Hot Potato

Set up

Sit or stand in a circle, close enough to pass an object hand to hand. Choose something soft to be the potato. One person, facing away, controls the music.

How to play

1. Start the music. Players pass the potato around the circle, hand to hand, as quickly as they can.
2. The potato must be passed, not thrown, and nobody may skip a player.
3. Stop the music. Whoever is holding the potato is out and leaves the circle.
4. If the potato is in the air between two players, the one who let go of it is out.
5. Close the gap and start again. The last player left wins.

Keeping it moving

Short bursts of music keep the tension up: stop it after five seconds, then after twenty. Players who are out can take over the music one at a time, which keeps them busy and makes the stops less predictable.

Ways to change it

• Nobody is out: the player caught holding the potato answers a question, does a silly forfeit or names something in a category, then the game goes on.
• Two potatoes: send two objects around in opposite directions. Chaos, in a good way.
• Reverse: when the leader claps, the potato changes direction.
• Wrapped parcel: wrap a small prize in many layers of paper. Each time the music stops, the holder removes one layer. Whoever removes the last layer keeps the prize.
• Water balloon: outdoors in summer, and only with players who have agreed to get wet.

Who it suits, and who it doesn’t

Hot Potato suits ages four to nine and any size of circle. It needs almost no space, so it works in a classroom or a small living room. For children under five, play the no-elimination version. Teenagers and adults will only play it with a twist, such as the wrapped parcel with a prize worth having.