This is a variation of the traditional tag game that adds a little bit more fun by making the game faster.
The rules are still very simple and easy to understand, so don’t hesitate to try it with your friends.
What do you need?
Like for most kinds of tag games, you don’t need any material. Just a little motivation to run and have fun. However, it is a good idea to create a game zone and make entering certain areas an automatic “out”, so that it is not too big of an area to play. This would just make it hard for the players who are “it” and slow the game down.
Who plays?
The game is nice to play in a bigger group, but theoretically it also works with at least four players. You can play it in preschool with your friends in the schoolyard. However, older children (up to ten years old) enjoy this game as well. It is even great to play in a mixed age group. Younger children learn how to follow rules, and the older ones have to show a little bit of patience with their younger friends.
How to play “Freeze Tag”
The first important difference from a normal tag game is that you have to pick two players to be “it” in the beginning. These players have to chase the other players and tag them with a light touch. Don’t forget that it is still a game, and hitting and punching aren’t part of that! There is a time limit of 3 minutes for the players who are “it” to catch all the other participants. Therefore, it might be smart to built a good team and develop some kind of strategy. The tagged players freeze: They have to hold their pose, don’t move at all and don’t participate in the game anymore. However, there is also a possibility to free them again. If a player who is not “it” manages to run to a frozen player without getting tagged, he or she can tap the frozen one and say “unfreeze”. Thereby, he or she is back in the game.
If the two players being “it” are able to tag all the other players in the given time frame they win. If not they loose and it was a successful round for the rest of the players.
Variations
The first possibility to adjust the game to your needs is by changing the given time frame. After the first round of playing you will probably have an better idea of how much time is needed. It is important that is isn’t too much time to slow the game down and make it boring but also not too little time so that the players being it still stand a chance to win. This, of course, also depends on the size of your group.
There is also another variation to make the “unfreezing” a little bit more difficult. When the players get tagged they have to move their legs into a wide stand. They can be freed by another player crawling through the space between their legs without getting tagged.
