---
title: "Cookie Jar"
description: "Players line up on one boundary and ask the central tagger if they are hungry. When the tagger answers yes, players dash across the open zone to the opposite boundary while avoiding light butterfly tags."
last_updated: "2026-09-07"
canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/cookie-jar/"
---

# Cookie Jar

Players line up on one boundary and ask the central tagger if they are hungry. When the tagger answers yes, players dash across the open zone to the opposite boundary while avoiding light butterfly tags.

**Time:** 10 minutes. Playworks lists this activity as under 10 minutes. UWT allocates a complete 10-minute running plan.
**People:** 6 to 24. Whole group lined up across from one central tagger

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Practice auditory cue recognition, physical pacing, and spatial evasion in a structured running game.
**Use it when:** Use during active play sessions, youth workshops, or energizers in a gymnasium or outdoor field where people need vigorous physical movement.
**Skip it when:** Skip in small meeting rooms, carpeted office spaces with obstacles, or situations where participants require low-impact non-running activities.

## Materials and tools

- 4 boundary cones or floor tape markers

## Before participants arrive

1. Mark a rectangular play area roughly 15 to 20 meters long with visible end boundaries and clear side lines.
2. Inspect the surface for trip hazards, moisture, or obstructions.

## Say this to open

Welcome to Cookie Jar. In this game, you are cookies lined up safely at this end of the kitchen, and I start as the Cookie Monster in the middle. Your goal is to reach the safe line at the far end without getting tagged. Together, you will chant: 'Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster, are you hungry?' If I say 'No,' stay firmly behind your line and ask again. If I shout 'Yes,' run across to the opposite boundary. If you are tagged with a gentle touch on the shoulder or back, you join me in the center as a helper for the next round.

## How to run it

### 1. Establish boundaries and tag rules (2 minutes)

Assemble participants along the starting line. Demonstrate a safe tag: a light touch with flat fingers, like a butterfly wing, on the upper arm or back. Prohibit pushes, grabs, and tripping. Rehearse the group call once: 'Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster, are you hungry?'

### 2. Run initial tag rounds (4 minutes)

The tagger stands in the middle. The runners chant the question in unison. If the tagger calls 'No,' runners stay put. The tagger may say 'No' several times to build anticipation. When the tagger calls 'Yes,' all runners sprint across to the far boundary. Tagged runners become helper taggers in the middle. Runners who cross safely wait at the opposite line.

### 3. Continue until conclusion (3 minutes)

The remaining runners chant the question from their new boundary. The central taggers answer in unison. Continue crossing back and forth. Stop when two or fewer untagged runners remain, or when the timer hits three minutes.

### 4. Cool down and debrief (1 minutes)

Call everyone back to the center line. Ask two quick reflection questions, taking two or three short observations from volunteers.


## Debrief questions

- What cues or body language helped you decide when to burst into a sprint?
- How did your evasion strategy change once more helpers joined the middle?

**Finished output:** Completion of multiple tag rounds ending when runners reach the opposite line or join the tagging team.

## Remote

This running tag game requires open physical space and physical chasing. It cannot be run online. For a remote listening alternative, use an auditory reaction call game such as Red Light Green Light using webcams and freeze postures.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because the defining mechanic is physical evasion across a marked rectangular boundary.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may choose speed walking instead of sprinting, with taggers matching a walking pace.
- Anyone who prefers not to run may act as an end-zone boundary judge, call coordinator, or scorekeeper without needing to disclose medical or physical reasons.

## If the session gets stuck

**Runners anticipate the call and start running before the tagger says 'Yes'.**

Remind everyone that false starts result in returning to the boundary line before the round resumes.

**Taggers use excessive force when reaching for runners.**

Pause the game immediately. Re-demonstrate the butterfly touch on the facilitator's shoulder and remind taggers that two-handed grabs count as a missed tag.


## Terms used here

- Butterfly tag: A very light, flat-handed touch on the back or shoulder that avoids pushing or grabbing.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in the Playworks Game Library under the title Cookie Jar.

Retained the traditional Playworks chase mechanic, call-and-response prompt, and helper tagger progression. Clarified boundary guidelines, safe tagging protocol, and non-running support roles. Corrected a corrupted description in older catalog notes that misidentified the game as relationship mapping.

[Playworks](https://www.playworks.org/game-library/cookie-jar/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/cookie-jar/