What it is: Freeze tag is a classic. And a good way to get rid of a lot of spare energy.

Best for: Big group of at least 8 players.

What you need: A bunch of people ready to run.

How to play: First, choose someone to be It—let’s say it’s Joey. Joey counts to a designated number to give the other players time to run away. When Joey’s done counting, he runs after the other players, trying to tag them. If Joey tags you, you have to freeze where you are until one of the other players comes over to unfreeze you. (Unfreezing is typically done by crawling under the frozen person’s legs, but there are many variations.) Once someone unfreezes you, you can run around again and try to unfreeze other players. If you get tagged by Joey again, you’re frozen again. The game ends when Joey freezes all of the players and a new It is chosen.

Variations: One of my favorite variations is freeze tag-with-all-your-limbs-bent-or-all-your-limbs-straight. Another variation is banana tag. Know any other fun variations to share?

Some other creative versions of tag are missionary tag, photo tag, line tag, and kick the can.