This game is a lot of fun to play with a big group. There are some rules of a classical tag game mixed with some more running and strategy elements. You have to be prepared to work together as a team and come up with your ideas on how to win this game. “Capture the Flag” is the perfect game for a sport lessons or a long break in a big schoolyard. If you are interested in trying it out, keep reading.

What do you need?
For this game, a large playing area is required as well as two ‘flags’ which can be just about everything. Maybe you have scarves or a piece of fabric. If not a stick works too.

Who plays?
“Capture the Flag” is a game that is fun for any age group. The youngest children that will for sure enjoy it, are children in kindergarten age. It is most fun to play with a large group.

How to play “Capture the Flag”
Split the group into two teams, each team having a flag or other marker at the team’s base. The object of the game is to run into the other team’s territory, capture their flag and make it safely back to your own territory. You can tag “enemy” players in your territory, sending them to your jail. They can be sprung from jail by a member of their own team running into your territory, tagging them and running back, with one freed person allowed per jail break. It is sometimes played that all the people in jail could hold hands and make a chain back toward their own territory, making it easier for members of their team to tag them. When the flag is captured and safely brought to the own territory, the team gets one point and the flag gets put back in its original position. The game starts over. You can agree on a limited amount of time in the beginning or you play until someone has, for example, 3 points. This is up to you. When every player of one team is in jail, this team loses.

Variations
A similar game is called “Steal the Sticks”. There are pretty much the same rules except that there are several sticks instead of only one flag per team. The sticks are not put back after a successful capture and the team which captured all their enemy’s sticks first, wins.
Another possibility on how to change the game a little bit to make it more fun and increase the difficulty is to use balls as flags. The difference here is that the flag(ball) doesn’t have to be brought back to the own territory by carrying it, but it can also be thrown into the own half of the playing area and caught by a teammate there. If he or she doesn’t drop the ball, the team gets one point.

I hope you enjoy this game and you have fun playing!