“Ready? Go!” Ryan Riley shouted. All the kids were lined up in teams, tied at the right leg of one runner to the left leg of a teammate. The three-legged race was off.

Riley and board members of Ames Historical Society organized Game Day at Hoggatt School on Sunday afternoon. More than ten children participated.

“Hoggatt School has game day and open house day. We do different games every time,” Ryan said.

Ardy Ulrichson, a volunteer of Ames Historic Society, has been a board member for six years.

“What they are doing this is playing games, and typically would be played at country schools. Actually, I went to country schools, so I remember these games,” Ardy said. “They did three different games, including sack race, three-legged race, and poisoned handkerchief. The purpose is to help children understand what was like to be in school 150 years. People in the neighborhoods participated in this program of all different ages. They come with their parents and grandparents today, it’s not a school program, necessarily. You can see, the children are really enjoying themselves.”

It was Neva Hinzman’s first time to bring his son to this event.

“Our son is nine years old, we do home school for him. I found this event on Ames city calendar event. This is really fun, the kids are having a good time, and it’s a good day,” Neva said.

Paul Woods, a father of a five-year-old, expressed his excitement to join this event.

“Our son just started kindergarten. He’s loving it, he often plays video games, so we want him to join more outdoors activities. We will definitely come back and check Ames Historical Society website.”

Hoggatt School will have its last summer event on Aug. 13.