PE Activities

PE Activities – Updated February 22, 2022

Here is a list of activities that I have used or plan to use. This list is growing as I find new ideas. Each class will be familiar with some of these. Feel free to use any of these or your own suitable ideas. Keep it really simple for the younger ones.

Gaga Ball (intermediate)
Materials: 6 to 8 benches, a large (10 inch) ball that is easy to strike with hand (rubber bounce ball, volleyball, rhinoskin ball)
This is an elimination game. Play short games of about 2 minutes. Anyone still in the enclosure is successful.
Create a hexagonal or octagonal enclosure using benches on their sides. All players start in the enclosure. Players are eliminated when hit below the knees by the ball. The ball can hit you after bouncing off the wall. When hit, players stand outside of the enclosure and watch.
The ball cannot be thrown or kicked. It must be struck with a fist or open hand. Players can stand anywhere in the enclosure.

Beginner’s dodge ball
This is a basic version of dodgeball that can be played by young children who are just learning to throw.  To play this game, you will need a fence or wall which is at least 3 or 4 meters wide, and a soft foam ball (large or small).

Have one of the children stand just in front of the fence, facing away from it.  The other child stands about 4 to five meters away from the fence and is given the ball.  The child with the ball must throw it in an attempt to hit the child in front of the fence.  The ball can only be aimed at the legs.

The player standing in front of the fence must attempt to dodge the throw.  If they succeed, they win a point.  If they fail, the other player wins a point and they swap positions.  The player standing in front of the fence can also catch the ball to win a point.  The first player to 15 points wins!  Because this is beginner’s dodge ball, make sure you use a very soft ball so no one is at risk of being hurt.


Spot On 

This is a fun game ideal for children who have mastered the fundamentals of overarm throwing and have a good level of accuracy.  The concept of Spot On is that two teams must compete to see who has the most accurate throwing skills.  To play it:

  1. Two teams are formed.  They can be as small as two players per team.
  2. A thrower is nominated for each team.  The rest of the teams’ players walk onto a the playing court, where they can stand on pre-arranged poly spots (plastic markers).
  3. The two throwers will stand on the baseline of the court and attempt to throw the ball to the people on their team.
  4. If a player catches the ball, they take their poly spot and leave the court.  The team earns one point for each player’s poly spot.
  5. The winning team is the one that clears the court of their poly spots

 

It’s possible to have more poly spots than players on the court.  Simply use a different color for each team.  Once a player catches the ball, they move onto another spot of the same color.  This will extend the time of each round and is a useful option if there aren’t many players.

 

Monster Ball
This is a chaotic game that is a lot of fun and gives children plenty of opportunities to practice throwing.  It is generally played on a basketball or netball court.  The children are divided into two teams.  They are each given a basket of balls of different sizes and weights.
A very large “monster ball” is place in the center of the court.  The goal of the game is to throw balls at the monster ball, forcing it to move towards the other team’s side of the court.  If the ball goes out of bounds while on the other team’s side of the court, your team gets a point.  The smaller balls can be retrieved by players at any time, but players cannot block shots at the monster ball and cannot touch the monster ball.

Underhand beanbag throwing circuit
If you are working with children in a classroom, you can create a circuit of increasingly difficult underarm throwing challenges that they can perform.  The children can gradually progress from station to station as they manage to land each throw on target.

This approach gives the kids a sense of accomplishment and they will notice their own throwing skills improving.   This circuit uses small beanbags because they are easier for the children to hit the target with and they won’t roll away after being thrown.  The circuit can include:

  • Underarm throwing station 1
    Have the children attempt to throw their beanbag at a pylon with a ball on top.  Their goal is to knock the ball off.
  • Underarm throwing station 2
    Have the kids try to throw their beanbag into a bucket
  • Underarm throwing station 3
    Have the children partner up and try to successfully throw and catch the beanbag three times in a row.
  • Underarm throwing station 4
    Have the children attempt to throw the beanbag at a target on a wall

 

Bucket toss mini-golf
This game combines underarm throwing with the rules of golf.  To play, you will need:

  • Beanbag balls, rolled up socks or soft foam balls
  • Buckets or cardboard boxes
  • Pieces of cardboard or string for golf tees

Start by setting up a miniature golf course, with string for the tee and a bucket or cardboard box for the hole.  Ideally, you should have at least 5 holes in your miniature golf course.

