Capture the Flag

Game Description
In this game, participants are divided into opposing teams and must "capture their flag" to win.

Game Materials
Flag (Can be a cloth, frisbee, or almost anything easily carried by a participant)

Game preparation
This game requires a large outdoor play area such as a public park or camp setting.

Game Play

1. The playing area needs to be divided into 2 approximately equal sections (be very specific about all the boundaries!), with some sort of dividing line down the middle. The dividing line can be a sidewalk, a string across the ground, a chalked line or simply an aimginary line between two objects.
2. Divide the group into two teams.
3. Each of the 2 teams should be allowed to designate it's own space anywhere within their area to place the flag. They must also designate a prison area for captured prisoners to remain within. Both should be out in the open (not hidden behind trees or in bushes).
4. The game is played with flags or objects that the opposing team must seize and deliver to their own area. A frisbee is easier to toss to a teammate so in order to balance that out you might want to have a rule that as soon as it touches the ground, the entire team must cross back over the central territory line before trying to retrieve it again. The object is simply to capture the flags from the other team and bring them back to your own side without getting caught.
5. Each flag has an imaginary boundary around it of 1 to 5 meters depending on how difficult you wish to make the game as a safe zone. Once a player enters the safe zone they cannot be tagged. Team members cannot enter this area to tag them.
6. Anyone tagged on the opposition side of the field becomes a prisoner (It works best if prisoners must be escorted back to the prison - this prevents one person from taking more than one prisoner at a time).
7. Prisoners may be set free by a teammate touching either the prisoner or the jail - you can choose whether one person can free a single person or is allowed to free the entire jail.
8. Once prisoners are (tagged) freed, they (and the person freeing them) get a free walk back to their side.
9. The leader may also choose to call a jail break on occasion, which would set all the prisoners free on both sides.
10. Once the flag is captured by a team and delivered to their side of the play area, the game is over.

Variation

• Have everyone wear a dark colored shirt. You can make "snow balls" (Put 2/3 cup flour in a nylon stocking (pantyhose) and tying it into a small ball.. You can get about 4 out of one leg of panty hose.) Socks can also be used but are not as effective.
• In order to capture a person from the other side youth must use the snow balls as bullets. When hit with one there is a telltale white circle on the dark colored shirts. Once a person is hit with a snow ball he is captured and must go to jail.