Cleaners, Messers and Taggers

Skill: Run
Time Required: 15
Activity Type: Physical
Group Size: Large Group, Medium Group, Small Group
Age Group: 6 - 9yrs, 9 - 12yrs, 13+ yrs
Play area: Gymnasium (large indoor space), Outdoor - Field
Safety Considerations: Remove any safety hazards and obstacles from the activity area.
Remind participants to be aware of their surroundings and to keep their head up.
Equipment: Beanbags
Tennis Balls
Pinnies
Birdies
Pylons/ropes
Hoops/Bins
Objective:
Groups try to return all of their objects in the mess to their hoop.
Other Skills:
Speed
Agility
Coordination
Set up:
Divide participants into teams of 3-5 participants. Each group will be given an object they have to clean up; these objects can be: beanbags, tennis balls, pinnies and birdies (if there are 4 teams).
Place one hoop at one end of the activity space for each group, and space them out.
Place a pylon or rope around 3 feet in front of each hoop.
Place pylons(s) or rope around 10-15 feet in front of the hoops. Place another pylon or rope around 10 feet from the first one. This area is the "messy zone".
Scatter the same amount of beanbags, tennis balls, pinnies and birdies in the messy zone.
Step by Step:
1. Divide participants into teams of 3-5 participants. Each team will represent one of the objects that is part of the mess.
2. 1-2 of the participants in each team will be the "cleaners", 1-2 participants will be the "taggers", and 1 participant will be the "messer".
3. The goal for each team is to clean up all of their team's objects (mess) and bring them to their hoop.
4. All team members will start behind their team's hoop.
5. When the activity begins, the cleaners will run to the mess and start to collect one of their objects at a time.
6. The tagger(s) will stay between the rope/pylons in front of the hoops and the first pylon/rope of the messy zone, and they cannot leave this area.
7. The messer will stay behind the hoops.
8. The taggers job is to tag the other participants when they are bringing back their team's object. If they tag (a light tap) a participant before they get past their rope/pylon in front of their hoop, then the cleaner has to return their object to the messy zone, run back to their team's hoop (without an object) and then run back to the messy zone to collect another object.
9. The messers job is to collect one object from one of the other team's hoops and run it to the messy zone. They then run back and collect another object.
10. Optional to allow the taggers to tag the messers as well.
11. The first team to bring back all of their objects to their hoop, wins.
12. Or, the team with the most objects in their hoop at the end of the time, wins.
13. If at one point a team has none of their objects in their hoop, they are out.
Variations:
Don't include a "messer" on each team.
Use different objects for the mess, and have more or less teams.
Have one team member stand in the hoop, and the collectors have to throw the object to them before they get tagged. They have to catch the object in order for it to stay in their hoop. If they miss the catch, then the collector has to pick it up and bring it back to the messy zone.
For a variation of this activity, check out Cleaners Vs Messers.
Sources: Developed for the Leisure Information Network.