Have the participants start at the first tee and attempt to throw their beanbag ball into the bucket with as few throws as possible.  The children should throw one at a time until everyone has completed the hole.  If it is a larger class, they can start at separate holes and rotate around.

You can keep track of the scores on a piece of paper.  The child to complete the course in the least number of  throws is the winner.  You can also vary the length of the holes to make the course more challenging if the children are accurate throwers.

Catching relay
This is a great exercise that teachers participants how to throw and catch footballs.  It is often played on a basketball court, but marked court will be fine.  To play Catching Relay:

  1. Divide the court into three or four segments and give each segment a point value.  For example, if you divided the court into 4 segments, you could make the three segments further down the court worth 3, 5, and 7 points respectively.
  2. Divide the players into two teams who will stand on the sides of the first segment in a line.  Each team has a nominated thrower, who stands at the baseline of the court.
  3. One player from each team will enter the court and stand in one of the segments.  The thrower will attempt to throw them the ball.  If they catch it successfully, their team gets the number of points that correspond to the segment.
  4. Once a ball is caught, the thrower will move onto the court and stand in one of the segments.  The person who caught the ball will return to their team’s line on the side of the court.  The next person in the team’s line will become the new thrower.

 

 

Catch 5
This easy-to-learn game is ideal for children in grades 3 to 8.  It is usually played on a basketball or netball court.  To play Catch 5:

  1. Start with players spread randomly across the court
  2. A player from one team is given the ball.  You can rock paper scissors or flip a coin to determine which side starts with the ball
  3. The goal of the game is simple — to complete 5 passes to people on your team without dropping the ball and without the opposition team intercepting the ball.
  4. If a team manages to complete 5 passes, they put the ball on the ground and are awarded a point.

Other rules include:

  • Players cannot pass the ball back and forth between two people, it must go to other players on the team
  • If the opposition team intercepts the ball or knocks it down during a pass, they get possession
  • If the ball goes out of bounds, the opposition gets the possession

 

Detective Dodgeball
This is a fun variant of dodgeball that many children enjoy more than standard dodgeball.  It is suitable for children in grades 1 to 8.  To play Detective Dodgeball:

  1. Divide the children into two teams and have them form up on either side of a basketball court
  2. The game begins like a standard dodgeball game.  If a person gets hit they have to go to the side of the court.  However, if the person who threw the ball that hit them is taken out of the game — they get to come back onto the court.
  3. The game continues until a winner is decided

The thing that makes Detective Dodgeball more fun is the fact that players have to memorize who has gotten other people out.  So, if a player has managed to get three people out, they will become a highly valuable target.  Hitting them will let your  three players come back onto the court.  It adds a little bit of strategy to dodgeball.

 

Wall Ball
Equipment: Pinnies for 4 teams; one large (basketball or beachball sized) soft bladder style ball.
Set-up: Create 4 teams and number the players on each team from 1 to ??????? as needed. Each team lines up against one of the gym walls.
Game Play: Referee calls out number 1. The four number ones are on the floor. When play begins, each player is trying to score on one of the other teams by knocking the ball against their wall (below stage/doorknob level). Shifts are one minute then number 2’s are on for one minute, and so on. Players on floor can move the ball by dribbling or knocking it ahead by hand and can score by knocking the ball against another team’s wall. All players not on the floor are goalies. Goalies must stay behind a designated line near the wall. Goalies cannot kick the ball. The object is to avoid getting points. The team with the fewest points wins. You get points if another team scores on you, if your goalies cross the line or kick the ball, or if players on the floor travel with the ball.

Disc Golf
This game, which can be played indoors or outdoors, is structured similarly to a relay race and has similar benefits—helping middle-schoolers develop their hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills along with teamwork and related social skills. Use foam discs for safety, and instruct students not to run with the discs; they must transport their discs from the start line to the finish by catching it, pivoting if needed, and then passing it to others on their team.

Bean Bag Barrage
Equipment: many bean bags (40 – 60), 4 benches
Set-up: Place two benches end to end at each end of the gym (in front of the basketball hoops). Divide class into two teams. Each team is designated to one end of the gym. How to Play: Use the  center court line as a divider. Each team selects one player to go to the other end of the gym and stand on the benches opposite. Players throw  bean bags to team mates standing on the opposite end of the gym on the benches. If a teammate on the bench catches a beanbag, the teammate who threw it runs across and joins teammates on the bench. As play progresses, the number of players on the benches increases. The game ends when one team has all of its players on the benches.

