Banana Tag: A Simple, Inclusive Tag Game for PE (FREE Downloadable Visual)

Banana Tag is one of those games that takes 30 seconds to explain and keeps a whole class moving. Students get tagged, freeze like a banana with their arms up, and stay frozen until two classmates "peel" their arms down. It builds cooperation, gives everyone a job, and works in a gym, a classroom, or outside.

Free printable visual

Print this one-page rules visual and post it on the wall, tape it to a cone, or show a student directly.

⬇️ Download the Banana Tag visual (PNG)

Set up

• Grades: K–8 (and older with a challenge twist)

• Space: Half gym to full gym, marked with cones

• Equipment: 2–4 pool noodles (one per tagger), cones for boundaries

How to play

1. Tag — Taggers use a pool noodle to tag gently, one time, below the shoulders.

2. Freeze — If you are tagged, freeze with both arms up over your head like a banana.

3. Peel — Two friends each pull one arm gently down. Once both arms are "peeled," you are free and back in the game.

Rotate taggers every 60–90 seconds so everyone gets a turn holding the noodle.

Adaptations for every student

• Wheelchair or walker users: Widen the play space, allow a longer noodle for reach, and let "peeling" be a hand tap on each armrest or a high five instead of an arm pull.

• Limited arm movement: Freeze with hands on head, on the lap, or with a scarf raised. Peeling becomes two gentle taps on the shoulders.

• Visual impairment: Pair with a sighted peer, use a buzzer or bell on the tagger, add a boundary rope, and have frozen students call out "banana!" so helpers can find them.

• Autism and sensory needs: Pre-teach with the printable visual, allow a no-tag zone, keep the group size small, and reduce noise by using hand signals instead of a whistle.

• Cognitive or processing needs: Start with only the freeze rule, then add peeling once the group is confident. Model each step, then have two students demonstrate.

• Endurance: Add rest cones, allow walking-only rounds, or shorten rounds to 60 seconds with water breaks.

Variations

• Locomotor Banana: Call a movement each round — skip, gallop, side-shuffle, speed walk.

• Fitness Peel: Peelers do 3 jumping jacks or 3 squats before freeing a friend.

• Banana Bunch: Frozen students who are next to each other can be peeled together by one pair.

• Silent Banana: No talking — students use gestures only to organize rescues.

Safety notes

• Noodle taps only, below the shoulders, never on the head or neck.

• Teach "eyes up" so students scan for open space and avoid collisions.

• Keep the boundary well away from walls and bleachers.

• Peeling is gentle — practice it once at half speed before the first round.

Skill and standards connections

Banana Tag hits locomotor skills, spatial awareness, dodging and chasing, and cooperative problem solving — all of which line up with SHAPE America Standards 1 (motor skills), 2 (concepts and strategies), and 4 (personal and social responsibility).

Support visuals

Build a first–then or task-analysis board for Banana Tag with JAI MotionBoard, and use NETFLEX for movement modeling videos before you play.