Tag, You’re It
March 20, 2014
The concept of Tag is simple. All that you must do is run and try to touch a person. Once you have done so, you must yell, “Tag!” Most kids play this fun and exciting game at the age of four or five. But have any of you ever thought of how a blind person may play this addictive game?
This is a question simply answered by one word: modification. The simple game of Tag can be modified so that people who are blind or visually impaired can play the game.
You will need:
Sighted people (wearing blindfolds)
Blind people
A loud voice (If you play with Ms. Wathen, you will be fine.)
A large wide space
And…A good sense of fun and humor!
To play this modified version, the person who is “it” must yell a word. (We used elephant.) This way the other players know where “it” is. All of the people must evade the person who is “it” in order to not be tagged. The person who is “it” must tag a person by listening to the sound of footsteps. This can be hard to do when there are loud noises. If a person is tagged, he or she is “it” and the process repeats.
This fun, challenging, and modified version of the popular game of Tag is made for purposes of inclusion of those with and without disabilities. It helps people without disabilities think differently of those with disabilities and encourages them to perform other tasks with people who have disabilities. It gives people the feeling of expecting more than they might have before from people with disabilities.