Category: Fun

Capture The Flag Outdoors

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Grade level: 3-8
Equipment: 2 Flags, large playing area
Game Description: This has been the GAME OF THE YEAR at our school. LOTS of Fun, many skills and laughs have been had. Competition at its finest, and what a workout. It’s the standard version of Capture The Flag brought to physical education class! Find a large area (field, community center, playground, bushes, forest), make 2 teams, and get started. Teams spend a minute hiding their flag on their half of the area (no peeking). Once hidden, GO! The goal of the game is to capture the other teams flag before they capture yours and bring it across the middle line. Careful on the opponents side, because if you get tagged, you go to the jail for 2 mins. The tagger needs to tap the jail (a bench or something) and then they can resume play. No puppy-guarding the flag. Add in extra rules as you see fit, please watch the video for more specifics, I don’t have the time or the will to type everything out… just want to say thanks to Paul Grosskopf, a friend and colleague for setting all these things up for us this year (rules, mods, locations, flags, etc).

The BEST Rock Paper Scissors Battle

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Grade level: K-8
Equipment: Hula Hoops
Game Description: This game is amazing. Players have a super fun RPS battle that they won’t soon forget. 2 teams faceoff across from eachother. Place a bunch of hula hoops between teams in a line. 1 player from each team hops towards the other, and when they meet, they RPS. Loser must jump out and join the end of the line while the winner keeps advancing. Meanwhile the next player in line from the losing side jumps in and hops towards the opponent. It’s a bit hard to explain through text, so watch the video to see this awesome game in action!

Dude Perfect

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Grade level: 5-8
Equipment: Variety
Game Description: Inspired by the Dude Perfect trick shots, this game gets students practicing their own myriad of skills and trickshots for a fun physical education class. Choose a bunch of tricks to try out, using whatever equipment and area that you have, break off in groups, and get going! Have groups invent their own tricks, and even do video recordings of their amazing shots.

Ultimate Warriors

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Grade level: K-8
Equipment: Foam balls, cones
Game Description: Ultimate Warriors is another awesome game that gets students moving, having fun, and working on a variety of skills! Split the gym into 3 sections with cones and lines. Tell the players that there will be 3 games of dodgeball going on at the same time (each 3rd correlates with a group: farmers -} knights -} warriors). If a player is hit with a ball, the player moves down and the thrower moves up. The goal is to get to the top league (the warriors). If you’re in the top league (the warriors) and you hit someone you don’t move up and if you’re in the bottom league (the farmers) you don’t move down. Set a time limit to the game. The winners are the players who finish in the top league at the end of the round. Use your own dodgeball rules and as always HAVE FUN!!! (Thanks to Joe Defreitas)

Home Alone

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Grade level: K-4
Equipment: Hula hoops, cones
Game Description: A great game to help with visual awareness, strategic play, attacking, and defense. Try out HOME ALONE. Basically goes like this: lay out 8 hoops in a playing area and choose 1 player to stand in each hoop. Give the players in the hoop a cone (or item of your choice) – the cone/item represents the key to their house. THEY MUST PROTECT THE KEY!! Everyone else who doesn’t have a key is a theif and they will try to take the key without getting tagged by the player in the hoop. If tagged then they try stealing from someone else, however, if successful, then they swap with the player in the hoop. Give it a go!!! (Thanks to Joe Defreitas)

Slappers!

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Grade level: 4-8
Equipment: 4 nets, 4 bouncy balls (ex racquetball ball)
Game Description: Try out this amazing game called SLAPPERS. It’s a game that mainly uses the striking skill (or swatting, smacking, slapping – however you want to call it). 4 teams, 4 nets in the corners, 1 for each team. Throw a few balls in and players will go around SLAPPING the balls to try to score goals. Players can of course move around and strategize, position themselves, work on offense or defense, etc. They just can’t pick up the ball, or run with ball in hand, or throw/catch. Just slapping the ball around for some good old fun as well as developing many skills!

Act It Out

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Grade level: 3-8
Equipment: None (exercise mats if desired)
Game Description: Simple and fun creative movement activity that can be played throughout most grade levels. PE plus a bit of drama (not your typical grade 7 drama that gives teachers a headache, but the other kind of drama). So simple: make some groups, find some space, and give each group a theme or an idea that they will have to act out using the best of their physical movements capabilities! Keep it informal and have a blast, or make it more formal and specific, create rubrics and things to include, etc – groups present to the class once finished! That’s the basic idea, please watch the video for a few more details!

The Great Outdoor Treasure Hunt

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Grade level: K-8
Equipment: Nature
Game Description: What better way to use outdoor space than a scavenger hunt!? This hunt is a bit different from your typical hunt, because instead of a list that players need to just check off when they see the items, they must BRING THE ITEMS HOME to their collection area. You can and should create a secret treasure item that you’ve hidden somewhere outside beforehand (for example hide a Kleenex box somewhere good and players need to also retrieve a tissue from the box). Simply start by creating a home area where individuals or partners (depending how you want to do it) put their hula hoop on the ground, which is their collection area to bring the items into. Next, go over the rules with all students, and give them a list of the items (or leave a master poster at the home area so they have to use their memory). Note that they can only bring 1 item back at a time! Obviously choose items that students can find or access in your area/community. Stress the importance of respecting property and not taking things that they shouldn’t. At the end, players will return all the items that need to be returned!