Another holiday means another opportunity to play some games! To help you celebrate and create fun family memories, we came up with some Minute to Win It Thanksgiving games.
As the name suggests, you must win these games in less than a minute.
These fun games are a great way to interact and have a little friendly competition during your Thanksgiving celebration or any other family game night. You can play individually or as a team against each other.
Make your Thanksgiving memorable with these low-prep Minute To Win It games.
- How To Play Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
- Fun Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
- Easy Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
- Family Minute To Win It Games For Thanksgiving
- Team Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
- Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games For Adults
- Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games For Teens
🦃You might also enjoy reading:
How To Play Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
Thanksgiving Minute To Win It games can be played by two players or different teams competing against each other. They compete to win a specific game in 60 seconds. Most games are played using household items and can be modified to become Thanksgiving-themed minute games.
Most classic party games have changed slightly over the years. However, they’re always great for a fun-filled day full of activities that the whole family can enjoy.
Below are some standard rules for most Minute To Win It games.
- You will need to come up with a list of different games. The more, the better since the competition for each game runs for only a minute, and repeating the same game over and over might become monotonous.
- It would help if you gathered supplies using a list created to match the selected games. Since most of the items are readily available within the home, this should be an easy task. You can improvise to replace some stuff you might not have, but try to include some thanksgiving themed items.
- A timekeeper must be nominated to ensure each player or team gets the same allocated time for each turn they play.
- Identify the location to play the games. Some games require you to be in a spacious area; you can play others indoors.
- Choose to play individually, as a group, or in teams. In the individual version, players have to complete a task in a minute to win a prize. If playing as a group, the first person to complete a task wins. Lastly, if playing in teams, one player from each team must complete the game. The first team to finish gets 5 points, the second team gets 3 points, and the third team gets 1 point.
- Tally the points after each game. Add all the total scores if you had more than one game planned. The winner or winning team is the one with the highest number of points.
🦃 Suggested read: Thanksgiving Word Search Puzzles For Kids (PDF Download)
Fun Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
Balloons blow
You will need a balloon per player and several paper cups lined up upside down on a table.
Each player gets a balloon. On go, they must inflate their balloon, and without touching the cup, use the air inside the balloon to knock off their cups from the table.
After a minute, the person who has blown off the most cups wins the game or scores the most points.
What You Need:
- Balloons
- Paper cups
- Table
Watch how to play in the video below:
Find Your Fall Leaf
You will need to cut out some leaf shapes or get these Fall leaf paper cutouts.
Everyone must take one leaf and write their name on it.
All the leaves are placed on a stool, with everyone’s name facing up.
Using your mouth, try to blow all the leaves away to expose the leaf with your name on it without letting your leaf fall to the ground. Each player only has a minute to complete the task.
Players can use straws to blow away the leaves for more accuracy.
What You Need:
- Marker
- Stool
- Straws
- Cut out leaves
Rapid fire
On top of a table or stool, stack empty soda or paper cups to form a pyramid.
Use a rubber band to knock off as many cans as possible from the surface they are placed on in a minute.
You can use paper cups if you don’t have soda cans.
To keep it more interesting, you can draw turkeys on the cups giving the game a thanksgiving theme.
What You Need:
- Empty soda cans or paper cups
- Rubber bands
- Table or stools
Separate Candy
To win this game, you should sort out the same type of Thanksgiving candy or the same colored M and M’s and put them in different containers.
For this game, you will need assorted candy pieces and colored cups or containers.
Mix the candies in one big container filled with flour and place it on a table. Place a smaller container for each player about 4 feet away.
Each player is allocated one specific type or color candy that they must separate from the rest.
Players must find a piece of their candy hidden in the flour, run and place it in their container, and return to get more. They may only transport one piece of candy at a time.
After a minute, count how many pieces of candy each player has managed to collect.
What You Need:
- Thanksgiving candy
- Large container
- Flour
- Colored cups or containers
Ball Blow
To set up this indoor Thanksgiving game, fill three cups with water or cranberry juice (to make it a Thanksgiving feel), and line them up, placing a ping pong ball into the first cup.
This game involves blowing the ball from one water-filled cup to the next.
If the ball falls off the cup, you can start again by placing it back in the first cup.
The first person to finish or whose ball is the furthest in a minute wins.
What You Need:
- Plastic cups
- Water or cranberry juice
- Ping pong balls
- Table
Shake Your Tail Feathers
For this hilarious thanksgiving game, you will need empty tissue boxes and fill them with feathers or ping pong balls. Tie the tissue boxes with string or a pair of pantyhose around the player’s waist with the box behind them.
