Best Tag Games for your Children

Children find it thrilling both to chase one another and to be chased
and the tag games on this page are all versions of variations of tag.
There are tag games for children of almost every age and physical
ability.

The kids will have fun while being physical active and they
work on their social skills as well, since this kind of games is most
fun with large groups of kids.

Our selection of tag and chase games

CHAIN TAG

This game is sometimes called Hook-on tag. It’s a fun variation of the
normal tag. The first child tagged must join hands with the hunter and
together they go hunt for the others. Everybody who is tagged has to
join the chain and all together they chase for the others. Only the two
on the outside of the chain can make a tag. The last person tagged is
the winner.

REVERSE TAG

Reverse tag is a tag game where everybody runs backwards.
Also the one who is chasing the others runs backwards.
Most suitable for children age 5 and up.

DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE

This is a classic preschool tag game. All the kids are sitting in a big
circle and the “it” is on the outside of the circle. He or she walks around the
circle tapping all the children on the head while saying “Duck”. The
“it” then chooses to say “Goose” while tapping a child on the head. The
child has to jump up and chase the “it” around the circle. The “it” tries to make it around the
circle to the spot where the “Goose” child was sitting without being
tapped and takes his place. If he succeed the “Goose” child is the new
“it”. Otherwise he or she has to start again tapping “Ducks”.

CAT AND MOUSE

This is a fun, simple circle game for young children. The players form a
circle by joining hands except for the player called the “cat” and the
other player the “mouse”. The mouse starts in the circle and the cat on
the outside. The game starts when the mouse goes under the arms of any
two players in the ring. The cat tries to tag the mouse while running around the
ring. The mouse can always jump back into the ring, but the cat is not
allowed inside. The mouse can only stay inside the ring for a few
moments and has to get out after. The players in the ring can help
protecting the mouse by raising their arms so the mouse can easily come
inside and they can block any attempts by the cat to reach for the mouse
inside the ring. When the mouse is tagged, the mouse becomes the cat
and another child becomes the mouse. A fun and active game for children
five years and up and for more then 8 players.

RED LION

This is a hunt, chase and capture game where the players taunt the
“lion”. One player is the lion and another is the keeper. The lion can
choose a place to be his “den”, a spot on which he stands. The keeper
stands nearby. All the other players are standing around the den
chanting “red lion, red lion, come out of your den! Anybody you catch
will be one of your men”. The keeper then chooses a moment to abruptly
shout: “Loose”. The lion starts chasing the other players till he gets
one. The tagged person becomes a lion too. Now the keeper can call out
special instructions for the
lions. Like “Doubles”; the lions join hands and catch together, or
“Tight”; all the lions have to hold hands and try to surround a player.
He can also call: “Cow Catcher”; two lions join hands and try to catch a
player by trapping him in their linked arms.

CAPTURE THE FLAG

This game has a few rules so the children need to be 8 years and older.
It’s a famous run and team game in which players try to retrieve “flags”
(handkerchiefs)from behind enemy lines without being tagged. The
playing area is designated and a dividing line marked at the center. The
players are divided into two groups and everybody gets a flag. It’s
best to mark the flags to the corresponding team. Each player can hide
his or her flag somewhere in the designated area for the team. When the
game starts the players try to capture the enemies’ flags without being
tagged. Once they grab a flag, they can walk back freely to their own
half to place the trophy on their side.

If the player is tagged before getting a flag, he or she becomes a
prisoner and has to stand behind the enemy’s boundary line. The prisoner
can be freed only when a fellow team member runs back and tags the
prisoner, without being tagged himself.

Another variation of tag is the one with only one flag per team. The flag is hidden somewhere and the
players have to look for it. There is a place for the prison with a
guard to protect the prisoners and there are players protecting the
flag. If someone grabs the flag he or she has to run back to their base
without being tagged. If being tagged she has to drop the flag where she
was being tagged and he or she becomes a prisoner. The prisoners can be
freed by being tagged by a free player. An exciting tag game for a
large group of kids.

TAIL GRABBERS

To be played with at least 7 children. One child is the tail grabber and
the others form groups of two or three children. Each group forms a
line and the children hold on to each others hips. The last one in the
line tucks a tail in the waistline of his pants. As the game starts the
tail grabber tries to grab the tail of each group. When a group loses
his tail, the players are out of the game and when they lose grip on
each others hips the players are out too. The group who can keep his
tail until the end is the winner. This fun game will get better if you
get more kids involved.

Have fun with these active tag games!

Enjoyed these games?

Get MORE with the Best Children’s Games Guide !
This book contains 99 of our best indoor, outdoor,
card and dice games!!
And we added 30 travel activities to this guide. That’s our whole Fun on the Go book!