This playful game is inspired by frogs sitting on their lily pads hunting for flies. Teaching games with an animal's story really draws in young children. Plus, it's fun to run, grab bean bags and avoid the tagger! The Game of the Week is Frog Catcher!
Before You Start:
- Tell a story about frogs. Frogs like to hang out on their lily pads when they are not looking for insects to eat.
- Scatter the beanbags around the playspace; place hula hoops at random around the play area.
- Practice safe hopping to and from their lily pads.
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Demonstrate safe tagging:
- Light touch, like butterfly wings, on the back or shoulder.
- Unsafe tags: hard contact that might cause the person being tagged to fall.
- Review counting down from 5 seconds.
Set Up:
Small area with clearly marked boundaries or classroom
How To Play:
- The objective of this game is to avoid being tagged by the frog catcher.
- The leader starts as the frog catcher, waiting for the frogs to get off their lily pads.
- At your signal, have children hop to gather insects (bean bags) and have them leap back to their lily pad.
- While kids are leaping around to catch insects, pretend to try and catch (tag) them.
- If a frog is tagged, the frog must drop the “insects”, go to the shore banks (on the side of the playspace) and perform a task (i.e. 5 jumping jacks, sit-ups, etc.) to get back into the game.
- The frogs are safe and cannot be tagged while on their lily pads. However a frog can only stay on their lily pads for 5 seconds before the lily pad gets too heavy and starts to sink.
Variations:
- Have kids share some of their insects with a sick neighbor frog by taking them to the other side of the pond (across the room).
- Have multiple frog catchers.
Find more new and exciting games in our games database!
