Giants, Elves, and Wizards is a fun tag game for physical education that works just like "Rock-Paper-Scissors"... except that you get to use your whole body instead of just your hands!
The teacher marks out a rectangular playing area with an end zone at each end and a centre line in the middle. The end zones need to be deep enough that students can slow down safely once they cross into them.
Add every player from the other team to your roster.
Players should be careful to tag fleeing players softly.
Players should have enough room to turn and run without crashing into one another.
End zones should be deep enough to allow students to slow down before reaching the end.
Builds allow you to increase the game's complexity, one layer at a time.
The teacher introduces the students to each position: Giants, Elves, and Wizards.
Once students know how to perform all three, they get into a scattered formation and the teacher plays music. While the music plays, students move around the playing area, respecting the boundaries and avoiding contact with others.
When the teacher stops the music, they call out either "Giants!", "Elves!", or "Wizards!" and students quickly show that position.
This is where the athletic stance gets taught. Point out that the students who show a position fastest are the ones who were already low and ready when the music stopped.
The teacher marks end zones at each end of the playing area and explains the rock, paper, scissors system: Giants beat Elves, Elves beat Wizards, and Wizards beat Giants.
Each team stands in their own end zone and has ten seconds to secretly decide, as a team, whether they will be Giants, Elves, or Wizards for that round.
Once time is up, each team forms a line facing the other at the centre line, with three or four steps between them. On the teacher's signal, each team shows their position. The team that wins earns a point and both teams return to their end zones.
Play continues until one team wins three points.
Play continues just as in the previous build. However, the team who loses the battle must now run back to their end zone as quickly as possible.
The team who wins the battle chases and attempts to tag the fleeing players before they reach the end zone.
Any fleeing player who is tagged joins the opposing team. Play continues until one team successfully adds all of the players from the other team to their roster.
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.
