Rabbits, Hares and Foxes! | Active Class Game

Looking for a game you can play with all of your students? Want a game where you don’t have to worry about creating teams, needing a lot of equipment and something where students can work together, have fun and also allow them to be active?

This is the perfect game that ticks all of those boxes!

What Do You Need?

An area of a basketball court or half a basketball court

How To Play?

All students line up on one side of the court or at the halfway mark if you want to play a smaller game
Select two students to be ‘Farmers’ who will be taggers in the game, these students get to stand anywhere on the court
Students are trying to run from one side of the court to the other without being tagged by the farmers
All students start the game as ‘rabbits’, if they get tagged as they run across they are not out of the game but they become ‘Hares’. If they get tagged when they are ‘Hares’ they then become ‘foxes’.
If a student gets tagged as a fox, only then does that student join the farmers as a tagger!
Students can only run across the field when the farmers call them over- farmer are only allowed to call one animal over at a time. (All rabbits…, or All hares, or all Foxes).
Only the animals that are called can run to the other side.

What Is The Goal Of The Game?

For students to run past the taggers to make it to the safe zone, which is the end of the court
Exhibit FMS skills in a whole class game

How Can You Modify It?

Make it easier!

Only have one tagger
Make the court bigger (more space to run)

Make it Harder!

Make the space smaller
Have 3-4 taggers (Farmers)

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

Benefits of Whole Class Games!:

Enhanced Learning Outcomes: Research indicates that incorporating whole class games into instruction can lead to improved learning outcomes. The interactive nature of games promotes active engagement and deeper understanding of the material. Journal of Educational Psychology* (Smith et al., 2019)
Improved Social Skills: A study found that whole class games promote the development of social skills such as teamwork, communication, and cooperation. Collaborative gameplay encourages students to work together towards common goals, fostering positive social interactions. Journal of Experimental Education (Jones & Green, 2018)
Increased Motivation and Engagement: Whole class games enhance student motivation and engagement in the learning process. The competitive aspect of many games, coupled with immediate feedback and rewards, stimulates students’ intrinsic motivation to participate and succeed. Journal of Educational Research (Garcia et al., 2020)

Here are some other articles and great games you may be interested it!