Shadow Tag

Setting: Recess

Season: Spring

Activity Goal

Students play a tag game at recess on a sunny day to engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and enhance their physical and mental health and wellness in a spring environment.

For participant safety, please review the contents of the Beyond the Walls: Safety Considerations page for information on Safety Standards, Spring Safety Considerations, and Outdoor Playing Areas and Surfaces.

How to Play

• On a predetermined signal, all participants move around the playing area trying to step on each other’s shadows. Communicate to participants that they will be close to one another focusing on the ground (shadows). Caution students to keep their heads up and to be aware of the location of others to avoid collisions.
• If a participant’s shadow is stepped on, then they get a letter. The first time participants are tagged, they get the letter S. The second time they are tagged they get the letter P.
• Participants continue accumulating letters each time their shadow is tagged until they have spelled the word SPRING.

Adaptations

Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.

• Play an ‘everybody’s it’ tag game where participants try to step on another participant’s shadow in order to freeze them. Frozen participants perform a physical challenge until another participant comes to save them by running through their shadow.
• One of the participants is designated as the first one to be ‘it’. The participant who is ‘it’ chases the other players, trying to step on their shadow. If a player has their shadow stepped on, they now become ‘it’.

Modifications

Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.

• Invite participants to consider ways to move around the playing area at reduced speeds to ensure inclusion and success for all.
• Consider inclusive approaches to increase or decrease the challenge to find a role for every participant and to encourage full participation.