Marco Polo
Any Size
Grades 1-2
None
Less Than 10 minutes
Development Goal
To develop active listening and coordination.
Before You Start
- Choose one player to be ‘it’ and another to be his/her guide.
- Have other players spread out in the space.
- Remind them to walk, not run.
- Remind players how to use safe tagging.
- Review the physical boundaries.
Set Up
Pick a small space for the playing area (can be indoor or out!)
How to Play
- The player that is ‘it’ closes his/her eyes and calls out ‘Marco’, and all the others respond ‘Polo.’
- ‘It’ moves toward the rest of the players, trying to tag them gently.
- The guide will helps the tagger, especially when played in a small indoor space. The guide places his/her hands on the shoulders of ‘it’ and gently directs him/her away from objects throughout the room.
- When someone is tagged, ‘it’ becomes the new guide and the person tagged becomes the new “it.”