An introduction to running around games

Playgrounds across the country are accompanied by a perpetual, very distinctive soundtrack: the sound of running feet and breathless shouting. Visit any playground and you’ll see trails of children weaving, dodging and darting their way around each other in what might seem an unstructured and aimless game of chase. However, these running around games are never aimless and rarely unstructured. The most basic game of ‘tig’ (also known as ‘chase’, ‘tag’, ‘catch’, ‘it’ or ‘he’) is always accompanied by distinctive rules, and often by elaborate plots complete with complex casts of characters. The chaser might be a monster trying to eat his victims; a witch ready to infect you with poison, or someone armed with the worst punishment of all: a kiss. And children are seldom just running across tarmac or grass. Instead, schoolyards or stretches of field are transformed into landscapes littered with safe points, prisons, bases and lairs. Such games can begin the moment the children run out of the classroom, and end the moment the whistle blows where they wait, suspended, ready to be picked up again later. It is this element of timelessness that ensures that these games remain perennially popular amongst children. Introduction by Michael Rosen. Explore more films along with articles and teaching resources on the British Library’s Playtimes website: