t enough for you, check out these 15 Christmas Party Games and these Christmas Party Ideas for more festive fun! And of course, you’ll have to have your home looking like Santa’s grotto – these DIY Christmas Decorations will help with that!

We like to do a little Christmas Scavenger Hunt on family days too, it always gets the kids excited for more games.

How to play Christmas Minute to Win it

play Christmas Minute to Win it

You can play minute to win it games as individuals, or as part of a group. Both ways are just as fun, it really depends on how many people are playing.

The game is simple; you have one minute to do whatever task is set for you.

It can be something as easy as keeping three balloons in the air, or something as difficult as naming all of the US presidents or states. Whatever the task, you only have a minute to win it!

One player at a time can play against a timer. If they beat the timer, they get a point.

Two players or more at a time can compete against each other, and against the timer, so whoever completes the task first or whoever is in the lead when the time is up, wins the point.

If there are a few people competing at once, you can allocate a set number of points e.g. 3 points for the winner, 2 for second place, 1 for third place.

If you have enough people you can separate into teams. Then one player from each team can compete against one another, all competing against the clock, and the points can be allocated as above, 3 for the winner, 2 for second place, 1 for third, or however you decide to allocate them!

Playing as part of a team is a lot of fun, as players can play games involving relays, and cheer one another on.

Minute to Win it Christmas Games

Most of these games can be played with random food and toys that can be easily obtained. You probably already have a lot of them around the house.

For our Minute to Win it Games ‘Christmas Edition’, we substitute a lot of the usual gameplay objects for more festive items – for example, we use Christmas cookies or gingerbread men instead of Oreos, Christmas ribbon instead of plain string.

This way, you can put a festive twist on almost any of these games so that you never lose that warm fuzzy Christmas feeling.

If you haven’t found it yet, have a read through these Christmas Quotes, and come back full of festive spirit!

The following minute to win it games are suitable for the whole family to play together, young and old and in-between.

Face the gingerbread man

For this game, you need small gingerbread men.

Place one gingerbread man onto each player’s forehead.

The object of the game is to get the gingerbread man from their forehead into their mouth before the timer runs out – but they can’t use their hands.

Jingle balloons

Each player has three balloons. They need to keep all three balloons in the air until the timer runs out, all while singing jingle bells. It can get very distracting!

Snowball shake

For this, you need an empty tissue box, ping pong balls, and an old pair of pantyhose (or something else that you can tie around your waist).

Tape the tissue box to the pantyhose, fill it with ping pong balls, then tie it around the player’s waist.

The players have to shake until all of the ‘snowballs’ have fallen out of the tissue box, or until the time runs out.

Build a snowman

You’ll need two players, one roll of toilet paper, and a carrot for this hilarious game.

One of the players must wrap the other in toilet paper, while the player being wrapped holds the carrot with it sticking out of their mouth.

They should look like a snowman when the timer runs out. They won’t, but they should!

Christmas Cups

For this, you will need about 20 disposable Christmas cardboard cups. Put a Santa sticker on the bottom of some of the cups, and then half-fill all of them with water.

The players pick the cups up one at a time (without spilling!), trying to find all the stickers before the timer runs out.

Snowstorm

For this game, you will need ping pong balls, cotton balls, and a bowl or a cup.

Place the bowl (use a cup to make it more difficult) at one end of the table.

One player stands at the other end of the table and tries to throw or bounce the ball into the bowl. The catch here is, the other players must stand around the table and throw the cotton balls at the airborne ping pong ball to knock it off course.

To win, the player must get a ping pong ball into the bowl before the timer runs out.

Secret Santa

You will need some small empty boxes, pictures of Santa, gift wrap, and oven mitts.

Place a picture of Santa into some of the boxes and wrap all of the boxes separately in your gift wrap.

Players must unwrap as many boxes as they can before the timer runs out. Each Santa found is worth one point. The catch – the players must be wearing oven mitts!

Bobbing for candy canes

Each player gets a bowl filled with candy canes.

They must put one candy cane in their mouth and use it as a hook to remove as many candy canes from the bowl as possible before the timer runs out.

The player with the most candy canes removed gets the point.

