Ants in the Pants

Have you ever played Ants in the Pants? It's one of those classic childhood games like Cooties and Mr Potato Head.

It's a very hard game. The ants are little plastic critters that jump when you push on their tail end. The goal is to get the ants to jump into the pants. The problem is that you cannot control how far or how high the ant will jump. The quality of the game pieces is such that they are very unpredictable. Your odds of getting the ant to land in the pants are about 1 in 25. After hours of play your odds are still 1 in 25.

Bentley really likes Ants in the Pants. He will try again and again and again to get the ants to land in the pants. He is not discouraged when his success rate is zero. I am. I want to give up flicking them and instead simply fling them at the pants. Bentley doesn't approve when I do that.

Bentley likes to line the ants up like this:


Yes, I know exactly what you are thinking. No, the boy is not autistic. He just has an affinity for order. He's going to make a fine mathematician.

***** ***** *****

I just checked to see if you can still purchase Ants in the Pants. Our game is twenty years old--from when Kara was little. Hasbro still sells the game, but they have made it easier. The ants look exactly the same (so they will be just as hard to flip, I'm sure), but the pants now have a back board on them. Our pants are like a bucket (only pant shaped) and often the ants just fly right over the pants. The newer version of the game has a dog wearing the pants. The dog acts as a backboard (like a basketball backboard) and helps the ants to land in the pants. This should improve your odds significantly of getting an ant into the pants.