Pop Corn Tag | Simple Tag Game

Need a simple warm-up game that your students will love, requires no resources and encourages every student to participate?

Here is a basic tag game that can be easily modified and made more complex as your students adapt. This game can be used as a main activity for younger students and can be a warm-up game for older students to encourage cooperative play. This is a great first game to teach your students when entering the world of tag games and whole class games!

What Do You Need?

An appropriate area that students can run in
Size: a basketball court size area would be ideal
An area where you can identify clear boundaries for the game
Equipment optional- a sash for taggers so they can be identified
Coloured cones to mark the playing area

How Do You Play?

All students start the game in the playing area
All students are against each other, there are no teams in this game
Students are required to tag another student whilst not getting tagged themselves
When a student is tagged- they play a game of rock, paper, scissor
Who ever loses the game, has to sit down whilst the other player gets to continue the game and run around. The player who is sitting down is now considered (Pop corn)
The player who is sitting down can only return to the game once they receive a Hi-5 from any other student who is playing the game. Students who are sitting down are encouraged to sit down with their hand up so other players can identify that they need to be saved.

What Is The Goal Of The Game?

To turn as many other students into pop corn as you can without becoming pop corn yourself!
To tag and not be tagged!

How Can You Modify It?

Make it easier!

Remove the rock paper scissor game and who ever gets tagged has to sit down
If you get tagged, you sit down for a count of 10 seconds and then return to the game
Select one or two students to be taggers

Make it Harder!

Students who get tagged need to complete 5 push ups before they can return
Make the playing area larger or smaller!
You can only tag knees!
You can only tag elbows!

What Are The Main Skills Being Utilised?

Fundamental Movement Skills:

Locomotor- run, jump, dodge, lunge, side step, leap
Stability- turning, balance, stopping, bending, stretching

Tactical Skills:

Scanning the field of play to make decisions
Looking for gaps on the field to avoid being tagged
Cooperative play, supporting teammates
Following rules and structures of a game
Critical thinking through decision-making

Tag games are a fantastic simple style of activities to get your students physically active and engaged in co-operative play. If you want to read a more in-depth article on why tag games are extremely important to use as a classroom teacher for fitness activities or a physical education teacher as part of your curriculum, click here!

Here are some other great articles that may help you in your teaching journey!