Candy Cane Log CabinYou need: 12 wrapped candy canes. Goal: build a log cabin tower, two canes to a layer with each layer crossing the one below, five layers high. It has to stand while the group counts to three.
Candy Cane ChopsticksYou need: 2 candy canes, a plate of mini marshmallows and a mug. Goal: hold the canes by their hooks in one hand, use the straight ends as chopsticks and move 10 marshmallows into the mug, one at a time.
Candy Cane ClotheslineYou need: 10 candy canes and a ribbon held tight at shoulder height by two helpers. Goal: hang all 10 on the ribbon with one hand. The helpers may not move, and a cane that falls goes back in the pile.
Candy Cane Hook-UpYou need: 10 candy canes on the table with their hooks hanging over the edge, 1 spare cane and a mug. Goal: hold the spare cane by its straight end in the hand you do not write with, hook the others one at a time and drop 6 into the mug. Your other hand stays behind your back, and a cane that snaps is out of the game.
Candy Cane Log CabinYou need: 12 wrapped candy canes. Goal: build a log cabin tower, two canes to a layer with each layer crossing the one below, five layers high. It has to stand while the group counts to three.
Show all 44 games (40 more)
Candy canes, continued
Candy Cane Pick-Up SticksYou need: 20 wrapped candy canes dropped in a heap. Goal: lift out 10, one at a time, without moving any other cane. If another cane moves, put yours back and choose again.
Cane-to-Cane Ornament PassYou need: a candy cane for each player and one ornament with a ribbon loop. Goal: stand in a line of five and pass the ornament down the line and back, hook to hook. Canes stay in hands, fingers never touch the ornament, and a drop restarts at the first player.
Hook the OrnamentsYou need: a candy cane tied to 2 feet of ribbon on a wooden spoon, and 6 shatterproof ornaments with ribbon loops in a box on the floor. Goal: fish 4 ornaments out by their loops and land them beside the box. Both hands stay on the spoon.
Peppermint PuttYou need: a candy cane, 6 wrapped round peppermints and a cup on its side, taped down at the far end of the table. Goal: use the cane as a putter, hook down, and knock 3 mints into the cup from the near edge.
Tong Tree TrimYou need: kitchen tongs, 12 mini candy canes and a tabletop tree or a bare branch in a jar. Goal: hang all 12 on the tree using only the tongs. A cane that falls off gets picked up with the tongs too.
Ornaments and jingle bells 9
Jingle Bell StatuesYou need: a jingle bell for every player. Goal: everyone walks around the room with a bell on an open palm. When the host calls freeze, anyone whose bell rings sits down. The host calls freeze as often as they like, and players still standing at zero win.
Jingle DigYou need: a gift bag stuffed with crumpled tissue paper, with 8 jingle bells hidden in it. Goal: with one hand and no peeking, find 6 bells and drop them in a cup. The tissue paper stays in the bag.
Muffin Tin Jingle TossYou need: a 12-hole muffin tin on the floor and 15 jingle bells. Goal: from three feet back, toss bells one at a time until 4 different holes hold a bell. Bells that bounce out do not count.
Silent Night CarryYou need: 5 jingle bells on a paper plate and a judge with good ears. Goal: carry the plate to the far wall and back, twice. Any jingle the judge hears sends you back to the start line.
Spoon the OrnamentsYou need: an egg carton, a teaspoon and 12 mini ball ornaments, 6 red and 6 gold, mixed in a bowl. Goal: fill the carton one ornament at a time with the spoon, one color to a row. Your free hand stays behind your back.
String the OrnamentsYou need: 3 feet of ribbon and 10 ornaments with hanger loops. Goal: thread all 10 onto the ribbon, then lift it by both ends so the garland hangs clear of the table.
Tree Skirt RollYou need: a tree skirt or a bath towel spread flat eight feet away, and 6 shatterproof ball ornaments. Goal: roll the ornaments along the floor so they stop on the skirt. Three resting on it at the same time wins.
Tube Chute OrnamentsYou need: an empty wrapping paper tube, 8 small shatterproof ball ornaments, a partner and a box on the floor three feet away. Goal: one player holds the tube as a slide and the other feeds ornaments in at the top. Land 5 in the box. The tube may tilt, but feet stay still.
Tube-Top Ornament WalkYou need: a wrapping paper tube, 4 shatterproof ball ornaments and a box across the room. Goal: balance an ornament on the open end of the upright tube, walk it over and tip it into the box. Get 3 in. One hand on the tube, and none on the ornament once you move.
Wrapping paper, bows and ribbon 9
Bow Bag TossYou need: 15 stick-on bows, a gift bag and a partner six feet away. Goal: toss bows one at a time while your partner catches them in the bag. The catcher may lean but not step. Eight in the bag wins.
