Pot of Gold Ball Toss

Sometimes life gets crazy and hectic.

Sometimes?

Who am I kidding! It’s most of the time, right?

I thought so . . .

If that’s what it’s like for you and yet you want to have a St. Patrick’s Day party for the grandkids, here is a game that is VERY easy to prepare for and it will be challenging and fun for the kids. I call it the Pot of Gold Ball Toss Game.

I have created the pots of gold so that all you have to do is print them up and cut them out. Tape them randomly on the wall and give each child a small soft ball. (I got one at the dollar store that worked perfectly.)

Have the grandkids stand several feet away from the wall. In the picture above, my seven-year-old grandson is about 4 feet from the wall. He had a hard time hitting the pots so I had him take two steps closer. That was still challenging for him — but not so that he got discouraged!

Have your grandchildren take turns throwing the ball at a pot of gold taped to the wall. If they hit one, they get to take that pot off the wall. When all of the pots are gone, the one with the most is the winner.

You’ll notice in the picture above that my grandson decided to wear the pots. As he hit the pots and removed them from the wall, he put them on his cheeks and on his shirt. I told him he was my treasure at the end of the rainbow. Sappy, yes, but he loved it!

A variation of this is that when a grandchild hits a pot, he leaves it on the wall but gets one point for hitting the pot. After a designated amount of time, have the grandkids add up their points. The one with the most points is the winner.

If your grandkids know their numbers, have them hit the pots in numerical order.  A grandchild throws her ball and tries to hit the pot with the number 1 on it. If she hits it, on her next turn she tries to hit the pot with the number 2 on it. If she misses, she keeps trying to  hit the pot with the number 1. When she finally does, on her next turn she tries to hit the pot with the number 2 on it.

Play continues until one person has hit all 10 pots in numerical order. The person to hit all 10 pots first is the winner.

If your grandchildren know how to add, they toss a ball twice on one turn. They have to hit two numbers. They add these numbers together. If they get the answer correct, they get a point. If they don’t, the play goes to the next grandchild. The grandchildren take turns throwing their balls and adding up the numbers that they hit.

After a set amount of time, the person with the most points is the winner.

If your grandchildren know multiplication, they can multiply the two numbers on the pots that they hit. If they get the right answer, they get a point. The person with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Have a great time playing this Pot of Gold ball toss with the kiddos!