Theme

General

Age Range

7-18

Type

Games

Number of Participants

10+

Timescale

10-15 minutes

Quick overview

An old classic, people must run from one side of an area to another without being caught by the people who are on. The winner is the last to be caught.

Game type

Energising

Supplies you’ll need

Optional Cones.

Game run-through

The first thing you need to do is designate two safe zones. This can be anything from two ends of a field to two walls. You may like to mark out the safe zones with cones.

Pick a volunteer who is going to be the first bulldog. Their job is to catch the other members of the group. They do this by grabbing them and saying: “Bulldog 1, 2, 3”. Once someone has been caught they join this first bulldog in the role of catching the other members of the group.

A game begins with all members of the group, except the ‘first bulldog’, stood in the same safe zones. The first bulldog stands in the area between the safe zone the group is in and the other safe zone. On the shout of you the leader, all members of the group must run to the other safe zone. If the first bulldog catches anybody on their run to the other safe zone that caught person is from now on a bulldog for the rest of the game, not just that round. The round ends when all members of the group have either reached the safe zone or been caught on the way there.

The next round begins in much the same way. All uncaught members of the group are stood in the safe zone, all caught members are now bulldogs who stand in the middle and, on your shout, the uncaught members must run back across the danger zone to reach the first safe zone again.

The game continues until the last person is caught, who is crowned the winner.

Variation

Depending on how hard you want to make the game, you may want to make it that at the beginning of each round the safe zone that they begin in is no longer safe. This encourages the group members to have to make a break for it earlier as some group members like to hold back in the safe area before running the gauntlet in the hopes it’ll make it easier for them.

Safety and safeguarding

Make sure that all the game area is free of anything that they could trip up on.

As people are making mad dashes, it can help to play this on softer floor like grass or padding in case anyone falls over.