Ship Ahoy (Warm up) – AKA “Lifeboat”
Teacher calls out commands and students do. Commands include bow (front), stern (rear), starboard (right), port (left), captain’s coming (stand and salute), captain’s son (muscle pose), captain’s daughter, submarine (on back, leg up), hit the deck, cabin fever (silly, crazy), crow’s nest (telescope), walk the plank (walk blindfolded), land ho (cheer wildly), lifeboat (rowing).

California Kickball (Indoors)
Equipment: 4 bases and one large soft bounce ball (that does not bounce too much)
Set-up: Make two teams. Set up baseball diamond. Follow baseball rules as appropriate for the age group. Students kick ball then run bases. Can be out if flyball is caught, or if tagged out, or if forced play. Whole side goes up to bat then switch to other team.

Everyone’s-It-Tag
Equipment: none
Set-up: None
How to Play: No teams required. Everyone is it and can tag others. If you get tagged, you must kneel/sit down, but… keep watching the person that tagged you. When he/she/they is tagged by someone else, you are freed and become it again.

European Handball
Equipment – 10 inch light ball (soft skin volleyball), two hockey nets, about 8 cones, pinnies
Set-up: Place a hockey net at each end of the gym at the back of the basketball key. Use cones to mark the rectangular part of the key at each end.
How to Play: Divide the class into two teams. The object of the game is to throw the ball into the other team’s goal. Only the goalie can be in the crease (key) marked by the cones. The ball is passed (thrown) from player to player. Players must stop running or moving as soon as they catch the ball. There is no dribbling or running with the ball. Once a player passes or shoots, he/she/they can run to another location. Defenders cannot take the ball from a player but can put up their hands to prevent passing or shooting. This is a non-contact game. Shots on goal must be made from outside the crease.

Four Corner Soccer
Equipment: 4 benches, 4 colours of pinnies, indoor soccer ball
Set-up: Place one bench diagonally and top facing inward in each corner of the gym. The object is to kick the ball at one of the benches belonging to another team. When a team is scored on (ball hits their bench), they leave the playing area and stand behind their bench. They are out. Each team can have one goalie that can use his/her/their hands.

Numbered Soccer
Equipment: Four benches (or end of gym walls), an indoor soccer ball
Set-up: Place two benches end to end with tops facing forward at each end of the gym. These are the goals. Or, use the end walls of the gym depending on preferred size of the goal. Number each player on each team. The referee calls out numbers. Those players are on the floor trying to score. The other players all stand in front of their goal and are goalies. Goalies must stand up and cannot use their hands. Other players follow normal soccer rules. Players kick the ball at the other teams goal and must hit the face of the benches to score a goal. The ball needs to be almost on the ground to score.

Dodgeball – Team Rescue
Equipment: 20 to 30 Rhinoskin balls or other light soft balls; about 6 cones
Set-up: Divide the class into two teams each on its own half of the gym. Place cones at each end of the gym forming a line about 3 to 4 meters from the end wall. This line indicates where player on the opposing team will go if hit. Students throw balls at players on the other team trying to hit them below the waist. When hit, a player runs to the opposite end of the gym behind the line formed by the cones. These hit players can be rescued if a teammate who has not been hit throws a ball over the other team and is caught by one of the hit players. If a hit player catches the ball, all hit players on his/her team are freed and return to their end of the gym. The game ends when all players on one team are behind the line. It usually does not end.

Doctor Dodgeball
Equipment: 20 to 30 Rhinoskin balls or other light soft balls; 4 pinnies
Set-up: Divide the class into two teams each on its own half of the gym. Each team selects one or two players to be the team doctors. Each wears a pinnie. Students throw balls from their side of center at players on the other team trying to hit them below the waist. When hit, a player is “injured” and drops to the floor where he/she is. Players are rescued when a team doctor drags the player to the wall or designated line at their end of the gym. The player then returns to the game. Occasionally switch doctors.

