Game: Tag – Beaver, Moose, & Canada Goose

With Canada’s recent 150th birthday, we thought we would create a variation of tag using Canada’s most iconic animals! You can’t get any more Canadian, eh?

First off, coaches can choose to use only one animal for the game, or all three.

Divide players into four groups, and leave one player to be “it”. Have each group stand at a corner of the court. In their mind they must decide if they want to be a beaver, moose or Canada goose. Make sure they don’t say their chosen animal out loud.

The person that is “it” can decide to call on one animal, two animals, or if they want all three they must yell “release the animals!”. When an animal(s) is called, the players must run to another corner of the gym. Any player tagged will join the “it” group.

The last person standing wins and will be “it” if you choose to do a second round of the game.

Make sure to stress the importance of running safely around other players, and being honest when tagged.

Be sure to check out the variations below to use for athletes of all skill levels!

DESCRIPTION	Split players into 4 groups, and leave one player to be “it”. Place each group at a corner of the court. Players decide if they want to be a beaver, moose or Canada Goose, and must keep the decision to them self. The “it” person will call on one, two or all three animals. If their animal is called, players must run to another corner without being tagged. All tagged players join the “it” group. Game is played until one person is left.
SKILL FOCUS	Agility, Running in all directions
AGE (STAGE)	6+ (FUNdamentals)
PLAYERS	4+
EQUIPMENT	None
VARIATION:	Instead of having the players stand on each of the four corners you can have them stand along one baseline, and run to the other side of the gym when their animal(s) is called. Instead of running you could have players practice side stepping, or any other footwork, or even dribbling!

Simple variations like this can take the simple game of tag to a whole new level of fun with your young athletes. Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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