We are currently living in Peru and I was looking up minute to win it (known as MTWI games from here on out) games to play with some kids in a small neighboring village. After I had read through about 10 posts on MTWI games, a couple of things dawned on me.
1. The same ideas are posted over and over again. 🙈lol
2. We are very wasteful! Almost every single idea used materials that would be then thrown away or not used again. Yes, some had ideas of things to use around the house, but most you had to go out and buy stuff that you wouldn't normally use. I have been guilty of this as well, but now that I am living in an area where we save almost everything to reuse again, it hit me hard.
So, I started searching for MTWI games with "no supplies", or "no waste", etc. Nothing. Boo. Something we don't think about in the States (or in our privileged lives) are that some of the kids playing these games may NEED some of the items you are using. For example, I saw tons of food MTWI ideas. Many of the children I would be playing with, will be hurting for three meals a day. If I make a game out of threading dried noodles, or marshmallow stacking, or candy sorting...what does that say to those kids? That I'd rather them play with the food, then eat it? Please be aware of needs like this in your group.
Another thing we don't consider is the waste as I mentioned above. I don't want to buy a bag of plastic spoons or cups for them to play with, as they will just end up in the trash - and again, what does that say to the kids that have very few things in their house? In reality, those are hardly used here as that is considered an "extravagant expense". People just use regular spoons and cups lol. But if I were to use them, I would probably gift them out to the kids for them to take home and use afterwards.
Anyway, I really wanted to find MTWI games that were ecological friendly, cost little to no extra money, and wouldn't be offensive to the children playing. An aside here, to give you an example, a friend of mine went on a mission trip to Mexico where she wanted to make maracas for the kids to take home with them. Great idea right? Well, she used beans instead of little rocks or dirt, and after the activity, the parents came in to pick up their kids and started collecting the beans that had fallen on the floor to take home. Their maracas most likely ended up as dinner that evening. Just be aware of the needs around you.
Now that you know why I chose to find 15 No-waste-and-on-a-budget Minute to Win it Games - here they are! Some have been tweaked from other ideas, and others I have made up. Here are the supplies you'll need...
1/2 piece of paper and a marker/pencil/crayon/colored pencil (whatever is available - for each child)
Plastic bags from the store (use your old ones and recycle!) either one per pair or per child
small plastic bottles and their caps (that have been used and then recycle them!)
Sticks
Rocks
Leaves
Packing tape (one strip)
paper back book (any size) for each child
One thing we do have here that is cost friendly, small, easily transported, and the kids can take home - are balloons. So there are a few games with balloons in them.
1. Writing on your head: Give each child a quarter of a piece of paper and something to write with. Tell them they have 60 seconds to draw an animal on their head. If someone can guess what their animal is - they win!
2. Stick Balancing: Have each child go outside and get 5 small sticks off the ground (a little bit longer than their hand) to use in the following games. The first game, they need 3 sticks. Hold one stick in each hand pointing straight out. Lay the 3rd one across the two and balance it there. Walk, run, skip, hop, etc to a finish line in 60 seconds without dropping the stick! Another way to do this, is to balance just one stick on your open palm - can they do it for 20 seconds? 30? 60?
3. Rock stacking: There are tons of MTWI games out there where you have to stack items. Why not rocks? My kids and I have played this game when we were bored :) lol. Have each child go outside and collect 10 rocks. Tell them ahead of time that they will be stacking them so they can try and look for flat-ish rocks. Give them 60 seconds to see if they can balance all 10! My kids and I reached 15 once :) But not in one minute!
4. Move the rocks: For this game, the kids will need their 10 rocks and 2 of their thinnest sticks. They will be used as chopsticks! Have them either sit on the floor with their legs straight out or sit at a table. Have them put their 10 rocks to their left or right (depending on if they are left or righthanded), and tell them they have 60 seconds to pick up the rocks one by one and move them to the other side with their 2 sticks. No fingers allowed ;)
5. Name them!: Divide your group into two so they can compete. Set the timer on your phone for 60 seconds and tell the group to name as many ______ as they can in 60 seconds. See who can name more! Here are some ideas - girls' names, colors, people in the Bible, songs, etc). If you have two leaders, they could do this at the same time so they can compete with the same list.
