‘Minute to Win It’ drives youths to be more active

For the first time, the “Minute to Win It” game show franchise is fielding a “junior” edition—and it’s being done right here on Philippine TV, with the new show for juvenile players making its auspicious debut last April 29 at 11 a.m.

The inaugural telecast, still with Luis Manzano on top of things, featured child-star players Bugoy Cariño and Brenna Garcia forming the red team, and Zaijan Jaranilla and Xyriel Manabat making up the blue team.

The first telecast went well, with the young players managing to complete most of their tests within the 60-second time limit, and an impressively difficult series of challenges they were, too—a “rattle” race, an egg roll, stacking up apples, etc.

They required not just speed but also analytical ability, physical dexterity and precision—which is why we’re glad that the show’s format has been tweaked to accommodate very young players.

If the junior edition turns out to be as popular as the adult one it has (temporarily?) replaced for the summer school vacation period, it could go a long way in persuading our children to stop focusing on their electronic gadgets and become more active and inter-active—a positive result that would make many parents happy!

Our only quibble is over the fact that speed isn’t a big factor in the games. If both teams complete the challenges within the time limit, both of them are given equal points, with the faster team winning a bonus prize. That’s OK, but it would be better if the team with the slower time be penalized. Time should be of the essence in “Minute to Win It.”

Otherwise, the show’s initial telecast went well, and we marveled at the child stars’ ability to perform the difficult tasks assigned to them with focus, efficiency and dispatch. They must have practiced a lot to get ready for their stint on the show, and the extra to excel served them well.

We hope that kids viewing the show at home will be motivated to be similarly goal-oriented in the tasks they need to accomplish in their summer break.

Another plus factor of the game show is the fact that most of its challenges don’t require special equipment. For instance, the “egg roll” race required only eggs and pizza pie cartons to fan them with so they would “travel” to the squares on the floor assigned to them.

The apple-stacking challenge? Nothing more than a bunch of apples, which the young players had to savvily select for maximum “stackability”—no mean analytical feat that, as some of them discovered to their dismay as the time ran out on them, and the apples, each with a unique shape and “mind” of its own, refused to form the required column of four needed to win!

The show’s practicality and accessibility are only two of the hallmarks of its success—a lesson that shouldn’t be lost on young people who insist that their parents buy them expensive and complicated electronic games that make them popular with other kids—but send their parents to the poorhouse!