Rock the playground with these awesome recess games! 

Elbow Tag

1. Choose one player to be It and one to run.
2. The other players form pairs, link arms, and stand in place. (With an odd number of players, one trio is O.K.)
3. The person who is It chases and tries to tag the runner. The runner can reach safety by linking arms with any player. The person linked to the other side of that player becomes the new runner. If It catches a runner, the runner then becomes It.

Rainbow Tag

1. Choose one player to be It. The person who is It must move to the opposite side of the playground, across from the other players (within hearing distance, but with enough room to run.)
2. It shouts a color. Any players wearing that color must cross to the other side of the playground while It tries to tag them. Anyone who is tagged before reaching the other side joins It in the center. Every time a new player becomes part of the center, the group decides on a new color and calls it out.
3. The center group can decide to shout “rainbow,” which means that all colors are included and all untagged players must run toward the opposite side. The game continues until all players have been tagged. The last player left is the winner.

Jump the Shoe

1. Gather one rope or jump rope (5 to 8 feet long) and one shoe. Tie the shoe to the end of the rope.
2. Choose one player to be the Rope Master. The other players should spread themselves around the Rope Master in a circle.
3. The Rope Master holds the shoeless end of the rope and slowly spins around (don't get dizzy, Rope Master!) so that the rope sweeps around in a circle. 
4. Players must jump over the rope as it passes them. If the shoe hits a player's foot or leg, he or she is out. The last person still jumping gets to be Rope Master in the next round.