# Watch Your Back Tag

Participants play an active, continuous game of tag where everyone is 'it'. When tagged, a player freezes until the person who tagged them gets tagged, releasing them back into play.

**Time:** 10 minutes. 10 minutes suggested by UWT to cover safety framing, multiple short rounds, and debrief.
**People:** 6 to 24. Whole group in a shared bounded space

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Direct group attention to tracking multiple moving elements simultaneously in an open space.
**Use it when:** Use as an energetic physical warm-up or transition break in an open indoor gym or outdoor area.
**Skip it when:** Skip in cramped rooms with furniture, on slick floors, or when group members prefer non-physical activities.

## Materials and tools

- 4 boundary markers such as cones or floor tape (optional, if room walls are not obvious boundaries)

## Before participants arrive

1. Clear chairs, bags, and loose hazards from a flat open area.
2. Establish visible boundaries around the play perimeter.

## Say this to open

In this game, everyone is 'it' and everyone is trying to avoid getting tagged. Tags must be light taps on the shoulder, like butterfly wings. No shoving or grabbing. If you get tagged, take a mental picture of who tagged you, drop to one knee, and freeze. As soon as that specific person gets tagged by someone else, you are back in the game and can stand up.

## How to run it

### 1. Demonstrate rules and boundaries (2 minutes)

State the boundaries. Demonstrate a gentle butterfly tag on the shoulder. Show the frozen posture on one knee or standing still with hands on hips for anyone avoiding knee drops. Explain that if you step out of bounds, you treat it as getting tagged by the nearest chaser.

### 2. Play round one at walking pace (3 minutes)

Start the group at a fast walk to test tracking and honesty. Players tag shoulders. When tagged, players kneel, watch their tagger, and stand up as soon as that person is tagged. If two players tag each other at the exact same moment, both kneel until released. Call stop after 2 to 3 minutes.

### 3. Play round two at full pace (3 minutes)

Re-start the game at regular speed. Facilitate safety by reminding players to stay inside bounds and keep tags gentle. Call freeze if someone trips or if tags become too forceful.

### 4. Debrief awareness and attention (2 minutes)

Gather the whole group standing. Ask two debrief questions. Take 2 or 3 quick answers from volunteers.


## Debrief questions

- What strategy helped you track the person who tagged you while staying aware of everyone else?
- How did your focus shift between offense (tagging others) and defense (protecting your own back)?

**Finished output:** Completion of active physical rounds with participants tracking and resetting their own status in real time.

## Remote

This physical locomotion game cannot run online without fundamentally changing the mechanic. For a remote alternative that trains rapid visual tracking and memory without physical contact, play 'Spot the Tagger': one participant is the Guesser and closes their eyes or faces away while the facilitator names a Secret Tagger via private chat. All participants turn cameras on and perform a continuous motion (such as clapping or tapping shoulders). The Secret Tagger winks or sticks out their tongue to 'freeze' players one by one while the Guesser tries to identify the tagger within three attempts.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended. Remote participants cannot participate safely or fairly in physical tagging. Run the remote alternative for everyone online, or facilitate this tag game strictly for an in-person cohort while remote participants take an independent screen break.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may choose to stand with hands on hips instead of kneeling when tagged to avoid joint strain.
- Participants can opt out of tagging by serving as boundary referees or spotters who call out double-tags.

## If the session gets stuck

**Two players tag each other at the same instant and argue over who is frozen.**

Remind the group of the simultaneous-tag rule: both players take a knee and wait until someone else tags either of them.

**A tagged player forgets who tagged them and stays stuck indefinitely.**

Allow any frozen player who loses track of their tagger to count quietly to 15, then rejoin play.


## Terms used here

- Butterfly tag: A soft, flat-handed touch on the shoulder with no pushing, grabbing, or force.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in the Playworks Game Library under 'Watch Your Back Tag'.

Retained core Playworks rules: free-for-all tag, kneeling upon being tagged, watching the tagger, and returning to play when the tagger is tagged. Added walking-pace first round, non-kneeling access option, 15-second timer fallback for forgotten taggers, and simultaneous-tag resolution.

[Playworks](https://www.playworks.org/game-library/watch-your-back-tag/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/watch-your-back-tag/