Emotion Tag: Freeze With the Right Face

A tag game where you stay safe by freezing and showing, with your face and body, the emotion the teacher just called. It warms up the body and practices recognizing and expressing basic emotions.

How to play

1. Free jog and joint mobility; the teacher shows six cards: joy, anger, fear, sadness, surprise and calm (2 min).
2. Practice round with no tagging: when an emotion is called, everyone freezes acting it out for three seconds (1 min).
3. Game: three taggers in pinnies; anyone frozen showing the called emotion is safe for five seconds (3 min).
4. Change the emotion every minute and swap taggers; if a statue can't be read, the tagger may tag it (2 min).
5. Closing circle: each student names the hardest emotion to show and why (2 min).

Rules

• Tag with an open hand on the shoulder or back, never a push.
• A statue is safe for five seconds only; then you have to move.
• No one laughs at how someone else shows an emotion.
• If you get tagged, put on the pinnie and become a tagger.

Variations

Adaptations

• Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: the teacher holds the card up high as well as calling it.
• Limited mobility: play from a wheelchair with a personal safe zone, showing the emotion with face and arms.
• Students who struggle to read facial expressions (autism): cards with a drawn face, and they may stick to the emotions they know well.

Learning goals

• Warm up the body with runs and changes of pace.
• Recognize and act out six basic emotions.
• Respect the way each person expresses themselves.

Equipment for a class of 25

• pinnies: 3
• emotion cards: 6

Teacher tip

The cards can be sheets of paper with an emoji drawn on them. Common problem: students freezing forever to avoid running; count the five seconds out loud.

More activities like this

More warm-ups for Middle School