Beaches, Bridges, and Boats is a fantastic tag game for physical education. In the game, students get to explore chasing and fleeing tactics within a playing area that gets more and more complex.
Within the playing area, the teacher marks out a large rectangular zone with four cones. This is the Ocean, and everything outside it is the Beach. Two corridors of cones are then created across the length of the Ocean to act as Bridges. In the remaining Ocean space between the Bridges, hoops are placed on the ground to serve as Boats.
If you are IT, use the shape of the island to tag as many players as you can. If you are a runner, keep moving between the Beach, the Bridges, and the Boats without being tagged.
Make sure students keep their head up when running.
Make sure no student throws the ball at another student (tagging must be done while holding onto the ball).
Builds allow you to increase the game's complexity, one layer at a time.
Players get into a scattered formation. On the teacher's signal, all players begin moving about the playing area while avoiding contact with other players.
This build exists to help students understand the limits of the game while developing their dodging skills.
The first four builds all look similar on paper, but each one adds a single feature to the playing area. Running them in order is what lets students absorb a fairly complex space without being told the rules all at once.
The teacher creates the Ocean and Beach areas by placing four cones to mark a large rectangular area, the Ocean, in the middle of the gym.
Players get into a scattered formation. On the teacher's signal, all players begin moving about the Beach while avoiding contact with other players.
The teacher creates the Bridge areas by marking out corridors that cross the Ocean.
Players get into a scattered formation. On the teacher's signal, all players begin moving about the Beach and the Bridges while avoiding contact with other players.
The teacher places hoops in the remaining Ocean areas, which serve as Boats.
Players get into a scattered formation. On the teacher's signal, all players begin moving about the Beach, the Bridges, and the Boats while avoiding contact with other players.
Players now play the game with the full version of the rules.
In this build, students play Team Swarm Tag while using the Beaches, Bridges, and Boats playing area.
Dropping a familiar game onto an unfamiliar playing area is a cheap way to get a second lesson out of the same setup. Students already know the rules, so all of their attention goes to reading the space.
Print the game sheet, leave it on your desk, and your sub has everything they need: the diagrams, the builds in order, what to say, and what to watch for. This one is $4. #PhysEdU Plus members get all 39, free forever, for $49 a year.
Games that build on the same tactics.
