Tails

Learning

Tag awareness, chasing, quick changes of direction, collecting one tag tail at a time and returning it safely to a home base.

Equipment

Tag belts, Cones

Best group

Best 8–15, scales to 30

Space / set up

Coach in the middle with a belt full of tag tails. 5–6 home base cones in a ring, about 5 children at each.

Duration

6–10 minutes

Skills

Movement, Evasion, Tagging, Teamwork

• Coach wears a tag belt loaded with lots of colourful tag tails all the way around the waist.
• Set 5–6 home bases in a wide ring around the outside using cones or shapes, one per mini-pack.
• Leave plenty of space around the coach so children can approach from every angle.

1. 1Tell the children: “Coach has a belt full of colourful tag tails. Can your Pack collect them one at a time and take them safely back to your home base?”
2. 2Children may take one tag tail at a time, then must run it back to their home base before coming back for another.
3. 3Coach moves, turns and changes pace to make the chase fun, without running through children.
4. 4Play a short round, then call PAWS/READY and count each Pack's tag tails.
5. 5Reset the belt quickly and play again.

• “One tag at a time!”
• “Back to your home base!”
• “Let everyone have a go!”
• “How many did your Pack collect?”

This activity is suitable for ages 3–7. Choose a stage to see the coaching guidance for that group.

Coach moves slowly and theatrically. Children simply grab one tail and walk or run it home.

• With 25–30 children, avoid one adult being swarmed.
• Use the teacher or TA as a second Tag Tails coach, or split the space into 2–3 zones.
• Later in the programme, use 3–4 confident children as tail-carriers, each supervised inside a zone.

Make it easier: Coach moves slowly and theatrically; children may walk their tail home.

Level it up: Carry a rugby ball to the home base before returning for the next tail.

• Pack Count

  Mini-packs count a shared pile rather than individual totals.

• Ball Carry

  Carry a rugby ball to the home base before returning for another tail.

S: pull tails safely, never clothing • P: have a go every round • W: collect for your Pack