More Ways to Play Tag
Sometimes the best thing we can give kids is a game and permission to play it.
Play matters.
Unstructured and lightly structured play gives kids opportunities to run, react, solve problems, interact with other kids, laugh, compete, cooperate, and figure things out without an adult directing every movement.
And for coaches, tag might be one of the simplest tools we have. You don't need a complicated setup. You don't need a long explanation. You usually don't need much equipment at all.
Change one rule and suddenly the same basic game asks players to scan the space differently, communicate with teammates, change direction, evade pressure, make decisions, or work together.
For young hockey players especially, those are pretty useful skills.
So instead of playing the same version of tag every time, here are 10 ways to change the game.
1. Rescue Tag
Choose two or three players to be the taggers.
When someone is tagged, they freeze in place and call for help. To free them, two teammates must come over, connect hands around the frozen player, and complete a quick rescue.
While completing the rescue, those players are safe from being tagged.
What it adds: communication, awareness, teamwork, and the decision of whether to keep running or help somebody else.
Try changing: the number of rescuers required or the movement players use while traveling.
2. Upside-Down Bug Tag
When a player is tagged, they lie on their back with their hands and feet in the air like a bug that has flipped over.
To get them back into the game, four different players must each tap one hand or foot.
Then the bug is back on its feet and running again.
What it adds: cooperation and an incentive for players to notice what is happening beyond themselves.
For very young players, you can simplify it and require only two helpers.
3. Zamboni Tag
Here's one the little players can have some fun with.
When tagged, a player freezes and becomes a broken-down Zamboni.
Another player must skate—or run—over, give them a high five, and "restart the engine."
The Zamboni is back in the game.
Want to add some imagination? Ask the players what sound a Zamboni makes when it starts.
You'll probably regret asking, but they'll love it.
4. Memory Tag
Everybody is it.
When you tag somebody, they sit down.
But there's a catch: you need to remember who tagged you.
As soon as that person gets tagged, you're back in the game.
There can be plenty happening at once, which means players have to pay attention to more than just the person directly in front of them.
What it adds: awareness, memory, tracking other players, and plenty of movement.
Rather than worrying about finding one final winner, you can also simply play for 60–90 seconds and restart.
5. Soft Ball Tag
Skip the flour-filled sock from the old playground version and use something soft and safe instead—a dodgeball foam ball or another piece of equipment appropriate for your space.
One player starts with the ball and tries to gently tag another player with it.
Once tagged, that player becomes the tagger.
You can also require the tagger to make three successful tags before switching.
Important: establish where players may be tagged and make it clear that throws toward the head are never part of the game.
What it adds: tracking, throwing, dodging, changing direction, and accuracy.
6. Rocket Ship Tag
Choose one or two players to be asteroids.
When an asteroid tags somebody, that player freezes as a rocket ship waiting for repairs.
Another player can come over, complete the repair with a high five or quick movement task, and yell:
"Blast off!"
The rocket is immediately back in the game.
For younger players, imagination can completely change their investment in a simple activity.
They're not doing a movement drill.
They're escaping asteroids.
7. Everyone's It
There might not be an easier game to explain.
Tell the players:
"Everyone's it."
That's it.
Everyone tries to tag everyone else.
When tagged, players can take a knee or sit down. They can still tag anybody who gets close enough.
Instead of letting the game slowly eliminate everyone, another version is to have players perform a quick task—three jumping jacks, one spin, touching a boundary—and immediately return.
That keeps everybody moving.
What it adds: scanning, awareness, evasion, deception, and decision-making from every direction.
8. Amoeba Tag
Start with two players holding hands.
Together, they are the amoeba.
They move around trying to tag other players. When somebody gets tagged, that person joins the amoeba.
As it grows, it becomes harder for the group to move together.
Allow larger amoebas to split into groups of two or four and keep hunting.
The game continues until everyone has joined an amoeba.
What it adds: communication, cooperation, spatial awareness, and adapting movement to other people.
It also usually creates plenty of laughing.
That's a feature, not a problem.
9. Repair Shop Tag
Divide the players into two groups: taggers and runners.
When a runner is tagged, they report to the repair shop—a designated area along the outside of the playing space.
Instead of standing there for 30 seconds, give them a quick movement challenge:
five hops
three squats
balance on one foot
stickhandle a ball five times
complete a quick coordination task
Then they're repaired and immediately back in the game.
You can also place a few short-term safe zones around the space. Players may enter one, but only for three or five seconds.
What it adds: players must decide when to run, when to use a safe space, and where pressure is coming from.
10. Guess and Chase
This version combines imagination with tag.
Divide the group into two teams.
One team secretly chooses something to act out: an animal, sport, job, hockey position, movie character—whatever fits your group.
They perform it while the other team tries to guess.
The moment the answer is correctly called, the acting team takes off for its home line while the guessing team tries to tag them before they get there.
Tagged players can switch teams, earn a point for the other team, or simply reset for another round.
Keep the scoring secondary.
The fun is in the guessing, anticipation, and sudden transition from standing still to GO!
Tag Doesn't Have to Be "Just Tag"
One of my favorite things about games like these is how easily we can manipulate them.
Change the size of the space.
Add another tagger.
Take one away.
Create a safe zone.
Require a teammate to rescue someone.
Change how players move.
Give them something to carry.
Put them in pairs.
Let the kids invent the next rule.
Every change creates a slightly different problem for the players to solve.
And that's an important distinction.
We don't always need to tell young athletes exactly where to go, what direction to move, or what decision to make.
Sometimes we can create an environment where the game asks the question.
Then let the kids find the answer.
For 6U and 8U players especially, play can be development.
They're accelerating, stopping, changing direction, escaping pressure, tracking other people, communicating, competing, cooperating, falling down, getting back up, and laughing with their teammates.
That's a pretty productive few minutes.
So the next time you have ten minutes before practice, a dryland session, a group waiting for ice, or a bunch of kids who simply need to move:
Play tag.
Just don't play the same version every time.
