9 One-Minute Family Challenges with Osceola Reads

For the Summer Fun Series 2020, the Osceola Reads Team challenged families to compete in a series of one-minute family challenges. Just because summer is over doesn’t mean the fun has to end. While you are waiting for our next reading challenge to begin, you can compete against your household members or virtually to stay connected with family and friends. Each activity takes one minute to complete, like Minute to Win It, and requires items you probably have lying around your home. We have also paired each activity with a book that you can enjoy together before or after the challenge. We suggest reading the book beforehand and making the kiddos guess what the challenge may be!

Challenge #1: Fruit Loop Kabob

Fill a bowl with fruit loops, or any other cereal with a hole. Using a wooden skewer or chopstick, collect as many pieces of cereal as you can in one minute without letting any fall off. The person with the most cereal on their skewer at the end of the minute wins!Family Read-Aloud Idea: Eating the Alphabet (Lois Ehlert)

Challenge #2: Stack It Up

With one hand behind your back, stack 25 pennies on top of each other. The winner is the player with the tallest tower.Family Read-Aloud Idea: Ten Apples Up On Top (Dr. Seuss)

Challenge #3: Paper Plate Race

For this game, you need to set up a starting line and a finish line. Each player has to race to blow their paper plate across the finish line first while only using their mouths to blow it. If you want to keep the minute challenge theme, you can see who makes it the furthest before the clock runs out.Family Read-Aloud Idea: Marathon Mouse (Amy Dixon)

Challenge #4: Mummy Wrap

This one requires partners. Using streamers or toilet paper, one partner must wrap the other up as much as they can. The winning team is the one most covered in wrapping at the end of the minute.Family Read-Aloud Idea: Mummy Cat (Marcus Ewert)

Challenge #5: M&M Mover

Each player gets two plates, one empty and one with 10-20 M&M’s. Using only a straw, they have to move the M&M’s to the empty plate. The player who moves the most M&M’s is the winner!Family Read-Aloud Idea: Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory (H. A. Rey)

Challenge #6: Cookie Face

All players put a cookie in the middle of their forehead. The object of the game is to move the cookie from your forehead to your mouth – no hands! The first player to get the cookie into their mouth wins.Family Read-Aloud Idea: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie  (Laura Numeroff)

Challenge #7: Cereal Chopsticks Race

For this challenge, each player needs an empty cup and a pair of chopsticks. With one big bowl of cereal in the middle, every person works to move as many cereal pieces from the central bowl into their own cups, using only a pair of chopsticks. The winner is the player with the most pieces of cereal in their bowl at the end of the minute.Family Read-Aloud Idea: Spoon (Amy Krouse Rosenthal)

Challenge #8: Marshmallow Toss

Players partner up and stand across from each other, about 2-4 feet apart. One person has a handful of marshmallows and the other has a small paper cup. Teams have one minute to toss as many marshmallows into the cup as possible. The team with the most marshmallows in their cup after a minute wins.Family Read-Aloud Idea: Watch Me Throw the Ball (Mo Willems)

Challenge #9: Lego Tower

We have all built lego towers before, but how high can you go in one minute? This might seem like an easy thing to do, but the challenge is you can only use one hand. You can’t hold the tower with the other when adding more blocks. The builder with the tallest tower at the end of the minute is the winner of the final challenge!Family Read-Aloud Idea: Rosie Revere Engineer (Andrea Beaty)We hope you have as much fun as we did completing these activities with your family. Share your Osceola Reads One-Minute Challenge photos with us using the hashtag #OsceolaReads and you may see yourselves featured on our website and social media.For more literacy tips and activities, visit our Parent Resources Page.