Split the Watermelon

by Corey
(Japan)

I was recently at a summer party in Japan, where I came across a game kids were playing that would be great for birthday parties. The game is called Suikawari. In English, a suitable name for it would be Split the Watermelon. Anyhow, it is similar to the piñata game of Mexico, but instead of hitting a piñata full of candy, your goal is to hit and split open a watermelon. The kids love this one and all you'll need is a tarp, a watermelon, and a wooden stick.

The watermelon is first laid out on a clean tarp(so that it's easy to clean up, and safe to eat off of). Then one child is placed about 10 steps away from the tarp, blindfolded, and given a wooden stick. They then have to spin around 10 times so that they don't know where the watermelon is. After that, the other kids have to cheer the child on and instruct he or she where to go until they agree that he or she is in the perfect location to hit and break the watermelon. Each child only gets one strike and whoever hits it wins. It's up to you, but I think it would be good if the winner received a small prize to make things even more exciting.

When the watermelon finally gets split open, the kids seem to go nuts, especially because they know they're allowed to eat it, and what kid doesn't like watermelon? The game is great as it doesn't take too long to do, doesn't cost all that much, is partly a snack, and is tons of fun for the kids. Of course it's good to have some plates handy and tell the kids to scoop the watermelon up, although they seem to enjoy eating it off the tarp more from what I've noticed.