Bow TowerYou need: 10 stick-on bows with the backing left on. Goal: stack 7 bows into a tower on the table that stands by itself while the group counts to three. Bows are springy, so squashing them flat first is fair play.
Five Bows on a TubeYou need: a wrapping paper tube and 5 pieces of ribbon, each as long as your arm. Goal: tie all five around the tube in real bows with two loops each. A knot without loops does not count.
One-Hand WrapYou need: a shoebox, a sheet of wrapping paper cut to fit, tape and a partner. Goal: stand side by side with your inside arms linked, so each of you has one free hand, and wrap the box. Every side covered and at least three pieces of tape wins.
Paper Chain SprintYou need: 20 strips of wrapping paper, a roll of tape and a partner. Goal: one player loops and the other tapes. Build a chain of 12 links that holds when you lift it by one end.
Present Tower WalkYou need: 5 empty wrapped boxes of different sizes. Goal: stack all five on one flat palm, walk to a line across the room and back, and set the tower down still standing. Your other hand may steady the tower only while you stack.
Ribbon Reel-InYou need: 15 feet of curling ribbon with a small wrapped box tied to one end and a wooden spoon tied to the other. Goal: lay the ribbon out straight, then wind it onto the spoon by turning the spoon only, until the box reaches your toes. Two players side by side make it a race.
Shrinking Wrapping PaperYou need: a partner and a sheet of wrapping paper the size of a bath towel. Goal: both stand on the paper for a count of three, step off, fold it in half and stand on it again. Four folds wins. No lifting or carrying each other, and shoes off keeps the paper whole.
Tear a TreeYou need: a sheet of wrapping paper or scrap paper for every player. Goal: hold the paper behind your back and tear out a Christmas tree with a trunk and a star. Everyone plays at once, and at zero the group votes for the best tree by pointing.
Santa hats, antlers and stockings 8
Balloon AntlersYou need: a pair of tights and 8 small balloons for each team of three. Goal: blow up the balloons, stuff four into each leg and fit the waistband on a teammate's head as antlers. All eight in and the antlers on a head wins. Ask about latex allergies first, and keep balloons, blown up or popped, away from children under eight.
Cotton Ball BeardYou need: a plate of cotton balls and a thin smear of petroleum jelly on your chin and cheeks. Goal: no hands. Dip your face to the plate until 12 cotton balls hang on as a beard. For a clean face, hold a paper beard covered in double-sided tape under your chin and dip that.
Down the ChimneyYou need: a wide jar or an empty oatmeal canister on the floor, and 10 clothespins or mini wrapped boxes. Goal: stand straight over the chimney, hold each piece at nose height and let go. Five down the chimney wins.
Reindeer Ring TossYou need: 10 glow bracelets or pipe-cleaner rings, and a partner five feet away with thumbs at their temples and fingers spread as antlers. Goal: land 3 rings on the antlers. The reindeer may tilt and duck but keeps both feet still.
Santa Hat Kick-FlipYou need: a Santa hat and some clear floor. Goal: hang the hat on your toes, kick it up and catch it on your head. No hands. One clean landing inside the minute wins, and the group decides what counts as on.
Santa Quick ChangeYou need: a Santa hat, a big red shirt, a belt and a pair of large boots for each team. Goal: put everything on over your clothes, call out ho ho ho, take it all off and hand it on. Three Santas through in a minute wins.
Sleigh Ride DeliveryYou need: a shoebox lid with 4 feet of ribbon tied to it, loaded with a stack of 6 small empty boxes. Goal: tow the sleigh to the far wall and back without touching the load. Anything that falls off sends you back to the start to reload.
Stocking Feel and FindYou need: a stocking holding 10 small things from around the house, such as a key, a clothespin, a bow, a teaspoon and a jingle bell. Goal: the judge calls the items one at a time and you pull each out by feel, no peeking. Six right wins, and a wrong item goes back in.
Tree, cards and carols 9
Christmas A to ZYou need: paper and a pencil for every player. Goal: write one Christmas word for each letter of the alphabet, starting with angel, bells and candle if you are stuck. Fifteen letters filled wins, or the longest list takes the round.
Christmas Card PuzzleYou need: the front of an old Christmas card cut into 12 pieces. Goal: put the picture back together. For a race, give every player their own cut-up card. For a harder round, mix two cards in one pile.
Cookie Cutter TowerYou need: 8 cookie cutters in mixed shapes. Goal: stack all eight into one tower, flat on flat, that stands by itself while the group counts to three. Stars and trees are harder to stack than circles, so share the shapes out evenly for a race.
