Hospital Tag
A tag game where every tag means covering the tagged spot with one hand; after the third tag you walk to the hospital, heal with an exercise, and jump back in. Students practice dodging, changing direction, and honest play.
How to play
- Set up a 20 x 20 m square with cones and mark a 3 x 3 m hospital in one corner. Pick 4 taggers in pinnies; everyone else spreads out in the square (1 min).
- On the whistle, taggers start chasing. On the first tag, the student puts one hand on the spot that was touched (shoulder, arm, back) and keeps running without removing it.
- On the second tag, the other hand goes on the new spot and the student keeps playing with both hands busy.
- On the third tag, the student walks to the hospital, does 10 jumping jacks, and returns healed with both hands free.
- Each round lasts 3 minutes. At the end, taggers hand their pinnies to 4 classmates who have not been taggers yet.
- Play 4 rounds with a 30-second water break between them and talk about which dodging strategies work best.
Rules
- Tag with an open hand on the trunk, arms, or back; never on the head and no pushing.
- A tagger cannot tag the same person twice in a row.
- Each player honestly covers the tagged spot; nobody corrects someone else.
- The hospital is a safe zone: no tagging inside it.
Variations
Easier
Make it easier by sending players to the hospital after only two tags and using 3 taggers.
Standard
Three tags before the hospital, 4 taggers, and a 20 x 20 m square.
Harder
Move the hospital to the farthest corner and use 6 taggers so healing takes more effort.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student tags while holding a pinny to extend their reach, or acts as the doctor who counts jumping jacks at the hospital.
- Hearing loss or autism: also signal start and stop by raising a pinny, and show the three stages on a picture card.
- Fitness level: students who tire can heal with 5 easy squats instead of jumping jacks and rest 20 extra seconds in the hospital.
Learning goals
- Dodge taggers using changes of direction and speed.
- Follow the cover-the-spot rule honestly.
- Sustain high-intensity intermittent activity across several rounds.
Equipment for a class of 25
- pinnies: 4
- cones: 8
Teacher tip
Watch that taggers don't keep targeting the slowest students; the no-repeat rule helps. At the end, ask which spot was hardest to cover and why.
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