Tag games : 9 fun ideas of playing Tag

Tag games

Tag games are played outdoors and involve several players where the goal is to run after a friend and touch him, mainly with the hand.

Tag games are well known to young and old alike. Who has never played Tag in the schoolyard? He knows many variations, from the most traditional to the most original. Check out some of them here.

Game sheet

number of players: from 4 children
age: from 5 years old
material: none but this may change depending the type of Tag Game chosen
Played outdoors
Duration: 20 minutes

Tag games rules

Start by gathering the children into a large open space and select a child who would be like to be “It”. Once the game begins, whoever is “It” starts chasing the other children until they tag another with their hand. Depending on the variation on the game, that child is either “It” or is suck until another child frees them. The game ends when all the children have been frozen or are It. If a game is lasting to long because the children are being freed too fast, start a new round with a different child being It.

Traditional Tag

Designate a child to start who will be the “It”. This one will have to tag a child who will in turn become the ‘It” and so on. It’s the easiest game.

Band-Aid Tag

There is no specific “It” in this game. All players can catch and can be caught. But be careful, as soon as a child is tagged, he must then continue the game by keeping his hand where he was touched, like a band-aid. He then uses his other hand to continue playing and attempt to tag his other comrades. If the child is tagged a second time, then he must place his second hand where he was hit, but can still continue to play. Be careful, if the child is tagged a third time, then he is sent to the hospital. You will need to designate a place in your play area reserved for the hospital.

A child who is in the hospital needs to treat his injuries. For this, he will have to make a forfeit which will be determined in advance in the rules of the game. Once healed, he can return to play.

Tail Tag

You will need a sock, bandana, or other piece of fabric for each player. They will place it in their belt to create a “tail”. There is no designated “It” in this game. Anyone can try to take the tail of one of their comrades. Whoever has caught the most tails at the end of the game wins it.

Chain Tag : the most original of Tag games

This game starts with two players who are referred to as the “Its”. They must hold hands and grab the other players without letting go of each other. When he touches another player then this one becomes “It” and gives the hand to his comrades. You can continue the game like this and each time a child is tagged the chain formed by the cats is extended. The last child who remains free wins the game. If the children are numerous, you can choose to separate the chain formed by the “Its” in 2, then in 3 so that there are several chains formed which will have to tag the other players.

Blob Tag

When a child gets tagged, they join hands with It and become part of the blob. This continues until everyone is part of the blob. The last kid swallowed by the blob is It for the next round.

Band-Aid Tag

After getting tagged, the child needs to place a hand on the spot that he was tagged. This is their “Band-Aid” and it must stay on for the rest of the game. If the child gets tagged a second time, the other hand also becomes a Band-Aid and must stay on the spot they were tagged. Once the child has been tagged three times, he must go to the “hospital” which can be any type of safe zone (or person). After visiting the hospital, the child can rejoin the game completely healed.

Tunnel tag

Kids that get tagged have to stand in place until another child crawls through their legs to free them.

Color Tag

The “It” will have to state a color. The children will have to touch an object of the color mentioned and will then become untouchable; the goal being always that the “It” tags a child before this one finds and does not touch the quoted color. If he tags a child then that child will take the place of the “It” in turn!

Safe Zones

It can be fun to designate special zones within the play area as “bases” or safe zones. Kids that are within the safe zone or touching the safe object cannot be tagged by the child who is It. For fun, try making the safe zone a certain color or hard to reach area. Better yet, make the safe zone one of the adult helpers in the group.

Perched Tag

The goal is to tag a child … But when the child is “perched”, he can no longer be touched! So there is only one method to escape the “It”: climb where you can: on a tree, a chair, a border… Climb to be saved!

Freeze Tag

The “It” should always touch someone, but when a child is touched, it turns into an ice cube. He then becomes motionless like a statue and can no longer move. He must then be touched by one of his teammates to be released and be able to replay. The “It” wins the game when all the children are turned into ice cubes.

Ball Tag

Just provide a plastic or foam balloon. The “It” will have to touch his comrades by throwing the ball at them. If the child is tagged, he becomes the ‘It” in turn. He takes the ball and has to tag a new child with it and so on…

Everyone is “It”: the most fun of Tag games

Designate a play area (it doesn’t need to be too big for this game) and set a timer for three to four minutes. Everyone is “It”, so everyone is trying to catch everyone. Each time a player touches another player he must shout out loud: 1, then 2, then 3. This allows you to count the players that each has touched. Once the time has elapsed, the winner will be the child who has touched the most players and who will therefore have stated the highest number. To make things a little more difficult, you can ask players to subtract a point from their scoring each time they are hit by another player.