Tag Games

Tag games often involve a high level of activity, and require little equipment. All students understand the basic concept of "tag", so they are easy to teach and manage. Tag games run themselves! They are excellent games for warm-up activities. The following games are used often at the high school level, but are appropriate for most levels.

Elbow tag

• partners link elbows
• two separate players, one is "IT", other is being chased
• "IT" chases the other person, if successful on tagging that person,
  he/she becomes it and roles reverse
• if chased person succeeds in linking elbows with a pair, the person on
  the other end of the linkage breaks off and is now the one chased, and
  so on
• variations: partners cannot move, partners can move, two "ITS", two
  being chased

Fox and Squirrel

• similar to elbow tag, except pairs face each other making bridge with
  arms in the air (hands touching)
• in order for the person to be safe, he/she must duck under the arms of
  one person and take their place
• person displaced is now being chased

Blob tag

• one person is "IT", others scatter
• if touched, join hands or link elbows and continue to chase
• once the "blob" reaches 4 people, it splits onto two, and so on until
  everyone is caught

Amoeba

• one person is "IT", others scatter
• if touched, join hands or link elbows and continue to chase
• amoeba continues to grow until all are caught
• only the two ends of the amoeba can tag players

British Bulldog

• one person is it, standing in middle of gym (designated start area for
  each round)
• rest of class is lined up along one wall
• "IT" calls "British Bulldog", at which point entire class attempts to
  safely run to other side of gym
• if tagged by IT, they help IT for further rounds
• IT and those tagged must always start each round in designated area
• be sure to set boundaries so students slow down before the wall!
• continue until all students are tagged

Octopus tag

• as above, but if tagged that person sits where he/she got tagged and
  attempts to wave arms to tag runners going by
• if successful in tagging someone from seated position, switch positions
• octopus players not allowed to slide around on bottoms!

Loose Caboose

• groups of 3 or 4 (choo choo trains!), hands on shoulders of person in
  front
• move around gym making train noises (you choose the type of locomotion
  and the speed)
• when teacher yells "Loose Caboose", the cabooses must let go of their
  train and find another one
• continue several times, making sure players switch roles
• variation is to have on "IT" and one being chased, must get onto the
  tail end of a train to be safe, then engine breaks off the front and
  he/she is now being chased

Dragon’s Tail

• two, three or four even teams, hands on shoulders of person in front
• person at end of the line is the "Dragon's tail", and has a pinnie or
  flag tucked visibly into shorts
• the teams try to steal another tail

Everybody’s It

• everyone is "IT", each person trying to tag before being tagged
• if tagged, sit, if you tag someone else, you are back in

Capture the Flag

• two teams, separated by middle line, use whole gym or outside space
• three pinnies, bean bags or flags are placed on one of two mats (safe
  spaces) in each end of gym (eg. corners)
• if a player crosses centre line into opponents area they can be tagged
  and are then frozen, but if they reach a mat, they are safe
• frozen players can be freed by team mates running across to touch them
  after being freed, players can run in any direction (no free pass)
• object is to capture opponents flag and safely carry it across to your
  side
• can only take one flag at a time, cannot throw it to team mate, if
  tagged with flag, flag is returned to mat
• rules may be added to limit the number of guards, or allowing players to “recapture” their flags, etc.

Line tag

• one person is "IT" (that person could carry a pinnie, a noodle, baton,
  etc. to identify him/herself)
• all players, including IT, must stay on the lines in the gym
• if you get tagged, you are now it and the implement changes hands
• can have more than one person IT

Spider Web Tag

• 2 groups of 5 with 6th person in the middle
• work together to tag individual players
• If tagged, join the circle
• Largest team at the end wins

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