ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

World Records to break while you are at home that are easy to try

Want to be a record breaker from the comfort of your living room? Then try and break these.

World Records to break while you are at home that are easy to try
06 December 2023

Everyone wants to feel special, but there’s a way you can prove it. Simply break a world record.

Easy to say, hard to achieve? Well, there are actually plenty of world records you can break from home.

World records aren’t just for Olympic-level athletes. Thousands of these records are stored over at the Guinness World Records vault.

If you can think of something that can be timed or counted, there’s a good chance there’s a world record attached to it. Just a few of our favourite examples include the most pegs attached to someone’s face (not one we want to try ourselves) and the highest number of T-shirts donned in 60 seconds.

There are world records for video games, eating pizza and flying a paper plane, all stored in the giant Guinness World Records database.

The mere mention of that name may make some of you a bit misty-eyed for Record Breakers. It was a show broadcast in the UK from 1972 to 2001, in which people tried to break world records under the supervision of Guinness World Records adjudicators.

But Guinness never stopped. You can see the latest collection of Guinness World Records in its 2024 almanac (see below) or hunt for records to break from home on its website.

Below you’ll find some of our favourite world records we think you could have a crack at breaking from home. If you have suggestions you think we should add, fire them over in the suggestions box at the bottom of this article. Good luck!

55% off!
55% off!
Guinness World Records 2024
Get the Guinness World Records 2024 hard back book now, to find out about other brilliant records that have been broken lately.
Buy from Amazon now

World Records to break at home

World Records to break at home

1. Most socks put on one foot in 30 seconds

Buy a 12-pack of socks at Amazon

Can you put 28 socks on one foot in just 30 seconds? You can! Wow, well then do 29 and you will be a record breaker. Pavol Durdik from Slovakia currently holds the record for this, with the only rule being that you have to put them on one at a time. That’s right, there are no rules for them being clean so you can raid your laundry basket for this one.

1965
1038
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

2. Tallest toilet paper tower in 30 seconds

Get 72 rolls from Amazon

We know you have been stocking up on the toilet paper, so why not put those (currently) unused rolls to good use and try and win the record for the tallest toilet paper tower? The current holder, Silvio Sabba (a name that crops up a lot in world record lists) managed 28 rolls. The only rule is that you must only touch one roll at a time.

1438
811
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

3. Most selfies taken in under 3 minutes

A selfie stick is essential for this endeavour

One of the most recent records on the list, Indian actor Akshay Kumar took 184 selfies in under three minutes as promo for his new movie, Selfiee, but if you were doing this from the comfort of your home would you be able to take even more? You tell us. Just make sure you have a decent selfie stick to get the best angles.

903
367
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

4. Most Smarties eaten in 60 seconds blindfolded using chopsticks

Buy Smarties, available from Amazon

You can use Smarties or M&Ms, we're not fussy with this one, but we actually reckon that this one is easy to beat. Eating 20 Smarties in one minute is simple… What’s that? You need to use a blindfold and chopstick? Well that changes things somewhat. You also can only pick up one Smartie or M&M at a time.

1157
771
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

5. Fastest time to arrange the alphabet from a can of alphabet spaghetti

Find out more from Heinz

Cody Jones is the current alphabet spaghetti champion - which is a brilliant record to hold. The record to beat is a cool 3 minutes 21 seconds to find all of the letters of the alphabet in a can of alphabet spaghetti. That sounds like a lot of time but, trust us, you’ll be turning the air blue trying to find the elusive V.

896
578
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

6. Fastest time to assemble Mr. Potato Head

Buy a Mr. Potato Head from Amazon

If you have a Mr Potato Head lying around (everyone should, to be honest) then you can try and break the record of the fastest time ever to assemble him. The rule is very Radiohead, in that everything must be in the right place. To win the record, you’ll have to beat Samet Durmaz from Turkey who managed it in an unbelievable 6.62 seconds.

817
544
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

7. Most football touches in 30 seconds

Buy a Nike football at Amazon

If keepyuppy in the garden is keeping you sane right now, then this is the record attempt for you. In 30 seconds you need to do as many football touches as you can. The current winning totals have been made by Parker Kuklinski (252 football touches) from the USA, and Chloe Hegland from Canada (163 football touches) respectively. The one rule is that the ball must be kept in the air.

838
618
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

8. Fastest time to eat a 12-inch pizza using a knife and fork

Get thee to Domino's

If you normally eat a pizza with a fork then we officially aren’t friends. But we will let you off if you attempt to break this record. Kelvin Medina from the Philippines is the current record holder, he managed to eat 12 inches of pizza, with a fork, in a mere 23.62 seconds. That’s pretty damn fast. The rule is that you have to have swallowed it as well.

749
530
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

9. Most Clothes Pegs Clipped to the Face in 60 seconds

Get 100 pegs from Amazon

Don’t blame us if this leaves your face rawer than your scrubbed hands after doing this one. We are just putting it out there that if you did manage to clip 52 clothes pegs on your face then you would beat Silvio Sabba’s current world record of 51. This record has stood for eight years now. Surely it’s time for us all to get our pegs out and try and break it?

