by L Wiles - 2008-08-01
Many games are based on one player being IT. Typically these games have rules that tell you how to choose the player who will be IT as you move through the game, but they don't generally tell you how to choose the first IT. For example, in the chasing game of Tag a player becomes IT when he or she is tagged by the person who was previously IT. But how do you choose the person to be IT first? Here a just a few suggestions.
A player can volunteer to be IT first. You can take a vote, draw straws, or flip a coin or try something a little more fun like Eeny Meeny Miny Moe, 1-2-3 Shoot or Rock-Paper-Scissors.
You can also go by age, maybe have the oldest player choose the person to be IT. If players are well matched you could also have a short, simple race, the last one to the finish line is IT (or the first one to the finish line is IT depending on if IT is preferred in the particular game you are playing).
If all else fails you can always ask an adult to help you figure out who should be IT first.