Times Tables Freeze Tag

This is a freeze tag game where tagged players turn into statues and call out a multiplication problem. To unfreeze them, a free teammate has to give the right answer, so students work on dodging, quick reactions and times tables review.

How to play

1. Mark off half a court with cones or the floor lines. Pick 4 taggers in pinnies, and everyone else spreads out (1 min).
2. On the whistle, taggers try to touch others on the back or shoulder. A tagged player freezes with arms out to the sides.
3. The frozen player picks and calls out a problem from the times table the teacher named, such as the 6s: "six times seven."
4. A free player who comes over and answers correctly, "forty-two," unfreezes them with a high-five. A wrong answer means the statue gives a new problem and the helper keeps playing (3 min per round).
5. Switch taggers and times tables every round: 4 rounds of 3 minutes with 30 seconds of rest between them (14 min).
6. At the end, ask which facts were the hardest and review them together with jumps: one jump for each skip-count.

Rules

• Tag with an open hand on the back or shoulder; no pushing.
• Taggers can't wait next to a statue.
• Helpers must say the answer out loud before the high-five.
• Anyone who leaves the boundaries becomes a statue.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student is a fixed "hospital"; anyone who reaches them and solves their problem also frees everyone touching the hospital.
• Hearing impairment: statues show the problem with their fingers or on a small whiteboard.
• Fitness level: the fastest taggers must power-walk or hold a pinnie in their hand that they can't drop.

Learning goals

• Practice multiplication facts quickly and out loud.
• Dodge using changes of direction and speed in a limited space.
• Cooperate by unfreezing teammates.

Equipment for a class of 25

• pinnies: 4

Teacher tip

If taggers can't catch anyone, shrink the area; if too many players are frozen, add a "wild card" helper who doesn't need to solve anything. Ask each statue to give a different fact so kids don't stick to the easy ones.

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