Potato in the Air Game

Potatoes. At this time of year as we think about St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland, the simple potato gets quite a bit of attention. That is good!

I grew up on a farm in Idaho where my father planted potatoes. I LOVE potatoes – mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato salad, curly fries at Arby’s (the best way ever to serve potatoes!). Yum!

So, I think it only appropriate that I share with you the Potato in the Air game.

All you need for this game is a ball – which represents a potato. You want a ball that is soft-ish and about the size of a large grapefruit. I found some at my local dollar store that are perfect for this game.

Gather your grandchildren and go outside. (Hopefully, the weather won’t be too chilly for you to play this on St. Patrick’s Day. If it is, file this idea away for a warmer day.)

Assign each grandchild a number. Give the ball to one of your grandchildren. That grandchild is the leader. The leader throws the ball as high in the air as she can. She calls out a number as the ball is going up. The grandchild with that number must catch the ball before it falls and hits the ground. If the player doesn’t catch it, the leader gets the ball and throws it into the air again and calls out a different number.

While the ball is being thrown in the air, all of the grandchildren scamper away (except for the one trying to catch the ball). They must stay within the bounds of play – that you decide upon before starting the game. When the player catches the ball, she yells ‘stop’ and all of the grandchildren must immediately stop running.

Standing where she caught the ball, the grandchild throws the ball and tries to hit one of the other grandchildren. (This is why you want a soft ball.) If she hits someone with the ball, that grandchild gets a point. If the thrower misses, the thrower gets a point.

The player who got hit now becomes the leader, tosses the ball in the air, calls out a number, and play continues as described. If the thrower doesn’t hit a someone with the ball, the thrower becomes the leader.

The object of the game is to have the fewest number of points.

You might want to set a specific amount of time to play the game, or play until someone gets ten points, or just play until the grandchildren lose interest in it.

Afterwards, you could eat a meal and serve potato soup and potato rolls or have a potato bar.

Hip hip hooray! Three cheers for the wonderful potato!