Mission of the Month: Fair Food, Fun and Games, August 2007

Ages: 8 years and up

(Un)Fair Games Activity Guide

Time: 60-120 minutes

State fair games like balloon darts or the ring toss may look easy, but
theyre virtually impossible to win. Heres your chance to set up some
popular fair games and to determine their fraud factor.

SUPPLIES NEEDED
For all activities
Adult supervisor
Safe area in which to play the games (with darts flying, bottles falling, etc.)
1 copy of this activity guide for each facilitator
Duct tape, masking tape, chalk, rope or spray paint to establish throw lines
Optional: Computer with Internet access to watch videos (see the Do Ahead section)
Balloon Darts
2-4 bags latex balloons in assorted colors (youll need about 50 balloons per board)
Steel-tip darts (enough for teams to take turns)
Large bulletin board or thin sheet of plywood (about 3 x 6 in size)
Thumb tacks or stapler/staples
Paper and pen/pencil to create prize tags
Cardboard to protect floor/walls from damage, if you do the activity indoors
Can Knockdown
1-2 unopened tin cans of soup, beans, vegetables, fruit, etc.
6 empty tin cans
Masking tape to use around the sharp edges of the empty cans to prevent cuts
Sturdy table
Tennis balls, rubber balls or baseballs
Ball Toss
1-3 medium or large bushel baskets (available at thrift shops or craft stores), small
laundry baskets, or plastic buckets of a similar size
An artists easel or wooden board long/wide enough to fit either 1 basket, or 2-3 baskets
in a row with a few inches in between
A hammer and nails
Softballs, kickballs, wiffleballs and/or basketballs (enough for the teams to take turns)
1 spray can of furniture polish
Ring-a-Bottle
3 rings or bracelets made of wood, plastic or metal (just big enough to fit an adults wrist)
At least 24 tall glass, thin-necked beverage bottles (such as soda bottles)
Wooden or cardboard crates that will hold the bottles securely
Sturdy table

DO AHEAD
Divide youth into teams of 3-10 people and assign each team a recipe.
Have the teams watch The Real Hustle: Carnival Games videos at
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/the-real-hustle-carnival-games.
ACTIVITY STEPS
Depending on your time and resources, the teams may set up and experiment with any or all of
the following games:
Balloon Darts
Find an area that allows several feet between the throw line and the target. Establish the
throw line boundary.
Set up a board or easel on which to attach balloons. You may want to place some
cardboard on the floor and walls to protect it from potential dart holes.
Have teams blow up balloons and tie them securely. Tell them to blow some balloons up
all the way and leave others slightly deflated.
Ask each youth to rip a piece of paper into several fortune-cookie-size slips, and to
write a fake prize on each piece. Tell them to think of prizes that are cheap and common
(i.e. pencil eraser, rocks, used chewing gum, etc.), as well as just one or two fabulous
prizes (i.e. Nintendo Wii, trip to Disneyworld, etc.).
Now, youth should fold the pieces of paper and stick them inside the balloon (through the
neck), keeping track of the balloons with the good prizes.
Have youth take turns tacking or stapling their balloons to the dartboard (via the knot
they made at the top, of course). Tell them to place the balloons with the fabulous
prizes in the areas they think would be difficult to hit. When everyone is finished, most
of the board should be covered with balloons.
Allow each team member 2-3 dart throws, making sure they wait to throw until everyone
is away from the dartboard and has retrieved his/her prize tags.
Which balloons were the easiest/hardest to hit?
Reflect
How many times have you spotted someone carrying a giant stuffed animal
across the fairgrounds? Did it inspire you to search for the game booth where
you could win the same prize? If so, you may have been conned. Rumor has it,
some carnival operators hire people to walk around with attractive prizes that
very few people, if any, can actually win. ***When it comes to balloon darts,
what are some ways that game operators can ensure that players dont win the
big prizes? [Hints: Dull darts, under-inflated balloons, placing the big prize tags
at the corners instead of in the middle, etc.]
Can Knockdown
Find an area that allows several feet between the throw line and the table, which will hold
the target. Establish the throw line boundary.
Stack 6 empty cans on the table in a pyramid: 3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, 1 on top.
Allow each team member 2-3 attempts to knock over ALL of the cans with the ball. They
should use the same type of throw with each turn (overhand or underhand).

Experiment with different balls, throwing styles and distances. Which are most/least
effective?
Place 1-2 unopened cans at the bottom of the pyramid, at the top and/or in the middle.
What happens? Can anyone knock over all of the cans now?
Reflect
Whether they use tin cans or old-fashioned milk bottles, with this sort of game,
operators can easily stack the odds in their favor (perhaps youve heard that old
tale of a storm hitting a carnival and blowing over everything in its path, except
for a few small milk bottles). *** Judging by your experience with the can
knockdown game, how can game operators use the law of psychics in their
favor? [Hint: Weigh down one of the cans on the bottom of the pyramid.]

Ball Toss
Find an area that allows several feet between the throw line and the board you will mount
the basket(s) to. Establish the throw line boundary.
Nail 1 basket to the board/easel, or 2-3 baskets to the board/several easels (if you use
several baskets, leave a few inches in between each one). See diagram below:

(OR)

Angle the board so that the baskets are slightly tilted back.
Allow each team member 2-3 attempts to get their ball to stay in the basket(s).
Experiment with different balls, basket angles, throwing styles and distances. Which are
the most/least effective?
If you are using a wooden basket, try spraying it with furniture polish before tossing the
ball. What happens?
Reflect
It may be possible to win this game if one throws the ball so that it catches the
upper edge of the basket. But often, the game operators place the basket at a
specific angle so that this is almost impossible to do. The operator might
convince fairgoers to spend their money by getting a ball in the basket
him/herself. However, the operator usually tosses the ball from one side of the
basket. This is much easier than tossing the ball from the throw line, where the
player stands directly in front of, and at a significant distance from, the basket.
***What are some other ways that the game operator could stack the odds in
his/her favor? [Hint: Polish the surface of the basket to make it slick, etc.]

Ring-a-Bottle
Find an area that allows several feet between the throw line and the table, which will hold
the target. Establish the throw line boundary.

Set up the empty bottles so that they stand firmly in the crate(s). Set the crate(s) on top of
the table.
Allow team members 2-3 attempts to throw a ring around one of the bottlenecks.
Have teams experiment with different types of rings, throwing styles (sideways, straight
like a Frisbee, in a flipping motion so it travels end over end, etc.) and throwing
distances. Which are the most/least effective?
Reflect
In this game, the tops of the bottles are placed so close together that it is hard to
throw the rings on a semi-flat plane and land on a bottleneck without hitting the
top of an adjacent bottle (which causes the ring to bounce away). The rings also
tend to bounce off of the bottles due to their speed upon impact. ***Did your
throwing distance or style affect your success rate? How could a game operator
tamper with the bottles to make them even more difficult for players to ring?

FINAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Which of these games were the hardest to win?
Are there ways to increase your chances of success with any of the games?
Can you think of any other ways game operators might use physics to their advantage?
How do game operators use psychology to convince people to spend their money?

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