Spear the Potato
I bet you’d never think that a plastic straw could break through a raw potato! Play this game and you’ll find out that it can! It’s all about air pressure. Try it with an orange, zucchini, or other food of choice.
- 2-3 straws per person
- 1 raw potato per person
1. First, hold the straw firmly in your writing hand.
2. Next, hold the potato in your opposite hand. Make sure your hand holding the potato is at the end opposite of where you intend to stab the potato.
3. Now go ahead and stab that straw through the potato!
1. There is a secret to this activity if your straw didn't slide right through.
2. The trick is to place your thumb of the hand holding the straw, over the straw's top opening. Without placing your thumb on the top of the straw, the trick will not work.
4. I suggest first showing the children how to do it, without mentioning the “thumb over the straw part.” See if they can figure it out.
5. Eventually, you’ll have to give the secret away.
Use zucchini, oranges, squash, lemons, or grapefruit to experiment with.