Game: Evaporation Tag

Type/Purpose: Chase/Tag, Outdoor, Seasonal—Summer, Water

Materials:

• Cones or other items to mark off boundaries
• Ice Cubes
• A cooler to store them in
• A very hot climate

Set-Up:

• Mark off a large boundary outdoors.
• Put the cooler in the middle of the playing field, with the lid on.

Play:

• Select 2-3 Participants to be “It.”
• Give them an ice cube, and tell them to hold on tight.
• On “Go,” they are to try to tag another participant, and when they do so, they are to hand them the ice cube.
• If, upon being tagged, the recipient finds that there is no ice cube, and that it has evaporated:
  • The tagger is “out,” and may step outside the boundaries.
  • The taggee may retrieve a new ice cube and continue play.
• Play continues until a handful of players are left

Notes:

• It is important to play this in a warm climate, as the ice would melt quicker than not.
• Allow the group to self judge if a cube has melted or not. If there is any amount of solid passed off, it is play-able.

Extra Ideas:

• Add or subtract the number of “It”s depending on the size of the group and the rate of melting.
• Place “cooling buckets,” filled with ice water, around the playing field, so that participants may run by and submerge their hands in it. They would do this to lower their hand temperature to slow the rate of melting once tagged.
  • If they are tagged, they are not permitted to use a cooling bucket until the ice has been passed.
• Place warming buckets, filled with room temperature water, around the playing field. If a taggee has an ice cube, he may submerge his hand to increase the rate of melting before tagging another player.
• Select another player, and give them a pool noodle (preferably blue). They have a freeze ray. If they tag another player, the player is frozen. They may “thaw out” after they count to 15 out loud. If they are tagged by an ice cube holder, they may receive the ice cube, and may continue counting down, and then resume the game as “It.”
  • The freeze ray player does not change hands, but remains the same.