This energetic game requires players to shake their backside vigorously to shake off feathers or ping pong balls that have been put inside an empty tissue box and tied around their waist.
The player who shakes all (or most) feathers out within 60 seconds wins.
What You Need:
- Empty tissue boxes
- Feathers or ping pong balls
- Rope or pantyhose
🦃 You might also enjoy these Fun Minute To Win It Games For Teens
Easy Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
Scramble puzzle
It is an easy DIY game that even kids can participate in creating. You make your own DIY thanksgiving puzzle using empty cereal boxes by cutting equal-sized pieces from the printed side of the box. Using empty cereal boxes makes it a fun and affordable party game for kids.
You play this game by rearranging the pieces of a puzzle. You place the pieces on a flat surface like a table, and once the timer signals the start, you arrange to create a well-completed puzzle.
What You Need:
- Empty cereal box
- Scissors
Baby rattle
You need two empty 2 lt bottles. Take the caps and put candy corn in one of the bottles till they reach the half-full mark or less, but no more. Join the two bottles by placing their tips/mouths together and tape them together using adhesive cello tape.
When the timer goes off to signal “go,” players turn the contraption upside down and try to move all the candy into the empty bottle.
The first person to beat the clock and move all the candy from one to the other and shake their baby rattle wins.
What You Need:
- Two empty 2-liter bottles
- Candy corn
- Tape
Bean There, Done That.
Here’s another simple food game where you use a straw to suck up beans or pumpkin seeds placed on a paper plate and put them into a cup.
Sometimes called ‘Suck it Up”, each player should have several beans or seeds they will need to transfer. The player is supposed to pick up one bean at a time.
The player with the most beans in their cup after 60 seconds wins or scores the most points.
What You Need:
- Beans or pumpkin seeds
- Paper plates
- Paper cups
- Straws
- Table
Stuff The Turkey
In this spoon game, players are blindfolded and sit on a chair. Place a bowl of cotton balls on their lap while they hold an empty bowl on their head.
For a Thanksgiving-themed game, you can replace the empty bowl with a brown paper bag that looks like a stuffed turkey.
They must scoop the cotton balls with a spoon into a bowl on top of their head.
You will need enough cotton balls to fill the bowl and a tablespoon for scooping.
The cotton balls can also be poured on the floor and picked up from there.
Another version you can play is where the cotton balls are picked up with a straw and then transferred to a bowl.
What You Need:
- Bowls or paper turkey
- Cotton balls
- Spoons
Family Minute To Win It Games For Thanksgiving
Candy Corn Wind Storm
Place a pile of candy corn on the table. Using only a straw, players must move as many candy corns as possible to the other end of the table within a minute. The person who transfers the most candy corn wins.
Tape a line down the middle of the table. Players should be positioned on either side with a candy corn pile with a straw.
The goal is to blow as many candy corns across the line as possible within a minute.
What You Need:
- Masking Tape
- Candycorn
- Straw
- Table
Noodle nightmare
Using a piece of uncooked spaghetti, players must try to move noodles from a paper plate into a cup.
To make it even more tricky, you may not use your hands. Place the spaghetti piece in your mouth, pick up each noodle and place it in a paper cup.
It would be best to use straight noodles and not curved ones.
What You Need:
- Spaghetti
- Straight noodles
- Paper plates
- Cups
- Table
Watch how to play Noodle Nightmare and other Minute To Win It games in the video below:
Pumpkin Head Bowling
Pumpkin head-bowling is a fun game for the whole family.
Players attach a pair of pantyhose to their heads with a mini pumpkin in the bottom.
Line up two rows of 4 small unopened water or soda bottles.
The goal of this game is to hit over the bottles in 60 seconds by swinging the pantyhose and pumpkin.
What You Need:
- Pantyhose
- Mini pumpkins
- Small water or soda bottles
Team Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games
Tilt a cup
For this challenging game, you will need two teams of two players playing against each other.
The players stand a few feet apart, with one holding a stack of several paper cups and the other with ping pong balls.
The ball is first bounced on the ground and directed to the topmost cup being held by the other. When you get a ball inside, you take the empty cup at the bottom of the stack, place it as the top cup, and so on and forth until you have a stack of cups with balls inside them.
What You Need:
- Paper cups
- Ping pong balls
Kick-off
In this game, you must kick empty soda cans into buckets placed a few feet away.
One team player will place the can in front of the other, kicking it into the bucket.
Most of the cans will probably not get in, have a few extra cans to replace the ones that miss the target.
Teammates take turns fetching and kicking the cans until all the cans are in the bucket or time is up.
If you prefer, you can also use mini footballs to play this Minute-to-Win-it game.
