Fainting Goats

children playing tag with a pool noodle

Goats vs. Farmers: A fun tagging game where children practice running, dodging, and 'fainting' while avoiding 'farmers' armed with pool noodles!

anything tag set up image
Set up

Designate a playing area, free of obstacles and with plenty of space to run. The educator nominates three or four children (or themselves!) as a tagger. The taggers each have  a pool noodle to tag goats with.

How to play
Step 1:
  • The children are the goats
  • The taggers are the farmers
  • The farmers have pool noodles to tag the goats with
  • Goats run/jump/skip/gallop around the area, trying not to get tagged
Step 2:
  • Goats can avoid getting tagged by fainting - lying down flat on the ground
  • They can only faint for 3 seconds and then have to get up and run around again
  • Farmers can't tag goats as they go down or get up from the fainting position, only if they are running around
  • If tagged, goats need to eat the grass 5 times - they go down into a modified push-up position on all fours and they bend their elbows to pretend to eat grass 5 times
Step 3:
  • Repeat and change taggers or add more taggers
  • Change the type of locomotion to skipping or galloping
Variations
Make it easier
  • Have less taggers
  • Use running as the locomotion to move around
Make it harder
  • Add more taggers in a smaller area
  • Change the locomotion to skipping or galloping
Activity information
Age: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6
Participants: 6 +
Equipment: Pool noodles (optional), Cones (optional)
Duration: 5 minutes
Skill focus
Explore these skills for teaching tips
Running Dodging
Physical literacy tips
  • Be dramatic - "oh no another goat has fainted"
  • Join in and be a fainting goat as well!
  • Build the story - these horrible farmers are making all our goats on the farm faint!
  • Let the children choose to be goats or farmers