Dodgeball – Volleyball Version (Sometimes called Bloody Knuckles)
Equipment: Volleyball net, one volleyball or badminton court, about 10 to 15 volleyballs, a few cones
Set-up: Use a few cones to mark lines about 2 metres back from the net on each side. Players must hit the volleyball under the net from behind the line(using a serve type technique) trying to hit opponents on the other side of the net below the waist. When hit below the waist, a player must go to a designated area and do an agreed upon task (5 pushups or jumping jacks or…) then return to his team.

Dizzy Tag
Equipment: None
Set-up: Students pair up. One is designated “it”. At the start, the “it” player turns on the spot three times while his partner runs away. After three turns, the “it” player chases and tags his partner who then turns on the spot three times before chasing and tagging him. This continues.

Official Rules Dodgeball
Equipment: Use two badminton courts; six Rhinoskin balls per game
Objective: To eliminate opposing players and be the team with the most players on court at the end of time.
Set-up: Make 5 teams of at least five per team… six if needed. Two teams play each other on each of two badminton courts. The fifth team provides referees for each game. Games last about three minutes. Rotate teams after each game. Start with six balls placed on the floor at mid court.
Rules: At start signal, teams race to the centre to get their team’s three balls. Each ball must be thrown against the back wall before it can be thrown at opponents. Throw balls at opponents.
Opponents are eliminated (1) if hit below the waist, (2) if their thrown ball is caught in the air (3) if they hold a ball for more than ten seconds, (4) if they step out of the court. If you catch an opponent’s throw in the air, the opponent is out and one of your eliminated teammates can return to the floor. Referees observe rules and return balls to the court as needed.

Bean Bag Flurry (all ages)
Equipment: Lots of bean bags, five hoops and four batons.
Divide class into four teams. One hoop goes to the middle of the gym and is filled with all of the bean bags. The other four hoops go into each corner of the gym forming a square (equal distance between hoops). One team at each corner hoop. One player at a time from each team has a baton and runs either to center hoop or another team’s hoop and takes one bag and brings it back to their hoop. If two players from one team are running at same time, the team is disqualified. After time ends (3 or 4 minutes), the team that has collected most bean bags wins.

Jump the Creek (Primary)
Equipment: 2 skipping ropes and about three poly circles per group of three.
Use the skipping ropes as banks of a creek. Begin the activity by having group members taking turns jumping over the creek with the skipping ropes half a meter apart. After groups have had a few opportunities to do this, share with students that there has been a big rainfall and the creek has widened due to amount of rainfall. For younger students, move around to each group widening the distance between the skipping ropes to one meter. When the distance of the creek gets too wide to jump, invite groups to choose to place one poly spot or floor marker as a rock to hop onto to make it to the other side. When groups place a poly spot in the creek, communicate clearly that their movement across the creek transitions from jumping to hopping. Continue widening the distance between the skipping ropes and allowing groups to work together to solve how they would like to place additional poly spots down hopping onto them from one side of the creek to the other

Foot Skills
Equipment: Balls of various sizes, preferably soft (soccer balls, bounce balls, rhino skin balls); some hoops of various colours, bowling or juggling pins
Activities:
Dribbling – follow the leader, tag (“it” players have no ball, hold pinnie, give pinnie to tagged player and take ball; dribble in smaller and smaller space
Passing: just over half stand on circle, just under half inside circle with ball and pass ball to someone on circle who then dribble into circle then pass to someone on circle.
Shooting: set up a pin and kick ball to knock it down

Rhythmic Gymnastics – Ball Routine (or other equipment)
Share with students that rhythmic gymnastics uses a hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon, or rope to perform leaps, balances, throws, pirouettes, and artistic expression. Encourage students to choose a safe object (e.g., ribbon, ball, etc.) to practice different movements and forms of expression. This can include jumps, leaps, turns, twists, rolls, skips, tucks, pikes, or balancing on different body parts

Follow the Leader
Equipment: None, possibly a scarf or ball
Set-up: Students partner up and decide on the first leader. They will alternate roles. The leader moves (walks, hops, other forms of travel and occasionally makes body shapes) while the other follows behind imitating the leader’s actions. On signal, they switch roles.

Target Shooting – One version
Equipment: Bean bags, hoola hoops, cones, lines on floor
Set-up: Students form groups of two to four. They create a game that involves sliding or throwing bean bags at a line on the floor or throwing them into a hoop lying on the floor. Try various distances.

Go, Go, Go, Stop
Equipment: None
Set-up: Students line up against the wall facing the gym. Teacher (or other caller) stands at the other end facing away from students. The caller says “Go, go, go” repeatedly then says “Stop”. The caller turns quickly and if he/she sees anyone still moving, that student goes back to the wall and starts over. Continue until most or all have reached the other side.

Aliens and Astronaut
Equipment: 2-5 evil red balls or pinnies, beanbags
Set-up: Choose 2-5 kids to be it and give them each an evil red ball/pinny  (these are aliens). Everyone else is an astronaut. Scatter beanbags around the gym, and hold onto the empty bin. If an astronaut is tagged by an alien, they must go to the black hole (the circle in the middle of the gym floor – or other marked off location). To save an astronaut from the black hole, another astronaut must slide (NOT THROW) a beanbag into the black hole and an astronaut must pick it up. The astronaut must then leave the black hole (holding the beanbag high up over their head – to show that they have been freed), and must bring the beanbag back to the beanbag bin. The teacher will put more beanbags into circulation. Once the astronaut has given his beanbag back to the teacher, he rejoins the game. Astronauts can only hold one beanbag at a time. Aliens CAN try and block beanbags with their feet, and KICK THEM away, to keep them from the astronauts. BEANBAGS SHOULD ONLY EVER BE SLID ON THE GROUND, NEVER THROWN!

 

Zoo
Equipment: 2-5 evil red balls
Description: Choose 2-5 kids to be it and give them Evil Red Balls.
If you get tagged by an Evil Red Ball, you must go down on your hands and knees wherever you are and pick and animal.
Whichever animal you pick, you are only allowed to make the noise of that animal.
To be freed, someone has to come and correctly guess what you are.
They are allowed to take as many guesses as they want.
If someone is tagged while guessing, then they must drop to their knees and become the same animal as the person they were guessing from (said person can whisper their animal to them).
If there is a group of animals, the minute someone guesses correctly, then they are all free.
Change taggers often.
To increase the difficulty level of this one, tell the kids when they get tagged they must drop to their knees and act out an animal (no noise), with all of the same rules as above.
Once you have been an animal, you CAN NOT pick that animal again for the rest of the game (even when taggers are changed).

What Time is it Mr. Fox?
The students play a game where they practice different movements including jumping, galloping, skipping, running, jogging, leaping, and walking.
Equipment: 4 cones or a court to mark a large area where students have enough space to run, jump, or leap without hurting each other
Procedure: Students stand an arms-width apart in the court. One student is the “FOX” and he or she can walk through the students freely.The students are not allowed to move until given instructions by the fox. The Fox says, “1, 2, 3”. The class replies, “What time is it fox?” The fox replies with one of the following: “It’s walking time” “It’s running time” “It’s hopping time” “It’s jumping time” “It’s leaping time” “It’s skipping time” “It’s galloping time”. The class proceeds to move doing only the action commanded by the fox. They must stay inside the boundaries.
The fox yells “Stop!!!” The class freezes where they are and the fox can continue moving amongst them. The fox yells “1, 2, 3” The class replies, “What time is it fox?” The fox once again replies with one of the responses listed above. Once again, the class can only move in the locomotor action commanded by the fox until he/she yells stop and the class freezes. After a few rounds of different locomotor actions, the fox yells “1,2,3” The class yells, “What time is it fox?” The fox yells, “It’s hunting time!” During “hunting time” the class runs to outside of the boundaries as fast as they can. The fox uses the 2-finger touch, or a soft ball or part of a pool noodle to tag as many students as he can until the students can get outside of the boundaries. Students who get tagged freeze where they are. When all students are either frozen or safe, the frozen students do 20 jumping jacks. Choose the next student to be the fox and repeat.

Sharks and Minnows
One student (the shark) chases the rest of the class (the minnows). Every tagged student becomes a shark. When tagged, the student goes to the center circle and picks up a pinney to show he/she has become a shark. Students try to be the last minnow in the game.

Hide the “Object”
Equipment: Five to eight small identical objects such as math cubes, plastic chips, scarves… small enough to hide in a student’s hand.  About one for every two players on a team.
Set-up: Divide the class in half. One team stays in the middle of the gym. That team will try to tag the other team’s players as they run across the gym. The other team lines up at one end of the gym. One half of the team members will be given an object which he/she will keep hidden in their hand (fist). On “Go”, the team with the objects will try to run to the other end of the gym. If any get tagged, they stop where tagged. The object is to see how many “objects” get to the other side. That is their score. Do this three times with the same team. Add their total points.
The teams then switch roles for three rounds. The winner is the team with the most points.
Note: the tagging team players can only capture one opponent per round.

Spawners
Equipment: Several rhinoskin ball (about 6”). Cones to mark a strip down the middle of the gym. The width depends on the age. Narrower for younger.
Set-up: Designate a few students to be bears and line up along the sides of the gym. The others are salmon running/travelling the length of the gym/river to spawn. Bears try to hit salmon below the waist with the balls. Salmon try to evade and get across. Caught salmon become bears.

Cats’ Corner
A dodgeball-style game in which throwers (cats) try to hit runners (mice) with a ball. Runners start in safe spots in each corner of the gym, and on a signal they must try to make it to a different corner without getting hit. Students like it because they get to play dodgeball. Teachers like it because students get their dodgeball fix, but with much more running. If hit by the ball, a mouse must (Make a rule… do ten jumping jacks, sit out one turn)

Catch Everything
Equipment: hoop or container for every two students; one of each of assorted kinds of balls, bean bags).
Set-up: students pair up and stand opposite each other on either side of a hoop or container. They take their ball and toss it back and forth to each other. If they catch it, they take a step back. If they drop it, they step forward. Teamwork…throw and catch carefully. On the teacher’s signal, students put ball in the container or hoop and move to the next hoop or container and repeat with different ball.

Hoola Hoop Race
Equipment: One hoola hoop per child plus one more hoop per team.
Set-up: Divide class into teams of 5 or 6. Each team lines up hoops toe to toe with a student standing in each and one extra hoop at the start of the line. On “Go”, students pass the empty hop to the front and put it down. Each student moves forward one hoop. Then pass the empty hoop to the front again, hop forward one hoop, pass the empty hoop and repeat until the destination is reached.

Dinosaur Tag (K-4)
Equipment: hula hoops (2 or 3 of different colours; many bean bags
Divide class into two or three teams. The number of teams and players in different roles can be adjusted. Some players are egg hunters. Others are dinosaurs. Egg hunters start at one end of the gym. All The bean bags (eggs) are placed at the opposite end of the gym. Dinosaurs are in a space at the centre of the gym. Egg hunters must run across the gym to steal eggs and bring them back to their end of the gym. Dinosaurs can tag them before or after they pick up eggs. When tagged, egg hunters must return an egg if they are holding one and return to their end and start over. Play several rounds giving players chances to play different roles.

Basketball Bowling
Equipment: 4 basketballs, 4 basketball hoops, a cone and a bounce ball (10 inch)
Make four teams and put one team at each hoop in corners of the gym. Place cone with ball on top at centre of the gym. Players take turns shooting basketballs into their hoop. When a team gets five hoops, they can roll a basketball at the cone in the centre of the gym. If they hit the cone and knock off the ball, their team wins. If they miss, they continue shooting and try again after five more hoops.

Crows and Cranes

Equipment: Cones or polyspots to mark starting lines.
Divide the class into crows and cranes. Each group lines up on its own line. Teacher calls out “Crows” or “Cranes”. If crows are called, they are it. Cranes run to the wall behand them. Crows chase and must tag them before the wall.

 

Alladin’s Slide
Equipment: Gymnastics mats x 12 (row of 3 per team)
Divide the class into teams of 4 or 5. Students run one at a time and jump onto their mat causing it to slide forward. Student rolls off and next jumps on causing mat to slide. Winner is the first team to slide their mat to the finish line. Caution: a good landing squarely on the mat is important for safety.

Longball Chaos
Equipment: Six inch rhinoskin ball, plastic baseball bat, large cone
Divide the class into two teams

Mat/Hoop Relay
Equipment: Two mats per team for older students or two large hoola hoops per team for primaries.

Make teams of 4 or 5. The team starts all standing in one hoop. They pick up the hoop and place in front of them in the direction of the finish line. All members step forward into the new hoop… then pick up the other and move it forward. The winner is the first team to reach the end. Students must never step or touch hands outside of the hoop.