Snowball and spoon race

This game is played like the egg-and-spoon race of your youth, using ‘snowballs’ (ping pong balls, white pom poms, or cotton balls) in place of eggs.

Place a bowl of snowballs on one side of the room, and one empty bowl per player on the other side of the room.

Each player must race to get the most ‘snowballs’ into their bowl on the other side of the room, one snowball on a spoon at a time before the timer runs out.

This game is particularly fun when played as a relay race if you have enough players to make teams.

Snowball fight

This game is for two players or two teams. Each player/team gets some chopsticks for each person and a bowl.

Players must gather around a table with pink and white mini marshmallows scattered all over it. One player/team is pink, the other white.

Using only the chopsticks, players must pick up as many of their designated color marshmallows as they can and place them in their bowl before the timer runs out.

To make it more difficult, opponents are encouraged to also throw the marshmallows at one another – teams can have designated throwers and pickers – but they must only use the chopsticks to do so.

Minute to Win it Christmas Games for Kids

Minute to Win it Christmas Games for Kids

We have grouped these games together for kids, as they are a little easier. These minute to win it games for kids are Christmas-themed too, and you can see more Minute to Win It Games for Kids here.

For even more Christmas activities that kids can try, check out these Christmas Perler Bead Patterns, DIY Advent Calendar, and these Christmas Crafts for Kids.

Santa’s sack race

Set up a simple, fun obstacle course around your living room – i.e., hop over the garland, stop to unwrap a gift, hang an ornament on the tree, eat a cookie off the plate.

Players must play one at a time, and each player must be in a sack while playing. The fastest one to complete the race (in under a minute) wins, so a responsible adult should time them.

Elf toss

Use little elf (or other) decorations, for this challenge, and some Christmas stockings.

Teams have to toss the elves into a Christmas stocking that is being held open by one team member.

The team with the most elves (or whatever you choose to throw) in their stockings when the timer runs out is the winner.

Snowblower

Place one large marshmallow for each player on the table. The players must blow the marshmallow from one end of the table to the other before the timer runs out.

If the marshmallow falls off the table, that player must start again.

Sweet potato roll

Place one sweet potato for each player onto the floor. Players must roll the sweet potato from one end of the room to the other before the timer runs out.

The player who does it in the shortest time wins. The catch in this challenge is that players must use their noses to roll their potatoes!

Reindeer names

Players must call out as many reindeer names as they can before the timer runs out.

Minute to Win it Christmas Games for Adults

How to play Christmas Minute to Win it

We have grouped these games together for adults, as they are a little more difficult. Check out these links for more festive content for adult and family-themed parties, games, Christmas cake, and fun ideas.

Christmas card tower

You will need some Christmas cards and some paper cups for this challenge. They must be stacked – place a cup on a level surface, with a Christmas card flat on top of it, and repeat until you are five cups high. One stack per player.

The players must then pull the Christmas cards out from between the cups, allowing the cups to fall into one another one by one until all the cards have been removed.

Stuff and speak

You need large marshmallows for this. Players have a minute to stuff as many marshmallows as possible into their mouths, and then recite the names of all of Santa’s reindeer.

Wrap it up

You’ll need lots of gift wrap, sticky tape, and awkwardly shaped items like ladles and toy dinosaurs… Players have to wrap as many ‘gifts’ as possible before the timer runs out.

Sending Christmas greetings

Set one Christmas card per player on one end of a long table, or on the floor. Each player gets one balloon.

They must blow up their balloon and release the air from it towards their card, using this air to force their card to the other end of the table, or the finish point on the floor.

The player closest to the end before the time runs out is the winner.

Christmas carolling

Play small extracts from 12 popular Christmas songs. Players have one minute to write down all the songs they think they heard. The player or team with the most correct is the winner.

Hook the cane

You need some Christmas ribbon, two chairs, and some candy canes for this challenge. Tie ribbon from the top of one chair to another, making a string of ribbons a few foot long.

Players must then stand on the seats of the chairs and try to be the first to drop a candy cane from there onto the ribbon before the time runs out.

If the candy cane lands on the ribbon but bounces off it doesn’t count.

We hope you have lots of festive fun with our Christmas themed Minute to Win it games, and if you’re looking for something to play afterward, this Christmas Bingo is a perfect way to round off the evening.