848
663
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

10. Fastest time to unravel toilet paper with one hand

Get XL-length rolls from Amazon

Don’t have enough toilet paper rolls to attempt the toilet paper tower? This one only requires a single roll. And a whole lot of manual dexterity, because you need to unravel it with a single hand. This one has been held by a Serbian chap called Dalibor Jablanovic, who also holds the record for the most spoons balanced on his face (31). He managed to unravel a toilet roll in just 9.8 seconds, back in 2013.

185
81
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

11. Most push ups with claps in 60 seconds

Get training with some push-up bars

This record is currently held by a Brit. Stephen Buttler from the UK has managed a whopping 90 push-ups with hand claps in one minute. 90. That’s a phenomenal achievement. We can only assume that he has the upper body strength of a three year old when you try and take cake out of their hands. Impressive stuff but we’re sure you can beat it.

868
767
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

12. Longest flight of a rubber band

Buy rubber bands from Amazon

In 1999 Leo Clouser of the USA sent a rubber band flying over 30m in a school gym in Wyoming. No special tools were used here, just the rubber bands and hands. Of course, this one does require a large space most of us don’t have access to at home. The record was set indoors, meaning Clouser did not have to worry about any negative, or positive, effects of additional wind resistance. Still, we’re tempted to try this one down at the local park.

109
61
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

13. Fastest Mario Kart 8 lap record

Buy now from Amazon

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch has sold well over 50 million copies. Is it any wonder there's a stack of records related to this game? Back in 2017 US racer Jimmy Strawa completed Mario Circuit at 200cc, in just 1 minute 13.9 seconds. Give it a go. Pro tip: he used Dry Bowser to set this record. Want to try a different track? You'll find a stack of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe records over at the Guinness website, including the infamous Rainbow Road.

74
61
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

14. Largest bubble gum bubble

Get a bumper pack of bubble gum

How hard can blowing a great big bubble gum bubble be? You might feel your confidence drain away when you hear the record breaking bubble’s diameter was more than three times the width of the average person’s head at 50.8cm. This record had been held by American Chad Fell ever since 2004. You’d better start exercising those jaw muscles. Chad’s pro tip is to use three pieces of Hubba Bubba, apparently.

89
79
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

15. Most baked beans eaten with a cocktail stick in 60 seconds

Buy a 12-pack of beans

OK, we're going to need a lot of tins of beans and some nice and sharp cocktail sticks. Surely UK folks can't let this one stand? The record for the most number of beans is currently held by David Rush, who set the standard in Boise, Idaho back in 2018. He managed 68 in a minute, and in the same session he also set the records for three minutes (178 beans). At around one a second, we reckon we could challenge that with a bit of practice and luck. What do you think?

42
38
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

16. Most spoons balanced on face

Stock up on spoons at Amazon

You might need to invest in an additional set of cutlery for this one. The record for the highest number of spoons balanced on a person’s face is 31, set by Dalibor Jablanovic in 2013. Judging by his own image, it looks like you need to make good use of your eye sockets with this one. And you can have more of the things sticking out of your ears.

89
85
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

17. Fastest time to type the alphabet backwards on a mobile phone

£699
Get the latest iPhone to be in with a fighting chance

Many of us may think we're super fast at typing on our phones these days, but are you faster than Xia Yan from Xi'an, Shaanxi, China? In November 2020 he broke the record for the fastest time to type the alphabet backwards on a touchscreen mobile phone at 4 seconds precisely. That one is going to take some practice, we recommend getting one of the latest smartphones to break this record as it'll be the most reponsive.

190
196
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

18. Longest time with an object balanced on your nose

Get a broom from Amazon

Get you namaste on and charge your chakras because this one is going to require some serious zen. Spain’s Christian Roberto López Rodriguez managed to keep an object on his nose for two hours 42 minutes. What object? A broom. He also holds the record for balancing a pool cue on one finger, doing so for four hours 32 minutes. That’s some test of patience, folks.

84
107
Thanks for voting
World Records to break at home

19. Most T-shirts put on in 60 seconds

Buy a 5-pack to get you started

If you feel the cold, you have probably managed to complete this record without even knowing it. But, if you want to do it officially, then you have beat Ted Hastings’ record of wearing 260 at once. You can use any size, short or long-sleeved, t-shirts for this one - and you can get a friend to help pull them down. But only one at a time please (t-shirts, not friends).

1228
1723
Thanks for voting

For more record-breaking ideas, head to the Official Guinness Book of Records site where it has a page dedicated to World Records you can do at home.


We have had a lot of people ask just how they get their home records recorded by The Guinness Book of Records. The best way to do it is head to the official website and take a look at their online records. It's here that you should be able to submit remotely, if you think that you have broken any of the records listed below. Good luck!