Freeze tag
Why it works
Every other flag pulling game is every kid for themselves, and this is the only one where going back for somebody costs you something. That is what makes it teach looking up: a player who only watches the tagger never notices the three team mates standing still waiting to be let back in.
Run it
8 MINFour rounds of ninety seconds, new taggers each round. Eight minutes.
Say this
“Look up. Count the frozen.”
The game is won by the team that keeps unfreezing, not by the last one running.
“Unfreeze and go, do not stand there.”
The rescuer is the easiest target in the square at the moment of the touch.
“Taggers, guard a frozen one.”
Standing near a frozen player is how you finish a round.
Good looks like
- Heads are up and turning, not fixed on the nearest tagger.
- Rescues happen within a few seconds of a freeze.
- The taggers work out on their own that guarding beats chasing.
- Rounds get shorter as the taggers get smarter.
The mistakes
Everybody running away from the taggers and nobody going back, which is the whole first round.
Say: “Look up. Count the frozen.”
Stopping to chat after the rescue, which loses two players instead of saving one.
Say: “Unfreeze and go, do not stand there.”
Both taggers chasing the same runner across the whole square.
Say: “Taggers, guard a frozen one.”
One tagger and a smaller square. At this age the rescue is the fun part, so make sure it keeps happening.
Three taggers, or make the rescue a thrown catch instead of a touch.