Eight Reindeer Roll CallYou need: paper and a pencil. Goal: write down all eight reindeer from the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. The last two were first printed as Dunder and Blixem and later as Donder and Blitzen, so any of those spellings counts.
Hum That CarolYou need: a partner and a list of old carols, such as Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Deck the Halls, Joy to the World and O Christmas Tree. Goal: hum them one at a time, no words and no la-la-la. Your partner has to name 4 inside the minute. Passing is allowed.
One Word Each CarolYou need: two players who know the first verse and chorus of Jingle Bells, and a judge with the words in front of them. Goal: say the song one word at a time, taking turns, with no gap longer than a second. A wrong word or a long pause sends the pair back to the first word. Once through, verse and chorus, before the clock runs out wins. Speak it or sing it, as long as each player gives one word only.
The Tree With FeetYou need: a tinsel garland, 10 stick-on bows and a paper star for each team. Goal: one teammate stands still with arms out as the tree. The others wind the garland from ankles to shoulders, stick on all 10 bows and finish with the star on top. The garland stays below the neck.
Twelve Days Line-UpYou need: 12 slips of paper, each naming one gift from the old carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, shuffled. Goal: lay them in order, from the partridge in a pear tree up to the twelve drummers drumming. Versions of the carol swap the last four gifts around, so agree that the host's list is the key before you start.
Untangle the LightsYou need: an unplugged string of plastic LED lights, wound into a loose ball by the host. Goal: lay the whole string out straight on the floor with no knots or loops. For a race, tangle two strings the same way.
How this list was compiled: Written for this page on 2026-09-18 from general knowledge of traditional party and parlor games. Every description is original to this site, and no wording was copied from a television show or from another site's list. Party games are passed around freely, so a mechanic here may also be played elsewhere under another name. No game here repeats one from the one-minute game timer page: where a mechanic is shared (chopsticks, a tower, a toss), the props are this page's own. Each game was written to be playable in about a minute with things a house has in December. The games have not been stopwatch-tested, so every target (6 canes, 4 holes, 12 links) is a starting point for the host to raise or lower. Screened line by line for the clean-deck rule: no alcohol, nothing aimed at a player, shatterproof ornaments only, and no candy cane goes in a mouth. Facts checked on 2026-09-18: the order of the gifts in Twelve Days Line-Up follows the 1909 Frederic Austin version, and the note that versions differ, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song); the eight reindeer names and their 1823 and later spellings from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus%27s_reindeer; the candy cane as a peppermint stick tied to Christmas from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_cane; Jingle Bells as a song by James Lord Pierpont, first published in 1857 as The One Horse Open Sleigh, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bells, checked 2026-09-20; the choking caution from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which lists hard candy and marshmallows among choking foods, says to hold risky foods back until a child is at least 4, and says balloons are a choking hazard for children as old as 8, at https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/injuries-emergencies/Pages/Choking-Prevention.aspx, checked 2026-09-19. Licence: own work
How it works
These 44 one-minute Christmas games run on what December leaves around the house: candy canes, shatterproof ornaments, bows and a Santa hat. The TV show Minute to Win It gives players 60 seconds a game. This list is not made or endorsed by the show.
Read the full guide
Run a round from one phone
Short on props? Open the All games list: Candy canes holds the 9 one-minute games with candy canes, and Wrapping paper, bows and ribbon needs only the gift-wrap box. Press Start a 1-minute timer. The clock stops at zero while the score is argued; press it again for the next player.
Christmas one-minute games for the classroom or the office
For a class, No food (classroom-safe) keeps 35 games with no candy in them, and Easy for kids (5 and up) holds 20. For an office party, Harder, for teens and adults holds 16.
Buy shatterproof ornaments and a box of 12 candy canes for each station. Every cane stays in a hand, never in a mouth.
The American Academy of Pediatrics lists hard candy among the foods to keep from children until age 4. A loose jingle bell is as small.
A child and a grandparent make a good pair for One-Hand Wrap, Tube Chute Ornaments and Hum That Carol, which all need two.
Questions and answers
Which one-minute games for Christmas need no shopping?
The 11 under Wrapping paper, bows and ribbon run on what gift wrapping leaves behind: tubes, bows, ribbon and offcuts. These games were written to fit a minute, but nobody has timed them, so raise or lower each target.
How many games does a Christmas party need?
Allow five minutes a game with setup and a practice try, so six fill half an hour. With more than ten guests, choose Pairs, teams and the whole room for 15 games that keep several people busy at once, such as Jingle Bell Statues.
Can we use them as one-minute holiday games at a school or office party?
Yes. Ornaments and jingle bells and Wrapping paper, bows and ribbon are about winter parties and gift wrap, not the day itself, and between them hold 20 games. Skip the Santa group and the carols.