
We have a new game in K4. Zombie tag.
It all began with the day to day enforcing of the 'no guns' rule, even pretend ones. No pretending to shoot each other, even if they're just using finger guns. It gets old, but it is fun to see what alternatives the children come up with to kill each other when guns aren't allowed. Zombie tag started out with a cops and robbers pretend gun fight, which I interrupted.
"What if I shoot you?" asked a precocious lad.
"No guns at school," I replied. "You know that." He put on his 'what are you gonna do about it' face. I see that one a lot.
"What if I shot you anyway?" he asked. There are probably lots of ways to answer a challenge like that. I wasn't in the mood for any of them.
"I'll come back as a zombie and eat you," is what I said. He wasn't expecting that, and while he pondered his own response, I grabbed him and made chomping noises until he screamed. Now that he was a zombie too, we set out to hunt the rest of the class. Zombie tag takes awhile because zombies don't run. However, eventually the shrieking herd gets tired and you can grab some stragglers. Then they became zombies and joined the hunt.
It was actually a lot of fun. I did have to intervene in a non-zombie capacity when a more enthusiastic child actually did bite a classmate, but that only happened once. Another funny moment happened when a kid ran to me for protection from the other zombies. When I reminded him that I was a zombie too, he let out a "NOOOOOOOOOO!!" that would've been startling if I hadn't been laughing so hard. Then, I grabbed him and 'chomped' him.
Only one kid made it to the end of recess without being made a zombie. Somebody get that girl a chainsaw.