Play red light, green light

You’ll need

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough helpers for each team to have one. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.

To watch in full screen, double click the video

Set up a start zone and finish zone at opposite ends of the space using cones or other markers.

Mark out a starting line and finishing line.
Choose one person to be the caller. The caller should stand on the finish line.
Everyone else needs to stand on the starting line. Their aim is to tag the caller without being caught.
The caller should face away from the group, so they can't see them. They could close their eyes.
With their back turned to the group, the caller shouts ‘Green Light’. Everyone should move towards the finish line to try to tag the caller.
After a few seconds, the caller should shout ‘Red Light’, then turn around quickly. Everyone must immediately freeze or stop moving.
If any players are spotted to be still moving when the caller shouts ‘Red Light’, the caller can point to them and they must go back to the starting line to begin again.
The first person to tag the caller at the finish line wins.
They become the new caller and play starts again.

Take the time to think about what you did and why – you’ll be amazed at what you learn.

Try out a quick, active reflection from our reflective toolkit to lock in the great things you tried and learned in this activity.

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Active games: The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.