SECRET LEPRECHAUN TAG: Fun K-5 (St. Patrick's Day) PE Game

Add some St. Patrick’s Day magic to your gym with SECRET LEPRECHAUN TAG – a Fun K-5 St. Patrick’s Day PE Game.

This festive PE teacher resource features an easy-to-teach tag game where secret leprechauns sneak, chase, and tag classmates while everyone practices safe movement, spatial awareness, and teamwork.

Secret Leprechaun Tag

Perfect for March PE lessons, holiday parties, and themed stations, this fun St. Patrick’s Day game keeps elementary students active, engaged, and excited about physical education.

SNAG YOUR LESSON PLAN PDF HERE

In this post love2teachandlearn (Mrs. T.) will share every awesome detail related to how to play this incredible physical education game.

Hi there, it’s so great to meet you! I’m Mrs. T. (or you can call me Jen) – a Michigan mom, wife, new grandma (aka “Jemma”) and K-12 PE teacher who has also taught Kindergarten, 3rd, and 6th grades.

I love teaching PE class because I get to spend time telling silly sports jokes and exercising while laughing with my students.

I’m also on a serious mission to MAKE SCHOOL FUN AGAIN and this physical education game is an awesome way to to just that!

READY! SET! LET’S PLAY!

Equipment Needed

For this game you will need the following:

2 GREEN BALLS
CLIPBOARD/PAPER/PEN (or a Dry Erase Board/Eraser)
SMALL STICKERS or a DRY ERASE MARKER
KIDS READY TO HAVE A BLAST

SECRET LEPRECHAUN TAG – Game Setup

FIRST, count up the number of students in your class.

THEN, secretly, one by one, give each student a small sticker with a different number on it and have them stick it on the inside of their hand so nobody sees it.

You could also use a black dry erase marker and write the secret number on the inside of each student’s hand.

NEXT, place 2 GREEN BALLS in the middle of the gym.

FINALLY, have all of the students line up along the end lines of the gym.

How to Play: SECRET LEPRECHAUN TAG

The game begins when the teacher yells out two different mystery numbers. The two students are the Secret Leprechaun Taggers.

Leprechaun Taggers run quickly to the middle of the gym and pick up the two green balls to tag with.

The teacher sets a timer for 45-60 Seconds (you decide). The Leprechaun Taggers are a partner team and work together to tag as many students as they can during their 45 second to a minute time frame.

Taggers can tag their classmates with the ball (shoulders and below) while holding the ball or they can throw the ball, hitting their classmates shoulders and below.

When a student gets hit with a leprechaun ball they sit down on the gym floor right where they got tagged. At the end of the round, count up how many students the Leprechaun Taggers were able to tag (one point for each) and then record their score on the clipboard or dry erase board.

Begin a new round by calling two more secret numbers. The game continues until all students have had a chance to be a Leprechaun Tagger. The partner team with the most points WINS the game.

Bonus Secret Leprechaun Tag Game Teaching Tips

📌TIP 1: If you don’t have stickers you can use sticky notes or a dry erase marker and write their number on the inside of their hand so they don’t forget.

📌TIP 2: It’s extremely helpful if the teacher has a clipboard and a piece of paper to write all of the mystery numbers on before the game. Put it in a page protector and use a dry erase marker – that way you can reuse it with each class.

📌TIP 3: Be sure to keep track of the numbers you’ve called so everybody gets a turn. You can also play with just one secret leprechaun and If you have a large class, you can also play in Leprechaun groups of 3 or 4.

📌TIP 4: I like to play a fun, upbeat, Irish Jig song when playing this game. Just make sure you time it so that each group gets the same amount of tag time.

The Final Whistle

SECRET LEPRECHAUN TAG is such an incredible whole-class team warm-up activity that keeps everyone throwing, chasing, smiling, and most importantly, having a total blast.

And if you loved this awesome tag game, be sure to checkout my 10 TAG GAME FUN BUNDLE Right Here.