“Top 5 Field Day Games”

Field Day is a fun-filled day that many schools use to plan exciting physical activities for students.  If your school year is coming to an end sometime in the next month or two, check out these game ideas.
Good Luck, Nick (@PEtop5)

1. Squirt Tag

• Select taggers to be “it.” The taggers have water bottles and run around trying to tag (squirt) other players.
• Note: No tagging in the head or face.
• If tagged (or touched by water), then you are out and must go to jail. Jail is made up of 4 hula hoops in the middle of the playing field.
• Once the 5^th player is tagged, he/she high fives someone in a hoop and they switch places.
• Switch taggers every minute or so.

 

2. Wet Mop Relay

• Line teams up behind a cone. Give last person in line the Wet Mop.
• On “GO” the person puts the mop on their head and moves to the giant bin of water.
• For safety reasons, no one is allowed to run once they get close to the giant water bin. I mark the ground with some field paint.
• The person dips the mop into the water and now they are allowed to carry the wet mop back to their team who should be standing in a line.
• The mop is tossed to the first person in line and the team passes mop over their heads.
• When mop reaches the player at the end of line, he/she will squeeze any remaining water into their pail, and then repeats steps #2-5 from above.
• First team to overflow their pail wins! (NOTE: Dump pails of water back into the water bin to save water!)
• Note: this game can easily be changed to “Wet Sponge” by using sponges instead.

 

3. Mat Ball

• Set-up: Place 4 gym mats in 4 corners of playing area.
• Divide students into two teams. (Note: The game is similar to kickball.)
• The only two ways to get out are the pop fly rule and/or being tagged by a ball when not on a base. There are no force outs!
• Since you are never forced to run, there can be any number of people on a base.
• You can run at any time. Once you leave a base though, you HAVE to keep going to the next base.
• There are typically no fouls, EXCEPT if the ball goes backwards.
• In order to score, a player must successfully make it around the bases twice! The second time they touch 4^th base equals a run for their team (they re-join the kicking line).
• After 3 outs, kickers and fielders switch (keep same/similar kicking order).

 

4. Water Balloon Toss

• Everyone has a partner and will be given a water balloon.
• Partners toss their balloon back and forth until it breaks.
• Each time a toss is made, player should step back to make it more challenging.

 

5. 4 Way Capture the Flag

• Set-up:

o   Divide field into 4 corners (size should depend on the number of students playing).
o   Put 2 hula hoops in each corner.
o   Place one flag or ball (I like using “Fox’s Tails”) in each corner.
o   Divide group into 4 even teams and use pinnies/vests to identify who is on each team.
o   Give each team 2-3 noodles (they will be used for tagging).

• Objective:

o   To capture the flag from one of the other three corners without being tagged.

• If a player enters an opponent’s area, they can be tagged by anyone on that team that is holding one of the noodles (i.e. players not holding a noodle cannot tag). When tagged, sit down on exact tagged spot.
• To be freed, someone from your own team must touch you (before being tagged themselves). If freed by teammate put hand up signifying that you are taking your free pass back to own side. The player that set you free does NOT get a free walk back to his/her own side (they may free others or go for the flag).
• Players holding a noodle are allowed to leave their side to free teammates or go for the flag, but if they do they should realize that they are leaving their flag vulnerable.
• Both feet need to be over the line in order to get tagged. So, if any part of body is touching their side they are safe.
• If a player steps out of bounds (the white lines) that constitutes a “tag.” They must re-enter where they left the boundary and sit down (same as if they were tagged).
• Hula hoops are safety zones, but only one person is allowed per hoop.
• A tag is recognized by “tagger’s choice.” This means the player making the tag gets the final say in whether or not a tag was actually made (there is no arguing).
• To capture the flag (ball or fox’s tail) you may run it back or make a completed pass. If the flag is passed, it must be caught before it touches the ground or it must be returned!