Clothespin Grab Tag: Everyone vs. Everyone
Each student clips three clothespins to the back and shoulders of their shirt and tries to steal everyone else's while keeping their own. It gets the whole body moving with sprints, fakes and turns, and builds dodging, peripheral awareness and fair play.
How to play
- Each student clips 3 clothespins to the back and shoulders of their shirt, never on the collar or in their hair (1 min).
- Mark a 20 × 20 m (about 65 × 65 ft) square with cones. Students jog freely inside it for 1 minute, dodging each other without contact.
- On the whistle, start a 90-second round: everyone tries to grab clothespins from anyone and clip them onto their own shirt, with no holding or pushing.
- Students who run out of pins are never out: they jog to the teacher's cone, do 5 jumping jacks, take a spare pin and jump back in.
- At the end of each round, students count their pins out loud, remember their personal best and redistribute 3 per person (1 min).
- Play 3 rounds: round 2 at a fast walk and round 3 in pairs holding hands (4 min).
Rules
- No grabbing clothes, pushing or covering your own pins with your hands.
- Pins always go on the back or shoulders where they can be seen, never on the neck, face or hair.
- Safety: keep your head up and slow down before contact; anyone who collides walks the next round.
Variations
Easier
Play at a fast walk, and each student wears only two pins, both on the shoulders.
Standard
Three pins on the back and shoulders, with 90-second rounds in a 20 × 20 m square.
Harder
Shrink the area to 15 × 15 m and require players to step on a sideline before each steal.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: a student in a wheelchair clips pins to the seat back and steals from anyone in reach; nobody may hover nearby for more than 3 seconds.
- Visual impairment: the student plays holding a sighted guide's arm, and pins go only on the shoulders so they can be found by touch.
- Lower fitness: students may step into a coned rest zone for 15 seconds, where nobody can take their pins.
Learning goals
- Raise heart rate and body temperature through running and changes of direction.
- Improve dodging and awareness of surroundings while protecting your own space.
- Follow contact rules and play fair in a competitive setting.
Equipment for a class of 25
- clothespins: 90
- cones: 4
Teacher tip
Use plastic clothespins that don't pinch, and check that nobody clips them to a waistband, which leads to tugging on pants.
PatioLab has "Clothespin Grab Tag: Everyone vs. Everyone" and 2499 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More warm-ups for Middle School
4v1 Warm-up Rondo
4v1 rondo in an 8×8-meter square: four players keep possession with passes along the ground while one player in the middle tries to win the ball.
5-10-5 Pro Agility Reaction Duel
In pairs, on three cones 5 m apart, one student reacts to a partner's signal, sprints to the side shown, touches the line, crosses 10 m to the far side and returns to…
5-4-3-2-1 Shake-Out
A quick drama and creative movement warm-up in which the group shakes arms and legs while counting down out loud from 5 to 1, faster each time.
5v2 Technical Warm-up Rondo
A 5v2 rondo (keep-away) to warm up with the ball: five players around the outside of a square keep possession while two in the middle try to win it.
90-90 Hip Switch Mobility
A seated mobility routine in the 90-90 position, with one leg in front and one to the side forming two right angles, switching from side to side by rotating the hips.
Across-the-Floor Gymnastics Steps
A gymnastics warm-up where students travel across the gym on the diagonal in small waves, using basic steps: tiptoe walk, side gallop, chassé, grapevine, and scissor…