Number of players: 6+
Ages: 4+
Space: Big living or family room, yard or playground.
Materials: a lot of potatoes or similarly odd shaped objects, spoons
This is a form potato race that requires some skill, and, unlike many other forms of potato races it can be played in a relatively small space.
The players are divided into two or more teams competing against each other. Each team lines up in single file, so the leaders are all standing on a starting line. Place a line of potatoes, two or three feet apart, in front of each line of players. There should be one potato for each player. The larger and more irregular shape of the potatoes or other objects the better.
Each team leader should have a teaspoon, and there should be a pan or basket next to each leader to hold the team’s potatoes. At a starting signal, each leader starts forward, picks up a potato on the spoon, carries it to the box or basket, and places the potato in it. The leader then hands the spoon off to the next player and moves off the “playing field.” The second player picks up the next potato, puts it in the box, and so on, until all the players have played. The last player returning stands beside the box, holding the spoon in the air to indicate that he or she is finished. The team that does this first is the winner.
The players can’t touch the potatoes with anything but the spoon. If the player touches the potato with anything else, the player has to replace it, go back to the starting line, and pick it up again. If a potato is dropped, the player picks it up again with the spoon, and continues on from that point.