All nine games

🥔 How to play Hot Potato with kids

Pass a soft toy around the circle fast; whoever holds it when it POPS does a silly mission.

Ages 3+ · Players 3 or more · Time 10 minutes · You need a soft toy or cushion to be the potato

Rules

1. Sit in a circle. Pick a teddy or cushion to be the potato.
2. Start the timer and pass the potato around, quick quick.
3. When it POPS, whoever holds the potato does the mission.
4. Then start the next round.

Make it fit the youngest player

• Ages 2–4: Missions like "moo like a cow" and "jump three times".
• Ages 5–7: Missions like "tell a joke" or "talk like a robot".
• Ages 8–10: Missions like "spell your name backwards" or "name five animals in ten seconds".

Nobody is ever out: a mistake becomes a wiggle or a giggle, so the littlest player keeps playing.

No phone? No problem

One person turns their back, closes their eyes and shouts "POP!" whenever they like.

Or let the phone run it

Romparoo ticks faster and faster against a secret timer nobody can see, not even the grown-ups, and hands out a silly mission when it pops. The phone stays in the middle; a real toy is the potato. Hot Potato is one of nine games in Romparoo, a free iPhone app with no ads, no accounts and no tracking. It is coming soon to the App Store.

Play safely

Clear the floor, keep cushions low and never climb on furniture. A grown-up should always be around when little ones play.