6. Number game (need their quarter piece of paper from activity 1, their writing utensil, and another quarter piece of paper): There were a number of dice games mentioned in other posts - but you don't need to go out and buy 20 die for one activity. Instead, have the kids tear up their quarter piece of paper with their animal on it into 6 pieces. They can be jagged and crooked. No worries. On each piece of paper write the numbers 1-6. So basically, you now have a die - but with paper :) Put them into pairs and one pair holds the numbers in their cupped hands (hidden), and the other pulls one out, writes it down on the other paper, and then adds up the numbers after 60 seconds. Who got the highest number? Another way to play is to have them write down all their numbers, and then ask - who got the most 1's? 4's? Etc. Or, if you have older kids, have them add all the 5's and 6's together, but then subtract all the 3's and 4's - who got the highest number?
7. Guess the song: Have your phone with you? Play five, 5-second snippits of songs they would know and see if they can guess them! Don't have your phone (or don't have data)? Hum the first 8-12 notes of well known songs and see if they can guess them.
8. Untie it!!: I saw a number of these games as well, but found a way to make it eco and cost friendly. Brings plastic bags that you have laying around your house and give one to each pair of kids (or, if you have a smaller group, give one to each child). Put something in the bag to give it weight - it can be their rocks, it could be a little snack that you want to give them, etc. Then, have them knot the bag 3 times - not real tight, but not loose either. If you're playing in pairs, give the pair 60 seconds to undo the knots - but each person can only use one hand! So, they're working together to untie the knots using one hand each. If they have their own bags, they must figure out how to untie the bag using just one hand (and maybe their feet? ;) lol
9. Leaf blower/Balloon Bump! If you have access to balloons, there are a few games you can play with those. Give each child a balloon that is NOT blown up. Have them blow it up and hold it closed. Don't tie it off. Next, place a leaf in front of them. Have them blow the leaf with the balloon, all the way to your finish line - wherever that may be :) They have 60 seconds. If they don't reach the line, just see who went the furthest. They can refill their balloon with air if they need to. After this game, they can play balloon bump. Fill the balloon and tie it off. They have to keep the balloon in the air for 60 seconds using just their _____. (hands, one hand, feet, head, etc). You could play this multiple times.
10. Bottle flippin! I'm sorry, but this was just plain fun when it was a fad lol. Give each child a bottle with just a little water in it (quarter filled). How many times can they flip the bottle and land it in 60 seconds? There are tons of variations of this. I wrote an entire blog on bottle flipping if you want more ideas.
11. Cap Rolling: Have the kiddos empty their bottles because they'll need the cap for the next game. For this activity, get your packing tape out and put one strip at the end of a table (or on the floor) sticky side up. You'll need to tape down the ends so it doesn't move. The kids have 60 seconds to see how many times they can roll their cap down to the tape and have it STICK there. It can't go past the tape!
12. Anagrams: If your kids are old enough to read, pick a silly word or phrase and see how many words they can find inside that word/phrase in 60 seconds. Have them write down the words on the back of their paper from activity 6. Who has the most?
13. Book balance: In groups of 5, have four kids stand up and hold the corners of a book. Person number five, must balance 3 rocks on the book and they must still be balanced when 60 seconds is up! Is that too easy? Do 5!
14. Bottle bowling: Since you now have lots of empty bottles laying around with no caps, set them up in different formations (lines, circles, etc), fill one bottle with water to be your "ball", and see how many they can knock over in 60 seconds.
15. Twig tower: lastly, now that you've used the sticks for the other games, have them break them up into lots of little sticks. Then, give them 60 seconds to see how many they can stack into a tower!
There ya go! That should last your group at least 30-45 minutes :) Have fun! And thanks for being eco and cost friendly - and respectful of your children 💙
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