Back to School Minute-to-Win-It Games | Children's Ministry Deals

School is just around the corner! Let’s kick off the year with fun back-to-school minute-to-win-it games for your children’s ministry. 

Why Minute-to-Win-It Games Are So Useful

Minute-to-win-it games are fun, fast, and full of energy! Do you want to kick things off with some high-energy fun? These are the kinds of games for your ministry. Minute-to-win-it games are engaging, exciting, and keep kids interested.

Not only that, but these games encourage kids to get comfortable and acclimated. Minute-to-win-it games are great icebreakers when students are feeling nervous about a new school year, helping children to have fun and let go of any anxiety they may be feeling.

A minute-to-win-it game provides a challenge for students. Some games are easier than others, but many times minute-to-win-it games help stretch kids to try new and difficult things entertainingly. Minute-to-win-it games also help kids build skills whether it be fine motor, gross motor, teamwork, and more. Children gain knowledge and experience as they use their brains to problem solve, and do it quickly!

Let's look at some back-to-school minute-to-win-it games you can hold to kick off a new school year for your children's ministry!

Sharpen Up!

Get sharp for the new school year and play the minute-to-win-it game called "Sharpen Up!" Begin by giving each kid a small hand-held pencil sharpener and 5 new unsharpened pencils. 

Start the 1-minute timer and see if kids can sharpen all 5 pencils before a minute is up. The sharper, the better! Add an extra challenge by going around and judging all the kids who finished sharpening in time to see who had the sharpest pencils that did not break.

Want to make it even more challenging? Start the timer a second time and ask kids to try to sharpen 10 pencils in just one minute. The great thing about this game is not only do the kids have fun racing to see if they can sharpen them in time, but you will have all the pencils that you will need for the new school year and more. Pick out pencils with fun designs for this game and save some later for prizes.

*This minute-to-win-it game helps kids work on their fine motor skills.

Pass it Down the Line

The next minute-to-win-it game is called "Pass it Down the Line" and it will remind kids of lining up in school! 

This is a team game. For a small class of kids, ask them all to work together in one team to see if they can beat the clock. For a large class of kids, split them into a few different teams. Have kids get into a single file line and when you say, “Pass me the book, please”, kids will have to pass the book down the line before the minute is up. 

If the book makes it to the last person in line before the minute is up, they win. If it doesn’t, ask them to try again going even faster.  

To make it more challenging if there aren’t many kids or if it’s too easy, add this fun twist. Have the kids try passing the book between their legs. Next, spread the kids out further away so they have to run the book to one another. Another challenging way to pass the book is to use a stack of heavy books so that it’s much more difficult to pass!

*This minute-to-win-it game helps kids work on their teamwork.

Recess Relay

Play the back-to-school minute-to-win-it game "Recess Relay" by setting up a few rows of cones. When you say “go” the kids will have to run weaving in and out of the cones all the way to the end. Then turn around, and run and hop with two feet over each cone until they make it back to where they started. Call out when a minute is up to help kids see how far they made it. This recess relay can be adjusted by using more or fewer cones depending on the kid's age and ability. Be sure to make it challenging but not too difficult so that with practice kids can achieve it!

After kids take their turn have them sit and watch the other kids try the challenge. If time allows, give kids a second chance to do the relay and try to beat their first time!

*This minute-to-win-it game helps kids work on their gross motor skills and gives them great exercise.

Nuts About Nutrition

In health class, kids learn a lot about nutrition. This minute-to-win-it game will challenge kids to run and grab one item from each food group before the minute is up. In "Nuts About Nutrition," the challenge is that kids can only hold one item at a time and have to take their item back to their starting spot before they can then run to grab another item from a different food group. 

Set up five tables to represent each food group. The tables will include fruit, vegetables, protein, dairy, and grains. A great way to play this game is to use pretend play food.  You can also create index cards with a picture of the food on it. Another option is to use real food but use things like boxes of cereal, a bag of rice, an apple, a bag of jerky, a bag of almonds, a can of peas, etc. This last final way will take more time and preparation but it will make it a lot of fun for kids.  

Tell the children to start all at the same time because part of the challenge is navigating around one another. When a minute is up, ask the kids to count how many items they have and if they have all 5 food groups represented, they win! Play a few rounds.

*This minute-to-win-it game helps kids to work on their memory and problem-solving skills.

STEM Class

Welcome to "STEM Class!" Kids will have a minute to create what might look like a Leaning Tower of Pisa sculpture (and that isn’t very much time.) Instruct children to sit at a table or on the floor and give them 10 cheerios and 10 fruit loops. They must create one single tower with their cereal with all 20 pieces before the minute is up. And if it falls, they may run out of time. 

*This minute-to-win-it game helps kids to work on their fine motor skills and engineering skills.

Kick Off a New School Year with These Free Games

As kids get ready to go back to school, games like these minute-to-win-it games create a fun experience for children. Celebrating the back-to-school season encourages kids to mentally prepare for a new school year, and get comfortable with their new classroom, friends, and teachers.  Find more FREE Back-to-School Minute-to-Win-it Game ideas on the Children's Ministry Website, too.

Have a great new school year!