What You Need:
- Empty soda cans
- Two buckets
Nuts stacker
In this game, you play against another team of two players by stacking metal nuts on top of each other. Choose nuts that are slightly larger for better balance. You will need around five nuts for each player and a chopstick.
Each player gets a chopstick with 5 nuts placed onto them.
Using only one hand, which is holding the chopstick, team members take turns stacking the nuts on its edge on each other (not lying down).
The first team to stack their nut tower within a minute wins.
What You Need:
- 10 large nuts
- Chopsticks
Paper Cup Pyramid
Each team begins the game with 21 paper cups stacked inside each other.
Players must stack the cups in a pyramid shape, with the cups facing downwards in a row.
On top of the first row, you place others, and so on, until you build a stable pyramid.
The structure is best made on a flat surface like a table or the floor.
What You Need:
- 21 paper cups per team (42 total)
- Table or another flat surface
Turkey Feather
Teams of two players must work together to keep a feather in the air for a minute.
Players can only use their mouths to blow the feather and keep it up in the air.
If more than one team still has their feather floating up in the air after a minute, then the team that can keep it up the longest wins.
It’s best to use very small light feathers to keep the feather floating longer.
What You Need:
- Light feathers
Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games For Adults
Stay On Key
Each player places a glass on a table and a key on the edge of the table.
Players are supposed to try and flip the key into the glass.
The first person to flip the key into the glass wins.
What You Need:
- Glasses
- Keys
- Table
Yank me
In this fun Minute To Win it paper cup game, a tower of four cups must be constructed with notecards inserted between them.
Each note card must be removed one by one so that all 4 cups are stacked together.
Then you yank the pieces of paper between the cups one by one to see how many cups will remain stacked together.
You win the game if you have all the cups or more than the other players stacked.
Watch this video to see how it’s played:
What You Need:
- Plastic cups
- Paper notecards
- Table
Bouncing balls
Line up several clear plastic cups on a table, and try bouncing a ping pong ball into each cup.
You will need many ping pong balls since most will keep bouncing off target.
What You Need:
- Plastic cups
- Ping pong balls
- Table
Spoon frog
Arrange two metal spoons, one in front of the other, with the handle of the spoon nearest to you lying under the front tip of the other spoon.
Place a glass behind the furthest spoon.
Using your hand, hit the spoon nearest to you to flip the other spoon into the glass.
The first person to get their spoon in the glass wins.
What You Need:
- Glasses
- Spoons
- Table
Thanksgiving Minute To Win It Games For Teens
There are several popular games for kids to play at Thanksgiving. These hilarious group games are some of the best.
Bubble blow
In this game, teens must chew bubble gum and blow bubbles. The player who blows a giant bubble that does not burst is the winner.
What You Need:
- Bubble gum
Pie-eating challenge
A traditional game that has been around for a long time where the competition involves eating different types of food to win.
To go with the thanksgiving theme, you can have contestants eat a pumpkin pie placed on a paper plate without using their hands. The first person to finish their slice wins.
What You Need:
- Pumpkin pie pieces
- Paper plates
- Table
Pie Face
Another fun food-eating challenge is to have teens race to find pieces of candy in a plate of whipped cream.
They may not use their hands, only their mouths.
What You Need:
- Thanksgiving candy
- Foil pie plates
- Whipped cream
Thanksgiving Scavenger hunt
A Scavenger hunt is a favorite game during most holiday parties. This game is played by you looking for treasures hidden away with the assistance of clues given out before the game starts.
You can download printable game cards with thanksgiving scavenger hunt clues for more ideas.
What You Need:
- Scavenger hunt clues
- Treasure
🦃 Here are some more Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt Ideas for Adults & Kids
Thanksgiving Charades
Divide everyone into two teams and have one player pick a card from the pile.
Without talking, the player is supposed to act out the word and have their teammates guess what it is in a minute.
To match the Thanksgiving theme, you can have words related to the theme on the clue cards.
What You Need:
- Charade clue cards
These are the most popular Minute To Win It game ideas that we could find to keep the kids busy and adults entertained this Thanksgiving.
🦃 Suggested read – Halloween Charades List (FREE Printable Word Cards)
Thanksgiving is a holiday that brings families together from across the country and around the globe in a Thanksgiving celebration. But it doesn’t have to be a stressful occasion. With these Thanksgiving Minute To Win It games, you can spend quality time with your loved ones before or after Thanksgiving dinner.
The games are simple to play, and they’re guaranteed to keep everyone entertained for hours on end. So grab some candy corn, ping pong balls, and whipped cream, and set aside some time to celebrate the season with your family and friends.
